Episode 13 Transcript
[00:00:00] John Kiker: So today on Giant Stories, we had the opportunity to speak with Jennifer Walker, who’s SVP and Chief Marketing Officer of Visit Dallas. Jennifer has over 25 years of experience in destination marketing working with Visit California, visit Santa Barbara, visit Austin, and now visit Dallas. And just, you know, awful locales to have to work with.
[00:00:20] John Kiker: But what Jennifer’s experience has taught her is really to understand, you know, what is genuinely unique about a particular market. And what what’s interesting about Dallas is that we are a, a, a booming business environment, the fastest growing region in the United States. Uh, we’ve always done well with conventions, but how do we up our game with tourism?
[00:00:38] John Kiker: I. Especially with things like, uh, FIFA coming here next year at the World Cup, the, the convention center expanding lots of continued development. And so Jennifer’s done an amazing job with Visit Dallas and her team to really understand the uniqueness of what makes Dallas attractive to somebody to want to come here from, say, Atlanta or say Chicago for a weekend versus another city.[00:01:00]
[00:01:00] John Kiker: They’ve done some great work and we’re really excited to share this podcast with you guys, and quite frankly, we’re excited about the future of Dallas and what we have going on. So speaking of storytelling, we at Medium Giant are fortunate to work with several tourism and economic development brands. Uh, in conveying all that’s motivating, motivating and meaningful about a particular geography.
[00:01:19] John Kiker: You would think it would lend itself to compelling stories, but how do you do that? For the biggest city that’s part of the fastest growing region in the United States, a city so diverse in its economic mic, cultural identity, and tourism and convention appeal. North Texas and the city of Dallas in particular are riding a wave of massive momentum.
[00:01:36] John Kiker: Continued corporate relocations a soon to be massively expanded convention center, continued development across town and oh by the way, host of the 2026 FIFA World Cups Media headquarters and a record nine matches. This is a city and a region on the rise. Well, serendipitously, we’re thrilled to have Jennifer Walker, senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Visit Dallas, joining us today on Giant Stories.
[00:01:59] John Kiker: [00:02:00] During her three and a half year tenure with, uh, leading visit Dallas’ efforts to continue growing our tourism and convention business, she’s led a transformative brand evolution, which has permeated every facet of how the city presents itself to prospective visitors, and more importantly, how she and her team have enlisted the community to own and advocate for the brand as well.
[00:02:19] John Kiker: Beyond visit Dallas, her 25 year career in destination marketing includes Stops. And Visit Cal with Visit California, visit Santa Barbara and visit Austin. Just terrible locales. I mean really, really rough. Um, it’s been very exciting to see the transformation. She’s helped drive with our community and we’re very excited to have her here today.
[00:02:36] John Kiker: Jennifer, thanks for joining us.
[00:02:37] Jennifer Walker: Thanks for having me, John.
[00:02:38] John Kiker: Yeah, what a time to be alive in Dallas right now with everything that’s going on.
[00:02:41] Jennifer Walker: Yeah, you said it earlier. Uh, this is one city on the rise. I know. Uh, there are very few cities that have as much forward momentum, uh, and growth as Dallas does. So it really is exciting.
[00:02:51] John Kiker: Let’s talk about that. But first, um, we always start these podcasts by asking our guests to tell us their story and how you got, because, uh, destination marketing [00:03:00] is certainly a nation. So, uh, interested in how, how you got into this business and. What your journey’s been like.
[00:03:05] Jennifer Walker: Absolutely. Uh, and niche destination marketing is, uh, most average consumers don’t even, aren’t even aware that dmo as we lovingly call ourselves Yeah.
[00:03:14] Jennifer Walker: Exist. Um, I kind of stumbled into it to be honest. Um, I actually started, uh, thinking that I wanted to be a doctor and then I got into my O chem classes and said, Nope, I am more creatively inclined. Uh, so I decided to, uh, major in communications and that’s quite a pivot. A little bit, but I did much better in my grades and at the time when Miller’s Place was on, I thought advertising.
[00:03:39] Jennifer Walker: That looks like a good idea. Okay. So, uh, got my, got my toes wet. Starting on the ad agency side of things. Worked for a few major shops in San Francisco. Account side account side account management, Jack of all trades. You punishment, a punishment, a glutton for punishment, uhhuh. And then, uh, I actually was working at a boutique agency in Austin.
[00:03:58] Jennifer Walker: Um, when [00:04:00] I discovered destination marketing, uh, I was working on the visit Austin account. Mm-hmm. And after several years on working that account, the. CCEO at the time brought me over client side and I’ve remained there ever since.
[00:04:11] John Kiker: Wow. So what was it about destination marketing that appealed to you initially?
[00:04:17] Jennifer Walker: You know, I think first and foremost, it’s a fun industry. Mm-hmm. We get to have fun. It’s not like working on a brand that I don’t support or that I don’t believe in. Travel has so many benefits for people. It exposes you to new worlds, to new cultures, to new ways of life and thinking. Mm-hmm. It’s also restorative for your personal wellbeing, for your family.
[00:04:37] Jennifer Walker: I. What’s not fun about that.
