Nick Wreden

Chief Executive Officer

FusionBrand

THE NEW PARADIGM IN DESTINATION BRANDING

Tourism Malaysia uses data-driven branding to drive tourism

Abstract

The increasing role of the Internet, consumer-driven branding and shrinking

impact of mass media are creating a paradigm shift in destination branding.
Although creative-driven tactics currently predominate in current destination
branding efforts, destinations are looking toward data-driven branding strategies
that incorporate relevant accountability benchmarks that reflect tourist
requirements for economic, emotional, and experiential value. Such data not only
provides quantifiable input for targeting, segmentation, operations, service, but
also baseline data, trackable over time, to determine if branding efforts are
working. Such data is critical to ensuring marketing accountability. By contrast,
traditional branding constructs like “brand essence” or “positioning” have no
intrinsic measurements to enable accountability and effectiveness measurement.
Tourism Malaysia, the tourism marketing arm of Malaysia, embarked on a three-
stage program to accommodate new destination branding imperatives. The first
stage of that effort was a comprehensive, six-month, 12-country research initiative
that encompassed internal, external, and communications audits, mystery shops,
focus groups, and Internet surveys. A special feature of that research was
collecting and analyzing Consumer Generated Media (CGM), including real-time
traveler input from blogs and other Internet sources. Generally, findings using
one methodology correlated with findings using other methodologies. The
findings indicated that “one-size-fits-all” marketing may fall short because of
regional differences and differing requirements for value among segments. The
integrated results led to numerous strategic, operational, and communications
recommendations, and are incorporated into a 300-page comprehensive Global
Brand Plan and localized Brand Plans for each of the countries studied.

Keywords: destination branding, destination marketing, Malaysia, data-driven

branding, value, accountability

INTRODUCTION

The concept of destination branding has been extensively explored. After

summarizing the evolution of destination branding definitions, Blain, Levy and
Ritchie (2005) developed a revised definition that incorporated earlier efforts:

Destination branding is the set of marketing activities that (1)

support the creation of a name, symbol, logo, word mark or other
 graphic that readily identifies and differentiates a destination; that
(2) consistently convey the expectation of a memorable travel
experience that is uniquely associated with the destination; that (3)
serve to consolidate and reinforce the emotional connection
between the visitor and the destination; and that (4) reduce
consumer search costs and perceived
risk. Collectively, these activities serve to create a destination
image that positively influences consumer destination choice.

This definition implicitly addresses the three important components of branding –

economic, experiential, and emotional (including spiritual) value. If a destination
cannot provide value to tourists, businesses, and investors, it is unlikely to become
a brand that generates revenue or tourists.

But it does not address an increasingly important issue in branding, especially for
taxpayers, governments, and convention and visitor bureaus (CVB) –
measurement. Look at all the recent books that address branding measurement –
Return on Marketing Investment, Marketing Metrics: 50+ Metrics Every
Executive Should Master, Marketing ROI: The Path to Campaign, Customer, and
Corporate Profitability, ProfitBrand: How to Increase the Profitability,
Accountability, and Sustainability of Brands and many more, plus innumerable
conferences.

Measurement is important for three reasons. Measurement provides data, crucial

for better decision-making. Without data, decisions become a matter of guesswork
and opinion (which may account for the political issues that often create problems
in destination branding). Next, this data provides benchmarks for performance,
not only in the area of branding expenditures but also in the areas that affect
branding, such as service levels, attraction/infrastructure maintenance,
accessibility, and accommodation. Finally, and most important, data is crucial for
accountability, including the ability to determine whether branding resources are
achieving expected returns.

The American Marketing Association defines marketing accountability as: "The

responsibility for the systematic management of marketing resources and
processes to achieve measurable gains in return on marketing investment and
increased marketing efficiency, while maintaining quality and increasing the value
of the corporation (AMA, as cited in Ambler, 2005)." Without data, it is
impossible to achieve systematic management, measureable gains, or increased
value to destination or any other kind of brand.

