The object of a social media smack down last week, the Town of Okotoks is working with an internationally renowned branding expert on its tagline.
Ads bearing the line “There are a number of things to do in Okotoks” were spotted on Calgary C-Trains recently and were quickly mocked in Facebook posts and on Twitter. Tongue-in-cheek memes expanded on the sentiment: “Okotoks: We’ve got a Costco” and “Okotoks is just nine kilometres from a big rock.”
“We’re working with them to fix that,” said Roger Brooks, author of Your Town: A Destination. In Okotoks on Tuesday for a conference, he is also helping the town rebrand its downtown and determine its unique selling points.
Brooks, who in marketing circles is called the “Dr. Phil of Tourism,” said the town received thousands of tweets after the marketing campaign launched and that, in itself, is success.
“Although people made fun of Okotoks, now they’ve heard of it. In that sense, the campaign worked. Now we need to change it to positive attention.”
The hashtag #thingstodoinOkotoks took off on Twitter with 187,000 impressions and even Laureen Harper, the Prime Minister’s wife, retweeted it. The town’s Facebook page saw a 267 per cent increase in impressions, 412 per cent increase in Likes and 312 per cent increase in Shares.
Shane Olson, economic development manager of Okotoks outside a commercial property.
Taking it in stride, town officials last week pointed out that the seemingly bland phrase is just one part of a marketing campaign.
“Remember when we were in school and we played with those origami fortune tellers?” said Shane Olson, economic development manager for the town. “Within the origami fortune teller there are numbers, and the (line is prompting you) to unfold your flap to see what’s behind that window.”
“The actual slogan was ‘Let your summer unfold.’”
Olson said town officials have since discussed the ad and the ensuing media storm to see what lessons can be learned and how to spin it further to the town’s advantage.
“The whole thing cost us $4,340. We’re leveraging that to half-a-million dollars. Marketing professionals are saying we should be capitalizing on this. That’s what we’re doing.”
Olson believes the town has a year in which to bank on the publicity and are considering everything from a T-shirt contest with high school students to creating an experiential video showcasing the list of things to do.
“We’re brainstorming how we can maybe play on this further.”
