Background

In 2004, San Francisco’s tourism industry was still struggling to rebound from the post-dot-com and 9/11 economic downturn. As the organization in charge of marketing San Francisco as a global destination for leisure, business, groups and conventions, the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau (now the San Francisco Travel Association) needed to take action to lead the industry’s recovery.

While San Francisco ultimately rebounded from the situation faced in the early half of the decade, the city remains in an ever increasingly competitive environment to maintain its position as one of the top destinations in the U.S., and strengthen its appeal on a global scale.

Challenge

For many years, the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau had used Everybody’s Favorite City as a tagline—and, by mere default, the brand position for San Francisco as a travel destination. No brand research had ever been conducted on behalf of the city.

After the San Francisco the brand research and development work was completed and implemented (detailed following), the CVB knew it was important to continue to monitor the San Francisco brand, and the organization’s management of it.

Solution

Destination Analysts conducted a thorough Brand Audit of San Francisco (the city’s first) through extensive quantitative and qualitative research—including national opinion surveys, focus groups, visitor surveys and in-depth interviews—of leisure travelers, the travel trade, meeting planners and the travel media. Destination Analysts then worked with the SFCVB’s advertising agency to realize these findings in the development of a new brand message for San Francisco, which revolved around what was defined in the audit as the city’s two core values—“delightful complexity” (cultural, social, culinary and historical) and “extraordinary physicality” (scenic beauty, architecture, proximity to the sea and pervasive coastal light). The final expression of this research emerged in a new look, feel and message treatment supporting the Only in San Francisco brand.

Since then, Destination Analysts has continued to conduct research to monitor the San Francisco brand and help the CVB ensure it continues to position San Francisco most effectively—including amongst its niche audiences, such as arts & cultural travelers and foodies, and key feeder markets. In fact, the organization (now, in part to other research that Destination Analysts conducted, called the San Francisco Travel Association) is currently evolving the San Francisco brand position, based on findings from recent national, regional and local research projects Destination Analysts facilitated on its behalf. 

Results

San Francisco’s tourism industry continues to flourish—pumping an estimated $7.8 billion into the local economy—and the city is currently the sixth most desired domestic travel destination amongst American leisure travelers.