[00:04:38] John Kiker: Yeah. Well, you’ve also had the, had the good fortune to be in places that a lot of people wanna visit, right? True. I mean, whether it’s the state of California or Santa Barbara or Austin, or certainly Dallas. So talk about your, your first foray, I believe it was Santa Barbara, where our rural Austin, but then, um, going out to California and Santa Barbara.
[00:04:56] John Kiker: Talk about that experience, especially sort of, you know, I mean [00:05:00] obviously, uh, a, a locale that has so much mystique attached to it, so much cache attached to it. You know what I. How, how do you get people to want to come to a destination that they already wanna come to or that so many people already want to come to?
[00:05:12] Jennifer Walker: Every DMO is its own special snowflake. Yeah. We’re all unique. Yeah. In our own way, shape, or form. Um, and I’ve been very fortunate in my career to work for some very well-established and well-known brands. Santa Barbara, the American Riviera. Mm-hmm. Uh, not really difficult, uh, no. To get people to travel there.
[00:05:27] Jennifer Walker: Um, I will say that, uh, we were limited with the hotel product that we have. We only have so many rooms. Uh, there’s only so much we can do. And typically d mos in smaller destinations, as you might suspect, have smaller budgets. Yep. So there’s only so much we can do, but there were things that we knew we wanted to focus on in order to drive and to make up for the fact.
[00:05:48] Jennifer Walker: For example, Santa Barbara doesn’t have a convention center. Mm-hmm. It’s not like Dallas Dallas, you know, we are a, a meetings and convention hub. That’s our bread and butter.
[00:05:56] John Kiker: Yep.
[00:05:57] Jennifer Walker: The inverse is true for Dallas. We have a problem attracting [00:06:00] leisure visitors. I’ll get to that in a little bit. Yeah. Uh, but Santa Barbara trying to, uh, work with, for example, professional sport organizers to bring sporting events to the destination.
[00:06:09] Jennifer Walker: Yep. Whether it’s the Amgen tour of California mm-hmm. Back in the day. Mm-hmm. Whether it’s running events, things like that. Um, events tend to be. Uh, the primary impetus for somebody actually booking a trip. Right. And then they plan the rest of their, their stay around it. Yep. Santa Barbara was also, I think, suffering from a regional drive market problem.
[00:06:27] Jennifer Walker: Mm-hmm. We had the regional drive market down pat, but we had trouble. Yeah. People was coming up from
[00:06:31] John Kiker: la Right, that’s right. For
[00:06:32] Jennifer Walker: the weekend. Yeah. We had trouble with longer stays with international visitors, for example, because it’s more difficult to travel to mm-hmm. If you’re flying to LAX than to drive up to Santa Barbara.
[00:06:42] Jennifer Walker: They have an airport there, but it’s not that robust.
[00:06:45] John Kiker: Right. So. You mentioned it before about limited budgets and, and how d os have to be sometimes be creative. I, I, I think most people probably aren’t aware of where a lot of the budgets for DMO marketing comes from. So if you could kind of give everybody a little bit of a background, because [00:07:00] you wouldn’t, I mean, it, it makes sense once you understand it, but you wouldn’t necessarily think about it.
[00:07:04] Jennifer Walker: Yeah. Again, every DMO is different. However, most d os are funded by hotel occupancy tax, or hot tax. Right. It’s how Visit Dallas is funded as an example. And hot tax is a direct pass through to the consumer. So when you stay in a hotel room, you’ll see it on your folio, on your receipt. When you check out, it’s a direct pass through to that leisure or meeting and convention visitor.
[00:07:26] Jennifer Walker: It is not a tax, for example, that residents pay. Right. Um, in addition, there are many, uh, dmo, including Visit Dallas that are funded by a PI or a tid, or in our case, a tpi, the Dallas public. Yeah, the Dallas, um, public Tourism Improvement District. Right. So that’s an additional assessment on top of that folio.
[00:07:46] Jennifer Walker: Again, that’s a direct pass through to that consumer.
[00:07:49] John Kiker: And so in Santa Barbara’s case, if there’s limited hotels, there’s limited opportunities to drive tax, therefore Correct. The pot is smaller.
[00:07:56] Jennifer Walker: The exception or the one thing that’s notable about Santa Barbara. [00:08:00] Their rate was really high. Mm. Their average daily rate.
[00:08:03] Jennifer Walker: They had luxury high-end products and boutique properties, and they could really bump up that rate when in Dallas, our a DR is, is fairly nominal in comparison to some other major destinations.
[00:08:13] John Kiker: Yeah. So, so talk about, you know, having to be creative in, in Santa Barbara, what are you most proud of? Like what, what was the, the most compelling story that you guys told?
[00:08:22] John Kiker: You’re like, wow, we, you know, from a, from a career perspective, you know, you would look back on. This event or this activation fondly?
[00:08:29] Jennifer Walker: Um, you know, for better or for worse, I’m going to say crisis recovery really. Uh, I was there in Santa Barbara working for the DMO when the Thomas fire rolled through.
[00:08:39] Jennifer Walker: Mm-hmm. At the time it was the largest fire in all of California. Mm-hmm. And subsequently, uh, a month or so later, uh, the Montecito mudslides that, uh, unfortunately took the lives of some 23 people and. Dealing with that, not only as a resident. Mm-hmm. I personally was impacted. I lived a street away from where the [00:09:00] devastation occurred in Montecito, so I was in and out of hotels with my dogs for more than a month, until water was potable, until streets were passable.