Despite the importance of data to management, benchmarking, and accountability,

destination branding is wedded to creative-driven approaches that primarily relies
on visuals, "positioning" theories and difficult-to-define constructs like "brand
essence" and "brand personality." Such theories and constructs lack intrinsic
measurements, making them difficult to use in branding programs requiring
accountability.
One reason that current destination branding is creative-driven is that relevant
data has historically been hard to obtain. The link between a visit and, say,
viewing an advertisement, was difficult to track, especially if the visit occurred
much later. "Perception" or "image" resulted from a stew of internal and external
sources that could range from a news article to retail purchases, also making
measurement difficult.

Because of the measurement difficulty, creative-driven approaches ruled the roost

during the mass-media era. In fact, the early 1960s is often cited as the “Golden
Age of Advertising,” where Volkswagen’s “Think Small” and other high-impact
advertising made their mark.

But the mass-media market weakened with the explosion of cable-fragmented

network television, and games, Internet, and other diversions. According to a
survey from the IBM Institute for Business Value, consumers now spend as much
time on the Internet as they do watching TV. "Moreover, researchers said the
traditional TV set is increasingly taking a back seat to PCs and cellular handsets
among consumers between the ages of 18 and 34 (Newsfactor.com, 2007)." The
trend will likely continue, with worldwide broadband expansion, computer prices
in freefall, and organizations driving to give computers to every global citizen.

Creative-driven tactics have also been weakened by the explosion in advertising

messages. According to the market research firm Yankelovich, US consumers are
exposed to up to 5,000 ad messages daily UK consumers receive about four
billion pieces of direct mail annually (Yeoman and McMahon-Beattie, 2006).
Such tactics can annoy consumers. About half of 4,110 people surveyed by
Yankelovich believed marketing and advertising was out of control (The New
York Times, 2007).

Creative-driven tactics often rely on "positioning," "brand essence," "personality"

or similar constructs. Yet these often result in generalities that can apply to almost
any destination. For example, a major world destination "positions" itself as "a
unique blend from the best of the modern world and rich cultures to deliver
enriching experiences (Henderson, 2007)." What location does that apply to, and
how does it differentiate that city from other major cities? (Hint: The "brand
personality" is described as "confident, sophisticated, elegant, colourful, and
good-humoured (Henderson, 2007).")

Because of clutter, overexposure, and fragmentation, returns from traditional

marketing are diminishing. In fact, in an Internet-influenced world, consumers are
more likely to believe peer-to-peer commentary from other consumers than any
corporate-driven "positioning" statement. As the consulting organization
McKinsey & Co. (2007) pointed out:

Shifting patterns of buying behavior concide with another seismic

challenge: the increased role of third parties in marketing and
 reputation-building efforts…. The Internet's growth has
tremendously increased the importance of user-generated media
(for instance, blogs, independent sites such as Wikipedia, and
YouTube and other video-sharing sites). User-generated media
account for almost one-third of all the time individuals spend on
the 100 most visited US Web sites, up from roughly 3% just two
years ago. Consumers skeptical of push ads are flocking to a
medium they trust more.

One result has been to make consumers more powerful in branding. Because of
the disintermediation of mass media, “skepticism” about advertising, and Internet-
enabled ability to share brand commentary and experiences, consumers now
define brands, based on economic, emotional, and experiential value received.
(Wreden, 2005)

Despite these changes in the marketplace, destinations often put their faith in
creativity, hoping that an image, tagline, or promotion will resonate with tourists.
In some cases, it works. "I (Heart) NY" and "Virginia is for Lovers" continue to
appeal. In other cases, it does not. Remember "Cool Britannica," "Yokoso! Japan,"
or "SayWA" for the US state of Washington?

