THE OPPORTUNITY

In need of an updated Marketing Strategy, and some much-needed guidance on how to handle marketing during the ongoing pandemic and the recovery period, the Algoma Kinniwabi Travel Association (AKTA) issued an RFP for a Marketing Recovery Strategy late in 2020. Having successfully completed their marketing strategy in 2012 and 2017, BC Hughes was keen to work with the AKTA team once again.

THE PROCESS

Research allowed the BC Hughes team to fully understand the current operating environment for this member driven DMO in Northern Ontario. Stakeholder input in the form of an operator survey, board interviews and a virtual workshop built upon this understanding, which was formulated into the Situation Analysis.

In drafting the Marketing Recovery Strategy, BC Hughes wanted to ensure that the plan would remain relevant in a fast-changing pandemic environment. Many organizations, working with other consultants or completing work internally, were completing marketing plans that had to be set aside and restarted every time the pandemic situation changed, which was often and unpredictable.

THE OUTCOME

BC Hughes worked with AKTA to develop a marketing plan that would adjust as the situation changed, guiding Algoma County in marketing tactics to be undertaken at each level of public health measure, building in reliance on measures that can be easily pivoted when required.