[00:09:07] Jennifer Walker: It was like living in a war zone. Wow. Then also working on the DMO side of things, when you think about a destination like Santa Barbara that relies on tourism, aside from the university, there really is nothing else. Mm-hmm. In that market. Mm-hmm. Dallas could sustain. Some. Sure. Hopefully not. Hopefully, you know, event like that, because we have other, other things to offer.
[00:09:30] Jennifer Walker: Mom and pop businesses in Santa Barbara were completely shut down and asking us to turn the marketing on and we were stuck in the crosshairs saying we can’t do that. Right. We’re still accounting for loss of life. So that was a, not to mention,
[00:09:42] John Kiker: I would think even all the agricultural impact in the area with, I mean there’s, people may not realize how many, uh, vineyards are sitting around.
[00:09:49] Jennifer Walker: Yeah.
[00:09:49] John Kiker: In that region too, so. Right.
[00:09:51] Jennifer Walker: I mean, freeways were completely shut down. Um, so it was, it was, you know, building the plane as we were flying it. Um, and yet still being sensitive, I [00:10:00] think. Yeah. Um, to residents and really reaching out to them and seeing how we could help and, and when the time was right.
[00:10:06] Jennifer Walker: Telling visitors that we were once again open for business.
[00:10:09] John Kiker: Yeah. That’s a, that’s a great thing to look fond upon. Um. So fast forward, you, you, you come to Dallas. What was it that appealed to you about this opportunity? Question number one. Question number two is, what has surprised you about Dallas that you didn’t know when you got here?
[00:10:27] Jennifer Walker: So, what appealed to me about the opportunity? I, I mean, it’s Dallas, dammit. Mm-hmm. You know, it’s one of the most well-known destinations out there. Believe that, right? We
[00:10:36] John Kiker: believe that. But you know.
[00:10:36] Jennifer Walker: I, I think the opportunity, um, I think because when I think of Dallas, I think of, uh, what a powerful city, what a wonderful, you know, household name and I want other destinations to be envious of what we do.
[00:10:48] Jennifer Walker: Mm-hmm. There’s no reason that we shouldn’t be and couldn’t be, um, a global city and, and true in that sense. And I don’t think that Dallas as yet has had its fair. Time in the [00:11:00] sun in that regard. Um, I think that we’re getting there. We refer to ourselves as an emerging global city. Mm-hmm. And certainly transformative events like fifa, like development of the convention center, like expansion of DFW are going help us get there.
[00:11:15] Jennifer Walker: Having FIFA will allow us to be on that global stage. And unfortunately, most individuals, whether you’re a leisure visitor or a media professional, when they think of Dallas, there really isn’t a singular thing that comes to mind. It’s these stereotypical oil cowboy, cliche yeah. Notions back from the 1980 soap opera.
[00:11:33] John Kiker: Yeah.
[00:11:33] Jennifer Walker: And our story is so much richer.
[00:11:35] John Kiker: Yeah. Or JFK or something like that. That’s right. Yeah. Um, so what has surprised you?
[00:11:40] Jennifer Walker: What has surprised me? I think most visitors tend to lump Dallas together with the rest of the state. Mm-hmm. I don’t think they realize how welcoming, how hospitable, how inclusive and diverse.
[00:11:53] Jennifer Walker: We are the fact, for example, that we are the sixth largest lgbtq plus community in the entire country. That we [00:12:00] have more rainbow crosswalks than anywhere else in the country. Mm-hmm. We have the largest LGBTQ plus black tie fundraising event. Mm-hmm. That surprised the heck outta me. Hmm. And it’s something frankly, that as a marketer I wanna lean into and own.
[00:12:12] Jennifer Walker: Those are stories that I wanna share.
[00:12:13] John Kiker: Sure. So that leads into, um, the work that you guys have put into reinvigorating the brand and really re. Re-envisioning the brand because the Dallas of even 10 years ago is drastically different than the Dallas now. And with everything that’s going on, it’s drastically different than what it’s gonna be.
[00:12:32] John Kiker: And talk about all the, um, the enthusiasm and, and momentum that you guys have for it.
[00:12:37] Jennifer Walker: Sure. Uh, so. Dallas has never truly had a clear differentiator. Mm. When you look at a destination like Austin, for example, live music, rose is to the top. It’s natural, it’s organic. In Dallas, that was really missing, and again, there was just this lack of of knowledge and understanding.
[00:12:55] Jennifer Walker: I’ve said time and again that Dallas doesn’t suffer from an awareness problem. Hmm. [00:13:00] You ask virtually anybody on the planet, have they heard of Dallas, Texas? And I’m convinced the answer will be yes. Yes. We suffer from a consideration problem. Mm-hmm. Meaning most people don’t understand why they would come to Dallas for a leisure vacation or a meeting or convention.
[00:13:13] Jennifer Walker: Yep. And we wanted to change that. Yep. Because that’s a missed competitive opportunity. And so we set out to create a unified destination brand, meaning it was much more than a logo or a campaign or a tagline. Yep. We wanted to create a unique point of differentiation in terms of where Dallas sat in the hearts and minds of consumers.
