Gateway communities join in advertising campaign
By Brett French
Billings Gazette
Red Lodge and Cooke City are poised for the kickoff of the largest advertising campaign ever for the two towns.
In the works is a $250,000 promotion that will utilize print, radio, television, display booths at trade shows, billboards and the Internet to promote the two towns and the scenic Beartooth Highway that connects them.
The campaign kicks off with magazine ads in March targeting Minnesotans and North Dakotans. The towns' Web sites are also up at myredlodgestyle.com and mycookecitystyle.com.
"A lot of what we're trying to do is target the off-peak times of the year," said Marcella Manuel, a member of the Red Lodge committee set up to devise the marketing strategy. "Businesses are plenty busy in July. We're trying to work on the shoulder seasons - fall and spring."
The campaign was funded by a Department of Housing and Urban Development grant that came in the wake of the devastating 2005 mudslides that damaged the Beartooth Highway, closing the popular tourist attraction through the busy summer peak season.
The Beartooth Highway, which climbs to almost 11,000 feet, connects Red Lodge to Cooke City and the northeast entrance to Yellowstone National Park.
Without the roadway, visitor numbers tumbled during the usually busy summer months. Some businesses in the two towns saw 30 percent declines in their summer earnings. Based on its resort tax collections, the city of Red Lodge alone saw a $10,000 drop in revenue during the summer of 2005.
But with the HUD money came some cause for celebration, an attempt to get the word out on what the two unique communities have to offer.
G&G Advertising of Billings was chosen to develop the advertising campaign.
"We're trying to be strategic with it," said Michael Gray, president of G&G Advertising, because the $250,000 is being spread out over three years.
"There are more opportunities for small communities if they get on the right bus and push the right buttons," he said.
That's why the campaign is piggybacking on other ad campaigns, such as those done by the state tourism agency Travel Montana.
"In the summer we're trying to do cooperative work with Yellowstone National Park, which is probably the biggest tourist draw in the western United States," Manuel said.
In addition to the paid advertisements, the towns are soliciting the media to do stories. The New York Times published an article Jan. 19 in its real estate section on Red Lodge.
The difficult part, Manuel said, will be sustaining the advertising program once the federal dollars play out.
"We're trying to find alternative funding to carry on once federal funds run out," Manuel said.
Luckily for Cooke City, its resort tax allows it to spend a portion of its funds on advertising; Red Lodge cannot.
"We need some kind of funding source to keep Red Lodge in the front of people's minds," Manuel said.
To help the communities after the HUD well runs dry, Gray said G&G will measure the return on advertising dollars invested to educate the two communities on where best to spend their limited funds.
Putting the campaign together has been a lot of work.
"It's been frustrating trying to get things going," Manuel said. "We're all volunteers. We have full-time jobs. Marketing the town of Red Lodge could be a full-time job."
Contact Brett French at french@billingsgazette.com or at 657-1387.
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