While data was slow or hard to obtain during the mass-market era, the rise of the
Internet, increasing computer power, and sophisticated market research techniques
now enable destinations to obtain information about tourist and business
requirements for value, demographics, behaviour, sales trends, promotional
results, and other information. Key tools for data-driven branding include internal
and external audits, communications audits, Internet monitoring of consumer-
generated media (CGM), surveys, focus groups, sales and marketing data, pricing,
competitive activities, and more.

Such data can not only drive advertising, but other areas critical to attracting
business, tourism, and investment. These include operations, customer service,
product development, tour operator, and other strategic partner (eg, airlines)
relationships. Data provides a baseline, trackable over time, to determine whether
branding efforts are working. Data enables more accurate differentiation,
segmentation and targeting, and helps avoid look-alike “positioning” statements.
"The tendency towards convergence and similarities in brands and supporting
campaigns, possibly encouraged by a common stance and mode of operation
among consultants, is also to be guarded against. Brands are launched with great
enthusiasm, but energy must also be devoted to monitoring and evaluation to
permit properly informed judgments about outcomes." (Henderson, 2007)

Finally, measurements can provide quantifiable justification for budgeting and

other activities, easing the politics often associated with destination branding.
Stakeholders can passionately disagree over whether an attribute is part of a
"brand essence," but it is much harder to quibble with research-proven data. (See
Table 1.)
 Table 1
COMPARISON BETWEEN DATA-DRIVEN AND CREATIVE-DRIVEN
BRANDING

Data-driven branding Creative-driven branding

Affects advertising, production, supply
chains, customer relationships, R&D, &
operations
Places strategy in hands of executive
management
Focuses on building & strengthening
customer relationships based on
requirements for value
Focuses on customer acquisition &
retention
Based on measurability
Leverages vast data collection/
measurement capabilities of Internet
Based on determining customer/
prospect economic, experiential, or
emotional requirements for value
Enables benchmarking of promotional
& other activities
Enables segmentation & targeting
Affects logos, design & advertising
Places strategy in hands of design or
creative agency
Focuses on creativity or “impact,”
“awareness,” “image,” etc.
Focuses on customer acquisition
Difficult to measure
Leverages visual display capabilities of
Internet
Based on “positioning,” “brand
essence,” “brand personality,” or other
construct
Impact difficult to measure
Enables visibility in mass markets &
mass media

Creative-driven advocates endorse research, including focus groups and brand

audits. However, such research usually revolves around "perceptions" and
"attitudes," rather than specific actions, or more important, visitor or business
requirements for value. Sometimes, even this research is secondary. Describing
the creative-driven attempt to brand the United Kingdom, Hall (2004) wrote, "The
strategy and research phases are crucial elements of a project, but they tend to
take on a disproportionately high level of importance relative to the creative
expression."

LITERATURE REVIEW

Cities, regions, and countries seeking the advantages of branding primarily turn to
consultants who place a premium on creativity, visuals, and non-metric-based
branding constructs rather than data based on business or tourist requirements. For
example, a campaign to increase tourism in Western Australia was based on "a
positioning campaign to reposition the state in 'top-of-mind awareness (Morgan,
Pritchard & Pride, 2004).'" When Wales wanted to promote golf, it hired a
marketing agency who argued for a "positioning and strategy that had a challenger
mentality (Morgan, et. al., 2004).” Portugal commissioned the design firm Wolff
Olins to "position" Portugal (Wolff Olins, 2007).

Creative-driven destination branding efforts have often resulted in logos, images,

and other visual elements. In 2005, Tourism Toronto and its partners "unveiled the
results of a 13-month, $4 million search for a brand for the city. The result was
'Toronto Unlimited' and a nifty water-droplet logo (Toronto Star, 2007)." The
Kingdom of Jordan, Florida, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, Cincinnati, Madrid, and
Oman have used the design consultancy Landor Associates (Landor Associates,
2005).