[00:13:31] Jennifer Walker: Mm-hmm. And to use this positioning, uh, to have this positioning be used citywide. Yep. Adopted by economic development, by residents, so on and so forth. And, and
[00:13:40] John Kiker: talk about that challenge because what you had said up front, whether it’s the LGBT community, all the different pockets of Dallas. Um, for those who who haven’t spent much time in the city, the historical divide between what’s north of the Trinity and what’s south of the Trinity, I mean the, the, and just all the different perspectives.
[00:13:57] John Kiker: Yeah. And the work that went into that. [00:14:00]
[00:14:00] Jennifer Walker: It was extensive. Yeah. Um, and it was daunting to be sure. Uh, we in fact, af the, the research itself took two years. Mm. Extensive research that should tell you
[00:14:08] John Kiker: something. Right, right.
[00:14:09] Jennifer Walker: And we wanted to be sure to do research not only with residents Yeah. But also with potential visitors.
[00:14:15] Jennifer Walker: Yeah. Domestic, international, everybody. That’s right. Because a resident perception of the destination is very different than that of somebody in a drive market. And even that in a, in a, in an opportunity or fly market even versus an international visitor, as you said, there’s almost this direct.
[00:14:28] Jennifer Walker: Geographic correlation with the further out a way that you get from the destination, the greater the stereotypes become. So we in Dallas, as Dallas Heights, all understand how wonderful the city is. But we don’t really have that tourism product built in. As a visitor, it’s not easy to navigate. It’s not easy to way find or get around.
[00:14:46] Jennifer Walker: You almost need a local to show you. Mm-hmm. So the process was essentially, um, we wanted to consult with as many community leaders and stakeholders as possible. We formed a committee. I thought initially, let’s make this about 10. [00:15:00] My CEO at the time said, no. We’re gonna expand that to about 50. Huh. 50 different committee members and honestly, anybody that wanted to be a part of it, um, we wanted to include them.
[00:15:11] Jennifer Walker: And my challenge was, this sounds a question, I was a little bit like herding cats, but I’m, I’m gonna give some credit to Dallas sites and this actually feeds into what the brand is. I was concerned, I knew essentially who we needed to have at the table. Mm-hmm. My concern was getting them there. How in the heck are we going to be able to drag them to the table and get them to provide their input, which is critically important to our success.
[00:15:35] Jennifer Walker: To their credit, Dallas sites are incredibly proud. They showed up standing room only at, we’re talking CEOs, we’re talking leaders, we’re talking average community members. These people wanted to say, and Dallas sites are darn proud. And I think that’s one of the reasons that we were successful in this.
[00:15:53] Jennifer Walker: Had we not had their input, we would’ve fell flat.
[00:15:57] John Kiker: So. Again, because it, you’re, you’re [00:16:00] talking to such a diverse community and we, we will get to what the brand launch was and talk about the messaging and how you went forward. There were probably three or four things I would think that sort of percolated towards the top, like commonalities because mm-hmm.
[00:16:11] John Kiker: At some point you can’t say 50 different things. You gotta focus and you gotta be smart about it. What were those things that really percolated up? Obviously pride,
[00:16:18] Jennifer Walker: right? But like,
[00:16:18] John Kiker: how does that translate to somebody who wants to come here that you’re proud of it. Cool.
[00:16:22] Jennifer Walker: Right.
[00:16:23] John Kiker: Why? Right. Like, you know, what’s the, what, what’s the allure?
[00:16:26] Jennifer Walker: So I would say our core experience pillars, we have five, one I mentioned earlier, our diverse community of people. Yep. Our brand is really rooted in the people of Dallas and it’s our welcoming hospitality, our spirit, and uh, even our swagger. Mm-hmm. The fact that we’re, we’re a little proud of ourselves and we like to show it off.
[00:16:43] Jennifer Walker: I think we temper that with being welcome and genuinely welcome.
[00:16:47] John Kiker: Yep.
[00:16:47] Jennifer Walker: It’s not fake by any means. So our diverse community of people, our creative, culinary influence. It’s one of the reasons that we’re excited that we’ve been recognized now as a Michelin destination.
[00:16:57] John Kiker: Oh, awesome.
[00:16:57] Jennifer Walker: That we’re more than just barbecue and Tex-Mex.
[00:16:59] Jennifer Walker: Yes, we [00:17:00] have that, but we’re a lot more,
[00:17:01] John Kiker: yeah. Tattoo’s magazine. Yeah.
[00:17:03] Jennifer Walker: Arts and culture. The fact that our arts district has been named the number one district in the entire country, two years in a row by USA today readers. How robust and wonderful that, that that part of our community is something we refer to as our future facing innovative audacity.
[00:17:18] Jennifer Walker: Mm-hmm. That speaks to new state of the art developments like our convention center. Yeah. Or no longer being satisfied with being the second busiest airport in the world. We wanna go after number one. Right. And I believe that you can’t talk about Dallas without referencing sports. Our iconic sports culture.
[00:17:34] John Kiker: Absolutely. Um, so, so we’ll wrap all that up into, uh, the brand launch and the key message and how all that’s transpired. ’cause that’s really, we’re talking in the last 8, 8, 8 months I’m thinking.
