"What can we learn from the Dells data to help business owners in their advertising and marketing activities?" My initial research has led me to try and improve the economy by offering two areas were I feel will introduce money into our economy. New marketing and advertising campaigns directed to capitalize in two areas; Number 1 is shopping and number 2 is bungee cord jumping.
The following bulletins are points of interest and recommendations derived from my findings:-Start to advertise and market directed to higher income people.
-Increase shopping marketing to focus more on the new Tanger outlet mall.
-Offer incentives for (selective) guests to contribute their Wisconsin Dell experience by posting their opinions on the Tripadvisor.com website.
-Increase marketing and advertising using new mediums, which will attract tourists who are interested in extreme sports (bungee jumping.)A large percentage of visitors are coming from Chicago. For those folks, I would create 3-5 day packages.
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Bungee Jumping of Their OwnFour days is the average stay from the folks visiting from Chicago. Chicago tourists come from mostly lower to mid income level. Because of the vast variety of activities that the Dells offer, I would create a pilot program that targets the upper income folks from Chicago. In fact, the majority of visitors are coming from the lower to middle income bracket; why is that? I feel a study should be conducted that focuses on this question.
ShoppingShopping is an important activity to market across to all visitors even those from Chicago, where shopping is extremely popular. Most visitors selected shopping as an important activity, so therefore we should continue to glamorize the shopping experience at the Dells. With a few exceptions, the closer folks from the state of Wisconsin, mostly Madison, did not select shopping as an important activity to them on their visit to the Dells. This can be dissected into two causes; number one is the biggest regional competitor, the Mall of America draws local shoppers away. Number two is the simple fact with the close proximity the locals might be keener to simply want to get away for a 1-2 day trip and with all the activities available to them shopping very well could be a low priority. We also should take into consideration the variety of shopping being offered. In other words, there are only so many souvenirs that people want to purchase. What we might want to consider is the quality of shopping versus the quantity. With the popularity of the outlet malls throughout the United States, it is my recommendation to conduct a study designed in stronger advertisement and marketing of the new Tanger outlet mall. Whereas before, potential visitors have flocked to Minnesota for the Mall of America and for other outlet malls, now we are in the position to put the Dells on themap. With the stores now at 100% occupancy, the time has come to increase advertising and marketing. The Founder, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Tanger outlets had this to say, "Our goal is to increase shareholder value by creating superior shopping environments where consumers can purchase quality merchandise directly from brand name manufacturers at a true value." (Stanley K. TANGER, 2005)Bungee JumpingFrom conducting a brief analysis from visitors who bungee jumped, it was determined that the folks who bungee jumped also spent money doing a lot of other activities. Including the following answers from visitor who were surveyed recently:-# 32 did 26 other activities besides jumping.
-#60 did 32 other activities besides jumping. I think we should reward him. He takes the prize with the most activities. There is the possibility that he lying? If it turns out he is telling the truth, we shall properly award him and study him. This might be a good opportunity to study the perfect visitor involving improving Wisconsin Dells economy.
-#98 did 20 other activities besides jumping.
-#101 did 25 other activities besides jumping.
-#159 did 18 other activities besides jumping.
-#170 did 13 other activities besides jumping.
-#220 did 30 other activities besides jumping.
-#239 did 17 other activities besides jumping.
That's a good average for the number of dollars spent while visiting. This is a small sample, but the averages continue strong throughout the survey spreadsheet.
Although not many visitors bungeed jumped only 133 (.08%) out of 1699 those that did, also spend a lot of money in many other activities. I am suggesting that we need to attract more tourists by increased advertising and marketing involving extreme sports. Instead of bungee jumping off of a crane, it's my suggestion to take bungee jumping a step farther by building a removable platform over the Wisconsin River. This will allow bungee jumpers the ability to jump from a high altitude and experiencing the rush of dipping their head into the river. This extreme attraction will increase the bungee jumping visitors more than a hundred fold. If the current statistics stay close to the same, this will also increase a lot of other activities.
ConclusionThis paper offered two areas, which could improve the local economy. The first was to further market and advertise the new Tanger outlet mall. However, don't forget the warning, "the small shops have a harder time trying to survive with big competitors." Therefore I request that we do not forget about the majority of merchandise retailers, which are small (mom & pop) stores. This paper suggested two initial areas, which should be targeted to bring in additional income into our local economy. This should provide an additional income stream, which ultimately should provide an ideal trickle down effect.
ReferencesTanger Outlets, retrieved December 12th, 2007 from:http://www.tangeroutlet.com/company
The Dell in the gardens of Blickling Hall - Rustic...
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The Dell in the gardens of Blickling Hall