Our Best Side is Outside

Originally contracting Aqua in 2012, the county had historically marketed itself as “Charlotte Harbor and the Gulf Islands.” Although previous firms had attempted branding, none had done so with any deep rigor or lasting effect.

On re-contracting Aqua in 2015, the county requested that Aqua consider branding the county for tourism purposes, and asked the agency to engage what by then had been a proven process developed by the agency to distinctly and competitively define destinations within the state of Florida.

To that end, a period of discovery ensued, with the agency considering:

• The destination’s promotional history
• Its visitation history
• An inventory of the destination’s properties
• An inventory of the destination’s various visitor activities and attributes
• An in-depth study of its competitive set
• An in-depth analysis of its visitor profile

To acquire the data and information, a variety of methods and activities were engaged, including:

• Meetings with management staff of area properties
• Touring area properties
• Visiting over 55 area attractions and activities
• Meetings with key in-market stakeholders
• A review of current and historic visitor surveys and analysis
• Primary research in the form of qualitative focus groups in markets of lift and drive

Discovery results
Through research and discovery, it was determined that the county’s image was vague and that previous marketing as “Charlotte Harbor and the Gulf Islands” was doing little to define the county’s location or attraction to visitors. The singular link between all the county’s visitor assets was its outstanding and broad array of outdoor activities. Additionally, the group of assets stood as a unique collection vis-à-vis the competitive sets’, as well as with other destinations in the state. Unusual for other destinations in the state, research showed that males might participate more in the decision to visit the area, than in decisions to visit other areas of the state. Additionally, due to awareness issues, the county had far fewer international visitors than other areas of Florida’s west coast.

Conclusion
It was Aqua’s recommendation to brand and market the area as Florida’s best opportunity to experience all of the best of the state’s highly favored and enjoyable outdoor activities. The brand would need to equally resonate with males as well as females, and need to provide an attractant to international visitors.

Naming
Given that geographic specificity is vital to visitor search and planning, and that the county’s concentrated clusters of visitor assets and accommodations were centered in two main areas, it was recommended to transition the destination’s brand name to, “Punta Gorda & Englewood Beach.” For name continuity, a secondary line of, “Charlotte Harbor and The Gulf Island Coast” was also recommended. The naming also allowed greater association with the destination’s own airport – a growing provider of visitor lift to the market.

Positioning
The destination was positioned as:

The Punta Gorda/Englewood Beach area is the one Florida destination that provides all the best of Florida’s coveted outdoor activities all in one place.

Brand Description
The destination’s brand description was expressed as:

Punta Gorda/Englewood Beach is a relaxing, more secluded Florida destination that offers all the best of Florida’s wonderful outdoor experiences and lifestyle. From beaches to boating, hiking to harbor tours, fishing to nature discovery; to sun, shelling and shark’s teeth, Punta Gorda & Englewood Beach offer visitors more of what they come to Florida for: relaxation and discovery in an outdoor vacationland.

Brand Promise
The destination’s brand promise was determined to be:

Punta Gorda/Englewood Beach promises more of and easy access to the primary reason people want to come to Florida – to relax and enjoy Florida – ‘outside.’

Brand Tagline
Summing the Brand and Position, the following tagline was developed and confirmed through research:

Our Best Side is Outside.