Research also supports the assertion that many destination branding campaigns
are creative-driven. Blain, et. al. found that DMO executives "tended to equate
the development of destination logos and associated 'taglines' with the more
comprehensive process of destination branding." The CVB CEOs surveyed
generally equated branding with logos and taglines featured on business cards,
letterhead, and promotional merchandise.

Additionally, the logo development process among those surveyed did not involve
significant research, even among stakeholders. "The logo design process does not
currently involve, to any significant extent, DMO members, local hospitality
firms, and visitors." (Blain, et. al.) Research was usually not a factor even when
destination consultants were used. "This was despite the fact that it might be
assumed that consultants would have a greater appreciation for the need to involve
these key stakeholders in the design process. Of the DMOs that hired an outside
consultant, only a minority involved tourism businesses (32%) and visitors (26%)
to a substantial extent, while a surprisingly high percentage of consultants did not
include local firms (32%) or visitors (42%) in the logo design process at all."

Research involving creative-driven approaches remains lacking, despite the

millions that has been spent worldwide. Blain, et. al. note that "although logos are
critical components of establishing destination brand identity and image, no
tourism-specific literature has addressed elements of the logo development and
design process." They underscore the importance of data-driven branding based
on experience measurement, advising "research must include measurement of
visitor perceptions of the destination logo and image before and after visitation to
determine if the transmitted image that formed visitor expectations is matched by
actual experience, which forms the heart of visitor satisfaction."

Logo and other image-based efforts are handicapped by the shifting nature of
perception. Henderson (2007) points out that "images are therefore highly
subjective, often subconscious and may not be easily articulated or measured.
They are many faceted and fluid and one person can hold a plurality of images
which are the outcome of countless internal and external forces operating together.
These dynamics indicate the difficulties of controlling and shaping images, which
is a goal of destination marketing organizations." Another issue with using images
as the bedrock of a destination campaign is that the same image can be viewed
differently. "While it is theoretically true that places evoke all sorts of emotional
experiences, it is difficult for a marketer to provide an image such as relaxation,
pleasantness, a challenging experience or something inspirational that would be
interpreted in the same way by all potential visitors (Nickerson & Moisey, 1999)."

METHODOLOGY

Multiple TM research and anecdotal evidence indicated that Malaysia lacked

awareness as a tourist destination, despite its wide variety of appealing tourist
products as well as extensive, decade-long worldwide advertising. It was decided
Malaysia needed to differentiate its offerings to specifically appeal to target
segments. Data was seen as essential for this differentiation.

TM contracted with FusionBrand, a leading worldwide destination branding

consultancy, for a six-month brand research project. The primary criteria were
data-driven expertise and ability to make strategic, actionable recommendations.
The research was part of a three-stage program:

• Stage 1: Research to obtain current, data-driven insights into

existing perceptions of Malaysia as well as visitor requirements for
service, informational, and other value. Components included focus
groups & online surveys; internal brand audit; external brand audit;
communications audit (print and digital); internet monitoring (blogs,
chatrooms, and other CGM); mystery shop; and reporting,
presentation, and education.

• Stage 2: Research-based comprehensive global and localized brand

plans with programs to increase the number and value of first-time
and repeat visitors.

• Stage 3: Implementation of brand plan.

Research was conducted in: Asia (Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia); North
America (Los Angeles, New York City); Europe (United Kingdom, Germany,
France, Sweden); Middle East (UAE, Saudi Arabia); and Oceania (Australia).
Research commenced in January, 2006.