[00:17:48] Jennifer Walker: Uh, we launched it locally in March of last year. Okay. So
[00:17:52] John Kiker: a little over year. Okay. Nationally,
[00:17:53] Jennifer Walker: we launched it in June.
[00:17:54] John Kiker: Okay.
[00:17:55] Jennifer Walker: And we did things a little bit differently. Yeah. Um. Um, because of our, our [00:18:00] goal in, in having the, the brand be adopted citywide, we took care to launch the brand locally first. We wanted residents to feel included in this process, to see themselves reflected in it, to be proud, because ultimately residents are ambassadors mm-hmm.
[00:18:14] Jennifer Walker: To individuals who come to the destination like FIFA when they welcome them in about a year. So we created an entirely separate local campaign, um, based on our, uh, brand essence, which is a maverick can-do spirit.
[00:18:27] John Kiker: Hmm.
[00:18:28] Jennifer Walker: Okay. We took out local media. Uh, we had a PR play. We even, transc created our creative into Spanish because 47% of our population is Hispanic.
[00:18:38] Jennifer Walker: We wanted them to feel included in the process.
[00:18:40] John Kiker: That’ll be much bigger as we go on.
[00:18:42] Jennifer Walker: And then we, we had a big launch event. Um, we had a press conference at at and t Discovery District. We made it a celebration. Um, and we capped off the night by lighting up the skyline in our signature. Can do blue?
[00:18:53] John Kiker: Loved it.
[00:18:54] John Kiker: That was a, that was an awesome, beautiful thing. So. Fast forward to now, how has that [00:19:00] campaign man manifest as itself, uh, whether it’s in the city or elsewhere. So obviously you guys are, you guys are on, on, on, on tv. There’s a lot of, um, social plays. What parts of it have, have come to life that you’re most excited about or most, most pleased about the results so far?
[00:19:17] Jennifer Walker: Honestly, I, I think it’s wonderful that we’re expanding into some of those with our national campaign. Yeah. We’re expanding into new national markets, uh, like Atlanta, like DC like Chicago, because again, the drive markets get it, but in order to. Begin to shift perceptions. Mm-hmm. We need to have a presence and we need to tell the Dallas story of today in those opportunity markets to drive future tourism.
[00:19:38] Jennifer Walker: So I think seeing some of the impacts and the shifts already in some of the brand attributes, uh, is really impressive. Um, but I would say I’m most excited, honestly, about how locals have really embraced it. Mm-hmm. I think that was really surprising. We were a little, uh, apprehensive. We didn’t know what to expect because creative is subjective
[00:19:56] John Kiker: always.
[00:19:57] Jennifer Walker: Um, but Dallas sites have organically just [00:20:00] started to pick this up. I hear during, uh, speeches that are given or presentations, people using brand language. I’m like, this is wonderful. And so our goal is also to continue that momentum. I. Just because you bird the baby, you can’t leave it alone. Mm-hmm.
[00:20:16] Jennifer Walker: Establishing a destination brand is a long term play and one that we know requires consistent nurturing. Yep. Which is why just a few weeks ago, uh, we had held a CEL celebration at Dallas City Hall to recognize May 7th during National Travel and Tourism Week, as Dallas can do Spirit day. Uh, there was a proclamation that was read.
[00:20:34] Jennifer Walker: It was officially recognized. There was a give back component with volunteering and giving back to the community of Dallas, and really again, just a celebration and, and, and hoping to help prepare residents and get them excited about some of these transformational developments and events that are on the horizon.
[00:20:49] John Kiker: Well, and obviously, you know, your role is, is to draw people to the market, but in the sense of the Maverick can do spirit if you look around the market and see the [00:21:00] things that are happening, whether it’s the new market’s building. It’s being built down south over that freeway, similar to Claude Warren or what’s going on with the convention center or looking at DFW airport and saying, okay, terminal F doesn’t need to have, you know, 15 gates or whatever.
[00:21:15] John Kiker: Now it’s gonna have the full accoutrement. I, I think that appealing to people’s sense of possibility is really what the story of Dallas is, because we have never been shy of, of looking at a goal and stepping a little bit further and like, how can we do it bigger or how can we do it better? That’s
[00:21:29] Jennifer Walker: 100% true.
[00:21:31] John Kiker: Yeah, that, that, that’s what makes me most excited. So, um, having spent as much time in the destination space, moving away from Dallas for a second, you’ve, you know, traveled the world and seen a lot of different, um, ways people approach destination marketing. What other, um, maybe international markets do you see out there?
[00:21:47] John Kiker: Like, well, they really do it well in terms of how they position their market, or they tell a great story. I,
[00:21:52] Jennifer Walker: I can’t recall any international markets off the top of my head. Um, I will say Visit California always does amazing [00:22:00] work. Um, Los Angeles, some of the southern California markets, Denver, for example, New York, I’ve always admired, uh, New York and the work that they do.
[00:22:08] Jennifer Walker: Pretty iconic. Mm-hmm. Pretty iconic
[00:22:09] John Kiker: there. Yeah. West Virgin or, uh, Virginia’s for lovers and all those kinds of things. Awesome. So how do you guys think, um, at Visit Dallas? With, whether it’s the campaign or, or how you, how you engage with potential prospects. How do you guys think about technology?
