Brand USA: A natural quasi-experiment evaluating the success of a national marketing campaign. (February 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zavattaro, Staci M.; Fay, Daniel L.
• Is Part Of: Tourism management. Volume 70(2019)
• Page Start: 42
• Page End: 48
• Publication Date: 2019-02
• Subjects: Nation branding -- Public private partnership -- Program evaluation -- Marketing; Tourism -- Periodicals; 338.4791
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tourman.2018.07.013
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0261-5177

Abstract

Abstract: As national, state, and local governments implement strategic place branding and marketing plans, questions remain about how to best measure the success of such endeavors. Using a natural quasi-experimental design, we evaluate how well marketing efforts from Brand USA achieve intended tourism goals. Brand USA was created in 2009 to market the country abroad. Based on air travel data collected from the National Travel and Tourism Office, Brand USA reports, and economic indicators from the World Bank, we find Brand USA's marketing efforts have little effect on inbound international travel to the US, thus showing a potential weakness in place marketing efforts abroad. Findings suggest the organization may decrease the effectiveness of the complex branding campaign. Highlights: Brand USA does not offer real returns on investment when using control variables to assess its global marketing success. Brand USA still promotes its success via its own marketing materials, meaning more attention is spent justifying the organization than perhaps on international marketing. Organizations developing brands should include affective measures in addition to economic measures, the main tools Brand USA uses to measure success. The study sheds light on the fuzzy measurement branding agencies operate under given that one-to-one evaluations of marketing communication success (i.e. – did you see an ad that made you visit the destination?) are difficult.