Two issues were important during Stage 1 research. The first was retention. What
would it take to get previous visitors to Malaysia back for another visit(s)?
Despite its importance in enhancing a destination brand, retention remains a dark
hole in tourism research. "Currently, there is, to the authors’ knowledge, no
empirical study assessing the collective impact of the destination image, travel
satisfaction, travel motivation, and travel inhibitors on repeat visitation
(Rittichainuwat, Qu & Leong, 2003)." Another issue was determining prospect
requirements for service and other aspects of value. "And the question 'What is
the visitor’s perception for quality?' should always be asked (Paskaleva-Shapira,
2007)."
Focus groups and online surveys

Both qualitative and quantitative methodologies were used. Qualitative research

involved focus groups in each of the 12 countries among three tourism categories
– travel agents, long-haul leisure travellers who had been to Malaysia within five
years, and long-haul leisure travellers who had never been to Malaysia.
Quantitative research involved online, country-specific surveys among pre-
qualified panelists (n=400 per country) as well as a worldwide opt-in online
survey (n=1100). The focus groups were conducted from January to March, 2006
while the surveys collected data from January to April.

Discussion topics for travel agents included their role in recommending holiday
destinations; sources and perceptions of information, especially the Internet;
popular destination drivers and influences, including communication channels;
perceptions and experiences with Malaysia, including service levels; and impact
of communications to date, including the tagline, "Malaysia, Truly Asia (MTA)."
One key question was, "what would it take to recommend Malaysia instead of
alternative destinations?"

Discussion topics for Malaysia and non-Malaysia travelers included sources of

information; travel decision-making process; purchase channels and timetables;
experiences or perceptions of Malaysia, including service levels; consumer desire
to visit/return to Malaysia and/or other regional competitors; and impact of
previous communications, including the MTA tagline.

Online surveys were completed among leisure travellers aged 21+ who had
travelled overseas for a holiday in the last five years in each of the targeted
countries. Respondents were from qualified online panels and a survey, featured
on the home page on the TM site. (Malaysian respondents were excluded.)

For both the focus groups and online surveys, attention was paid to the role of TV
and print advertising, especially their comparative influence in driving awareness,
consideration and decision-making; the role of the Internet, including the role of
blogs, email, and TM and other industry sites in affecting travel decisions; PR;
and word-of-mouth. Ongoing information requirements such as emails, discount
offers, or brochures were also explored. Additionally, willingness-to-recommend
was discussed, as well as the competitive reasons for choosing, or not choosing,
Malaysia compared to competitive destinations.

Internal brand audit

An internal brand audit was conducted among 23 randomly selected TM

employees. About 65% were based in headquarter offices in Kuala Lumpur; the
rest were representatives of international TM offices. The confidential face-to-face
and telephone interviews lasted between 40 and 75 minutes.
Internal audit objectives were to benchmark future brand performance and
marketing activities; identify brand vision and capabilities that internal
stakeholders would support; understand organizational vision, processes, and
functions; identify training, , resource, or other requirements; learn how the
organization identifies and communicates with travel agents, tourist prospects,
visitors, and media; and identify issues between headquarters and international
offices. Special attention was paid to understanding of customer requirements for
value, operational strengths and weaknesses, and brand management issues.

External brand audit

During the first six months of 2006, FusionBrand completed 142 confidential
interviews in 12 countries with key "influencers" who could affect perceptions of
Malaysia. Most interviews were face-to-face, although a small percentage were
conducted by phone and email. Issues covered included activities organized by the
local TM offices, experiences in Malaysia, activities by competitive countries,
FAM (familiarization) trips, and reactions to the MTA tagline. Goals were to
increase understanding of target audiences, evaluate TM service to key
constituencies, generate ideas for improvement, learn relative effectiveness of
communications channels, and gain insights into competitive national tourism
organizations.

Three categories of influencers were interviewed. The first category was tour
operators and agencies that send a substantial number of tourists to Malaysia.
About 80% of all interviews were with executives (vice president and above) in
this category. Interviews centered on experiences with local TM offices,
requirements for assistance and other value, promotional tools, perceptions of
Malaysia and competitive countries, and SE Asia travel trends. Media sources
accounted for 15% of interviewees. Subjects explored were experiences with TM,
FAM trip experiences to Malaysia, and media coverage of Malaysia. The final
category was comprised of local tourism and business associations, and focused
on community relations and TM visibility.