[00:22:23] John Kiker: Especially, you know, one of the things in promoting such a, um, a broad geography to such a broad group is that you, you need a lot of content all the time. Mm-hmm. How do you guys think about content and technology, and how are you implementing that into how you go to Margo?
[00:22:39] Jennifer Walker: Sure. Well, first and foremost, we’re trying to embrace technology as best we can.
[00:22:44] Jennifer Walker: Um, we. Utilize AI to assist in efficiency, for example, to assist with brainstorming, to assist with copy editing, you know, makes our lives easier. It saves time for sure. And when you don’t have time, that’s critically important, right? It helps with the creative [00:23:00] process. Um, I. People now have access to cameras and software that they didn’t before that’s now affordable.
[00:23:06] Jennifer Walker: Yep. So any user can actually create content. I will also say though, as we look ahead, um, and we used to say this, this at Visit California all the time, there is a sea of content being created about the destination. And I’ve always been in the mindset that we need to work smarter, not harder. Mm-hmm. Why don’t we leverage some of this existing content out there, um, instead of trying to create the content ourselves.
[00:23:31] Jennifer Walker: So being able to amplify some of the content creation, I think out there versus being content creators as the DMO is going to be a future focus for us as well. I
[00:23:41] John Kiker: was gonna say, so talk about creator partnerships. I mean, ’cause obviously Dallas is, is full of really well known creators who, who love the area and, and are, are excited to talk about the, the, the, the different neighborhoods around town.
[00:23:54] John Kiker: Mm-hmm. Feature and accentuate those. That’s gotta be a, a, a low hanging opportunity for you guys. We
[00:23:58] Jennifer Walker: work with influencers [00:24:00] frequently. Yeah. Uh, not only in our content storytelling for our own channels, um, but also in trying to attract, uh, other potential visitors to the destination. We travel with them. Uh, we take them to events like Aspen, gay Ski Week as an example.
[00:24:14] Jennifer Walker: Yeah. Um, other events throughout the country. We also, because the brand is really rooted in the people of Dallas, we frequently tell the stories of Dallas sites. As another means of trying to entice people to have a vacation here. So for example, for Dallas Arts Month mm-hmm. We created a series called Damn Good.
[00:24:31] Jennifer Walker: Mm-hmm. And we profiled various Dallas artists who wrote love letters to Dallas Love it. To bring it to life. For National Women’s Month, we profiled various, uh, game changing women in the destination that held these stereotypically male. Dominated roles. Mm-hmm. But they were scientists or they were archeologists, or they were chefs and bringing those stories to life.
[00:24:51] Jennifer Walker: And then last but not least, and this ties into our brand as part of the brand, uh, for each of our pillars, we identified [00:25:00] individuals who embody the essence of our brand that are luminaries within the destination, just doing game changing things. And we. Utilized a local artist to bring their likenesses to life.
[00:25:11] Jennifer Walker: And we used that as part of the campaign artwork and tell their stories on our website. That’s fantastic.
[00:25:16] John Kiker: Um, going, uh, back into Dallas a little bit and, and talking about, um, FIFA and the process of getting that there because you were here in the middle of all of those efforts to, to, to secure, um, Dallas as a location.
[00:25:32] John Kiker: And what role does, does visit Dallas play in, in that kind of outreach, whether it’s to a FIFA or to any other kind of sports organization? Because you’ve also got the Dallas sports, uh, um, sports Bureau. So, uh, with, with that, how, how, how do you guys team up collectively, civically. I’m sure with the, with you know, city government and everybody else to try and draw this organization.
[00:25:53] John Kiker: So
[00:25:53] Jennifer Walker: credit where credit is due. This is 100%, uh, all, all credit to the Dallas Sports Commission and our Executive [00:26:00] Sports Commission director, Monica Paul Monica’s awesome.
[00:26:02] John Kiker: We had her here.
[00:26:03] Jennifer Walker: Right. This has been ongoing for years. Yeah. Um, and I don’t really even have visibility into the extent that she worked with Visit Dallas.
[00:26:10] Jennifer Walker: I’m sure to some, some extent. I think that our real role, um, will be, now that it is. Coming to life and coming to fruition, understanding what our priorities are as A DMO, either, because it’s not trying to get additional visitors here during that time. Right. They’re coming. They’re coming. Yeah. We’re gonna have full hotel rooms.
[00:26:27] Jennifer Walker: Yeah. It’s not a problem. Yeah. We are shifting now to think about, okay, knowing that we are home to the international broadcast center mm-hmm. How can we ensure that those media. Are telling positive stories about the destination and stories that are on brand. Frankly, we don’t wanna leave them to their own accord and have them go and film in the stockyards in Fort Worth,
[00:26:49] John Kiker: right?
[00:26:49] Jennifer Walker: They’re going to want to,
[00:26:50] John Kiker: sure,
[00:26:51] Jennifer Walker: you can only talk about soccer for so long. So what are those assets? If they, if they
[00:26:54] John Kiker: think cowboys, then they’re gonna. That’s right. You know, especially
[00:26:58] Jennifer Walker: international visitors, that’s what they [00:27:00] expect when they think of Texas. Yeah. So being able to shape, I would say, and influence that narrative, that’s a number one priority for us.
