Mike Clark’s Business Bites: Manawatū Version 2.0 is delightfully quirky

Arapuke Mountain Bike Park near Palmerston North.

OPINION:

My LinkedIn feed popped up with a new promo for Manawatū. After the previous disastrous Palmy campaign, I confess to clicking on the link with a fair amount of trepidation.

Marketing is a fickle game. Get it right and you can go viral with tens of millions of views and people taking action. Get it wrong and the impact can be incredibly damaging for your brand, alienate your supporters and create division.

I live in “Palmy”. I tell everyone I am privileged to live in the best city in the world. It leads to wonderful discussions. While some people challenge my sanity, there are so many wonderful aspects of the city I get to call home that it makes for engaging, lively discussions. I was a huge fan of the #palmyproud slogan. Badge and all pinned with pride.

I was very vocal over the last Palmy campaign, run by Palmerston North City Council. I felt it missed the mark and did a huge disservice to the region. In an attempt to be clever it plastered billboards showing people enjoying the region with the word “boring” across it.

The message was the region was not as boring as people might perceive but this was lost in poor design. Driving along a highway, focusing on the road, the vibrant pictures shouted Palmy and boring. I was relieved to see this campaign stopped and Palmy Proud brought back.

Against this backdrop, the “round two″ attempt did not enter the stage with favourable odds. Manawatū is much more than Palmy. It is all-encompassing of a region that is the transport hub of New Zealand. A region that has a strong rural and family focus. A region that is growing and attracting people and businesses.

The Central Economic Development Agency PR team did a great job getting national media attention by shutting down the manawatunz.co.nz website for 24 hours. Using the marketing guideline of aida - get attention, stir interest, create desire and then call people to action - they certainly ticked the first “A” box. They had people’s attention.

Then “Version 2.0″ launched. The tagline says it is “heaps better” than version 1 and judging by comments online it has stirred interest. It is delightfully quirky while showing a wide range of what the region holds. Looking through the posters that support the campaign there is still a strong leaning towards being clever with words and ideas. It works.

I am concerned the action part of the messaging is not clear. The weakest point in most marketing is a failure to have a clear call to action.

Take a look at your marketing material, website and flyers - do they clearly state what you want people to do now they have seen your message?

Marketing a region is complex. It tends to be slower and needs to create a groundswell of interest that, ideally, results in people coming to the region. I will be watching, with interest, to see how the campaign unveils, trusting it is not a damp squib and hoping it builds to a display that has people visiting and being wowed by our amazing piece of paradise!

• Mike Clark is director and lead trainer and facilitator at Think Right business training company.