Each interview lasted 30 to 75 minutes. Special attention was paid to obtaining

details about specific experiences and the "why" behind opinions.

Communications audit (digital and print)

The communications audit consisted of analysis of current TM Web and print

communications material.

As the world becomes Internet-centric and brands customer-driven, TM’s online

offerings will play an increasingly important role in attracting first-time and repeat
visitors, as well as developing relationships with potential visitors. As a result,
online offerings must offer visual, informational, and functional value.

Additionally, "Web 2.0" is changing target market interactions. Without getting

technical, Web 2.0 essentially is characterized by increased interactivity, greater
usage of video and visuals, and user-generated content (see Table 2).

Table 2
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN “WEB 1.0” AND “WEB 2.0”
WEB 1.0 WEB 2.0
Personal web sites Blogs
Encyclopedia Britannica Wikis
Publishing Interactivity
Directories Tags
Hits Links
HTML SQL
Google/Yahoo deli.ci.ous/technorati
Stickiness Search engine optimization (SEO)

Page views Cost per click (CPC)

Publicize Web site Pings & trackbacks

CMS (content management systems) Wikis

Downloads Podcasts

BBC.com YouTube.com

To analyze digital branding capabilities, a tested proprietary scoring system was

used to quantitatively analyze “www.tourism.gov.my” and related pages in terms
of visitor requirements for value, including content (including legibility and
readability), ease of navigation and use, uniformity, visuals/presentation,
searchability, linkages, and interactivity. Such capabilities are important to
satisfaction and visitor interaction. Using about 65 data points, home and
numerous other pages were quantitatively scored on a scale of 1-10. For
comparison, competitive pages were also scored. The second part of the digital
analysis analyzed the site in terms of Web 2.0 capabilities.

The print audit analyzed 22 TM brochures and other collateral. Competitive

materials from Singapore and Hong Kong were also reviewed. A tested
proprietary evaluation system based on industry and design best practices was
used. Each brochure was analyzed based on about 100 attributes, including
content and information, messaging, brand story, design, and initial impression.
Attributes were weighted based on relative importance to prospect value. For
example, adequacy of content and information received the strongest weighting.
Finally, all publications were compared to assess visual, message, and brand
consistency.
Internet monitoring (CGM)

The rapid expansion of travel discussion, social networking, and individual

websites; online bulletin boards; and blogs has provided new ways for potential
visitors to learn about Malaysia and share experiences. These alternatives,
collectively known as CGM, offer a wealth of marketing data. Pan, MacLaurin,
and Crotts (2007) study of blogs about a US tourist destination "revealed that
travel blogs reflect the kaleidoscope of a visitor's experience at a destination.
Analysis of blogs on travels to Charleston, South Carolina, revealed strengths and
weaknesses of this tourist destination. Travel blogs can be a useful tool in
monitoring the competitive environment of a destination and provide valuable
customer feedback that is richer and more detailed than Likert response survey
measurements."

Why is CGM so useful? CGM is the online version of word-of-mouth (WOM),

one of the most important sources for travel information and recommendations,
with generally more credibility than advertising and other traditional marketing
techniques (see Table 3). For researchers, it provides an unfiltered look at
consumer perceptions without the limitations of a survey or focus group.

Table 3
COMPARABLE CONSUMER TRUST OF COMMUNICATION CHANNELS

Source: Forrester Research

The first phase of CGM monitoring consisted of defining objectives and search
terms, such as "immigration" or "Malaysia, Truly Asia." Special care was taken to
define search parameters to exclude political, economic, or other non-tourism
issues. Data capture occurred between January 1 and March 31, 2006.

In phase two, proprietary content discovery and mining software crawled 6,000
website discussion forums, 60,000 usernet forums and 22 million blogs written in
English. Blogs accounted for 59% and travel forum websites accounted for 26%
of the 15,342 messages identified as relevant. In some cases, demographic
information, such as sex, age and country of origin was captured.