[00:27:06] Jennifer Walker: And also just to make them feel welcome while they’re here. Um, and then also ensuring that the visitor. Feels welcome. And whether that’s ensuring that we have volunteers that are staffed or ambassadors that are there to show them around. And
[00:27:21] John Kiker: I was gonna say, wayfinding is probably our deal. Wayfind is a big
[00:27:22] Jennifer Walker: priority.
[00:27:23] Jennifer Walker: Safety is another big priority. Transp transportation. Yeah. But also, as I mentioned, communicating to residents and ensuring that they’re informed about any potential impacts as well as to how to potentially get involved.
[00:27:35] John Kiker: So in some destinations like Colorado, you’ve got, you know, summer marketing and then you’ve got winter marketing.
[00:27:40] John Kiker: Mm-hmm. And two, two very distinct things. Dallas has this weird, um, the winters can be at times kind of crazy, but really in, in the grand scheme of things are not that bad. In the summer, it can be hotter than eighties. So how do you guys think about seasonality here? ’cause it’s such a unique climate compared to some that are so.
[00:27:56] John Kiker: Polarized and it’s easy to do one versus the other.
[00:27:58] Jennifer Walker: Yeah. We are, we’re not as [00:28:00] polarized as some, some destinations, but we do have seasonal efforts. Yeah. Uh, we heavy up our buy in the spring and the summer months, and we go into a, keep the lights on, you know, mentality and program for the winters. Same goes for conventions.
[00:28:12] Jennifer Walker: Those are really our need periods. Yeah, we have trouble filling the convention center during August, for example, um, or during December. But I don’t think that’s really unique necessarily to Dallas specifically. Yeah. There are a number of destinations that have that same challenge
[00:28:26] John Kiker: when you’re probably Yeah.
[00:28:27] John Kiker: That, that makes sense. So, um, just as a marketer, somebody who’s been in the business, somebody who’s worked on the agency side and client side, um, you see a lot of stories being told out there. Um, talk about. Okay. What stories do you think right now we have an overabundance of, or too many of this type of narrative?
[00:28:47] John Kiker: We’re like, oh God, not, not another one of these.
[00:28:49] Jennifer Walker: I, I will say though, that, you know, as it relates to storytelling, I think that one thing remains true, um, that resonates, and that’s about making emotional connections with people, uh, [00:29:00] having authenticity for me as a marketer, leaning into those things again, that we can uniquely own.
[00:29:05] Jennifer Walker: I do not want to pretend that we can be all things to all people to promote nature, for example. Mm-hmm. Technically we have it. It’s not something I’m gonna go outta my way to comparison to Denver. Yeah. You know, to shut off the rooftops.
[00:29:17] John Kiker: Right.
[00:29:17] Jennifer Walker: Um, when you end up, when you say that you have something for everyone, you end up standing for nothing.
[00:29:22] John Kiker: Mm-hmm.
[00:29:23] Jennifer Walker: So let’s lean into those things that we can uniquely own and embrace. And I think that’s what set what’s so great about this brand is it’s something that I think other visitors already see in Dallas.
[00:29:34] John Kiker: Yeah. It, it’s interesting because. I think our geography, um, and just the location within the country is so unique, but I see a lot of, let’s use the Florida, Florida coastal stuff as an example.
[00:29:46] John Kiker: I see so many campaigns from you could literally go right down the coast from town to town or county to the same. Literally. Yeah. Rip, rip the logo off, put another logo on, and you have no idea, like, is this just a stock photo that, oh, we’ve, we’ve
[00:29:58] Jennifer Walker: done that in our [00:30:00] industry at different presentations. It’s been, it’s been really, uh.
[00:30:03] Jennifer Walker: Eye-opening and kind of scary, you know? And, and our industry in particular has fallen fault to that. There’s a formula, if you will Sure. For what people think is effective tourism marketing. And it’s something that I think we need to be aware of and, uh, intentional.
[00:30:19] John Kiker: Yeah.
[00:30:19] Jennifer Walker: About changing. Well,
[00:30:21] John Kiker: what’s great.
[00:30:21] John Kiker: And even juxtapose Dallas against Fort ’cause this isn’t a, you know, I’m, I think Fort Worth is a great city. Mm-hmm. But it is very distinct and very unique. Mm-hmm. And if they’re doing their job right. How they present themselves is gonna be totally different than Dallas. Mm-hmm. Because the experiences are completely different.
[00:30:35] John Kiker: Mm-hmm. If we’re tapping into, again, authentically like what makes Dallas what it is and yeah.
[00:30:40] Jennifer Walker: Fort Worth can own Fort Worth all day. Yeah. That’s wonderful. I want them to lean into Western because Dallas is not.
[00:30:45] John Kiker: Yeah. So, okay. Just came into my head. How do you, um, overlay Texas with Dallas? Because there’s a lot of people who take as much pride as being in Texan as they do a [00:31:00] Dallas site, and
[00:31:01] Jennifer Walker: Sure.