These messages were analyzed, summarized, ranked for relevance, and

categorized into categories. Categories included service levels, the MTA tagline,
motivations behind visits to Malaysia, associations with Malaysia, information
sources, competitive comparative rankings, and visit activities.

Mystery shop

Mystery shopping is a qualitative assessment tool, where mystery shoppers pose

as customers to purchase products, request service, or have other interactions.
Results can benchmark service and other improvements. If requirements for value
are met, customers and prospects will likely have positive impressions, making
them more likely to use and recommend the brand.

Prospective visitors come to TM offices for information about activities,

accommodations, events, and places in Malaysia. They sometimes also research
related information, such as visas or safety. These were the areas explored by the
mystery shop.

A mystery shop took place in Malaysia and the 12 countries studied from April to
June, 2006. A range of contact methodologies – telephone, email, post, fax and in
person – were used over several weeks. (See Table 4) Each mystery shopper
posed as a potential first-time tourist to Malaysia who was also considering
Thailand and Singapore. For letters, emails, and personal visits, each mystery
shopper asked the same questions. For the three phone calls, mystery shoppers
were permitted to improvise, depending on responses. During personal visits,
"undecided" shoppers asked TM personnel about the best place to visit in
Southeast Asia. Issues examined included responsiveness, courtesy, and matching
information delivery to the shopper's request.

Table 4
THE MYSTERY SHOP PROCESS
Reporting, presentation, and education

TM had commissioned extensive brand research, but had been disappointed that
findings were limited PowerPoint presentations. FusionBrand presented its
findings in reports totaling 576 pages in four volumes, giving TM detailed data on
methodologies and findings. More than 400 specific, actionable recommendations
were made in three categories: strategic, operational and communications. Each
category was prioritized in a matrix based on payback (ROI) and
difficulty/expense of implementation. A summary PowerPoint presentation was
also provided.

No branding initiative can succeed without the understanding and support of the
organization. As a result, multiple two-day workshops were held throughout the
TM organization. These workshops not only communicated research findings but
also addressed implementation of key recommendations. Workshops were also
used to elicit branding and other operational improvements from employees.

FINDINGS

Client confidentiality prohibits detailed discussion of findings. Generally,

however, five target segments among long-haul leisure travelers were identified.
Iconic attractions, relaxation, multi-cultural heritage, and diversity of experiences
had varying degrees of importance for all segments in the countries studied.
Reactions to the MTA tagline, core messages, and images differed significantly in
each region. Other regional differences were found in vacation decision-making
processes, purchase channels, media and other influences, and competitive
perceptions. However, there were similarities in requirements for value among all
tourist segments as well as agents and media. In general, findings by one
methodology were validated by other methodologies. For example, the
importance of WOM also ranked high among all segments, especially compared
to such mass-market tactics as advertising.

The integrated results were incorporated into a 300-page comprehensive Global

Brand Plan and 20-50 page localized Brand Plans for each of the countries
studied.

CONCLUSION

Research across multiple countries involving multiple methodologies provided

data-driven insights. Among multiple segments, TM learned the attributes,
messages, and, most important, visitor requirements for value that lead to more
than a positive perception but to an actual visit.

The primary conclusion was that an international “one-size-fits-all” destination

strategy is less than effective in an era of market segmentation, media
fragmentation, and consumer-driven brands, all compounded by increasing global
and regional competition for tourist dollars. Past and current tourists indicated a
preferences for differentiated offerings that met their requirements for emotional,
experiential, and economic value. Each target market sought differing attributes in
a destination. This means that different messages and even communications
channels may be required for each market. Finally, the measurements also now
provide a benchmark for determining returns from future strategies, activities, and
investments.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
FusionBrand would like to acknowledge the input and support of the staff of
Tourism Malaysia, both in Kuala Lumpur and in overseas offices. The author
would also like to acknowledge the invaluable assistance of FusionBrand’s
Managing Director, Marcus Osborne.