[00:31:01] John Kiker: And the, the sometimes to your point, the connotation and the stereotype of Texas would naturally align itself more with what you would think about Fort Worth, but there are a lot of things about Texas that Dallas is of this beautiful manifestation of. Right.
[00:31:14] Jennifer Walker: Yeah. I, I, I would say this, um, this was something that we talked about in the branding process.
[00:31:20] Jennifer Walker: There were some stakeholders that said, no, no, no, no. We need to steer clear of Texas. Other stakeholders said, no, that’s not right. I think it’s somewhere in between. Mm-hmm. I don’t think that we can ignore it. It’s a fact. We are in Texas. It doesn’t mean that we need to go overtly over the top Right. Like cowboy Right.
[00:31:36] Jennifer Walker: You know, culture. Right. But we can nod to it. Sure. And we do it through things like pride. The notion of Texas pride is very much a well alive and well. Yeah. And that’s something that we try and embrace. It’s in our bold color palettes that we use. Mm-hmm. It’s in our, what we call our swagger, our attitude.
[00:31:53] Jennifer Walker: It’s something that people recognize Dallas to have. Um. And I, I think that this is just a little bit of a story, [00:32:00] but we actually asked during the, uh, research process during our focus groups to ask respondents to personify who they felt if there was a particular individual that represented swagger name, who that would be.
[00:32:12] Jennifer Walker: Mm. And unaided. They all said JR Ewing, which to me was a mic drop moment because I said, if they already associate the destination with JR Ewing and they look at this character. As having cache, as wearing a cowboy, wearing a three piece suit and driving a Cadillac.
[00:32:31] John Kiker: Yep,
[00:32:32] Jennifer Walker: yep. And, and, and he’s pretty slick about it.
[00:32:33] Jennifer Walker: And they’re not mad about it. There’s no negative association with that. Then we are onto something because that is something they already associate us with.
[00:32:40] John Kiker: I love that. So look out the next five to 10 years specifically for Visit Dallas. I mean, obviously, you know, within five years FIFA will have been here.
[00:32:50] John Kiker: Um, what do you see ahead for this, for this city, you’ll have a, you’ll have a convention center. Complete, uh, let, let’s say by 2030, give or [00:33:00] take, uh,
[00:33:00] Jennifer Walker: 2029 March.
[00:33:01] John Kiker: Okay. Okay. Not that we’re counting on track. Not that we’re counting.
[00:33:04] Jennifer Walker: No.
[00:33:04] John Kiker: Um, what’s ahead for the city? Uh, for, for, for Visit Dallas and, and what’s on your plate?
[00:33:11] Jennifer Walker: I would say that we would achieve getting to that truly global destination that we would no longer be emerging. We would no longer be aspiring that we would have made our mark on that map that will benefit from. Increased leisure visitation, uh, increased curiosity about why somebody should come and travel here.
[00:33:30] Jennifer Walker: Uh, and overall more benefits for residents. Ultimately tourism benefits the people who live, work, and play here to seeing the positive impacts at tourism yields on the community. I think ideally, again, we have not seen our proper time to shine as yet on that stage, and it’s really exciting to look ahead and consider what’s on the future
[00:33:51] John Kiker: just a.
[00:33:52] John Kiker: A another thought because obviously the, the region itself is growing exponentially. You do see a lot, [00:34:00] lot, lot of expansion up north, for example. So Frisco, proper Solana or Prosper Solana going up there, do you guys envision opportunities to, because I mean, at some point you get to where, to get down, let’s say in the central business district it’s, it’s an hour, hour and 20 hour and 30.
[00:34:15] John Kiker: Do you guys, are you guys starting to envision sort of experiences to some of those staycation opportunities that people. Maybe in the northern counties we wanna come down and experience.
[00:34:27] Jennifer Walker: I will say this, uh, I suppress and I’m required to suppress the DFW region from any of my paid advertising, given how we are funded and the restrictions on that funding.
[00:34:36] Jennifer Walker: Okay. So I think the big opportunity for us, those people I think to some extent are already going to come to Dallas. Yeah. Whether that’s for a performance Yeah. Whether it be a, a concert or, you know, a, a Broadway play or whatever the case might be. Yeah. I think the real opportunity for us and where we wanna focus really moving that needle and gaining some traction are in those opportunity markets.
[00:34:56] Jennifer Walker: Yep. Those are the folks that are gonna stay longer. Chicago. We’re not interested in, in [00:35:00] people coming for the day. We want people to come and stay the night in the hotel, and ideally multiple nights in the hotels again, because that’s how we’re funded.
[00:35:08] John Kiker: That makes perfect sense. All right. Well Jennifer, thank you so much for your time.
[00:35:11] John Kiker: This has been a lot of fun. We appreciate it.
[00:35:13] Jennifer Walker: Absolutely. Thank you.
[00:35:14] John Kiker: Alright. Look forward to what’s happening in Dallas.
[00:35:15] Jennifer Walker: Yes sir. Thank you.
[00:35:19] John Kiker: Giant Stories is a production of Medium Giant in our parent company, the Dallas News Corporation. Interested in learning more about how your brand’s story can be better told and sold?
[00:35:28] John Kiker: Visit medium giant.co or send an email to hello@mediumgiant.co.
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