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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08.PR Report_Q1 2021 April 16, 2021 TO: Vail Local Marketing District Advisory Council FROM: Kristin Yantis & Amanda McNally MYPR CC: Mia Vlaar & Liz Gladitsch, Town of Vail RE: Q1 Public Relations Report MYPR is excited to present the VLMD with a new format for the quarterly PR report. As you know, we recently changed from the Cision media monitoring system to Critical Mention. The systems are not equal but offer similar services with Critical Mention offer a wider range of coverage including television (Cision did not) and we still are able to monitor key messages. As you may recall, the agency recommended changing to Critical Mention due to cost saving measures this year – the new service is a $6,000 cost savings over previous years. Like years past, we believe that monitoring for qualitative content is more important than quantitative. We illustrate both with an emphasis on what is covered, not how many articles. We also monitor against our defined, tier one competitive set of Aspen and Breckenridge. One exciting feature of Critical Mention is that we can provide you with an active link to the monitoring reports so you can see all of the content and measurements. These clickable reports allow you to watch video segments, dive in to individual articles, etc. For this reason, you will find appropriate hyperlinks to these reports in this executive summary. Agency Support In Q1 MYPR spent much of its time developing content for summer 2021 pitches, connecting with community partners and seeding story lines with media. Following are sample tactics in support of the VLMD. • Participated in the virtual 2021 International Media Marketplace on behalf of the VLMC. MYPR had more than two dozen appointments with writers representing outlets such as Travel + Leisure, Conde Nast Traveler, American Way, Hemispheres, Samantha Brown Travels, TripSavvy, Forbes.com and others. • Developed initial 2021 media tipsheet to support efforts during the IMM event. • Drafted media survey to drop in the field during Q2 to garner feedback and insights from journalists about Vail, the news value of the destination right now, etc. • Ongoing updates of content on the DiscoverVail.com media center. • Initial influencer outreach for summer visits and partnerships including at least two trip giveaways to help populate the VLDM’s database. • MYPR has participated in several virtual media events including monthly deskside visits and industry media conferences to gauge current media sentiment for travel and covering travels. The good news is that with an increase in vaccinations, this is changing quickly for the positive. • Distributed the PR Partners Tipsheet to community members to help educate and engage them more in the VLMD’s PR program. In the tipsheet, we offered a free 30- minute PR consultation to any Vail business license holder - only two businesses (Venture Sports and Grazing Fox) signed up. • Ongoing media outreach/pitching for summer 2021 opportunities. Q1 Media Coverage As noted in the introduction, we monitor against our comp set to gauge Vail’s performance versus Aspen and Breckenridge. Please note that historically, the first and fourth quarters of the year garner less summer coverage with the majority of stories running April to September. Links to comprehensive media coverage reports for all three destinations are noted below. Vail Coverage Report Breckenridge Coverage Report Aspen Coverage Report As you will see, the Vail report goes into greater detail with reach, key message coverage and top markets for coverage – all items we’ve previously tracked. We do not track for this level of detail in the other comp set reports. Vail continues to track strongly compared to its comp set when it comes to the volume of media coverage. This has been a consistent pattern for Q1 coverage with Breckenridge typcially coming in with very few summer stories in the first quarter. Following are some of trends in coverage from the three destinations. • Aspen o Events are back this summer with changes to accommodate for the pandemic. o Several articles on the summer music scene in Aspen. o Stories about charging for people to hike in the Maroon Bells area. • Breckenridge o Most stories focused on how Mt. Quandry is getting “loved to death” and the changes that need to be made this summer. o Additional stories focused on festivals such as the Breckenridge Music Festival and Food & Wine that are happening this summer. • Vail o Vail had several announcements about summer events returning this summer such as Bravo!, GoPro Mountain Games and Vail Dance. There were a few releases that went out on the wire so the Vail numbers were a bit inflated due to this type of content distribution. o Grand Hyatt Vail and Altus Vail also distributed released on the wire respectively about a special offer and project completion. o In the General Travel category of coverage, there were several roundups of great hiking options in the area as well as family travel options. Vail Sample Media Placements • New York Times – February 25, 2021 Headline/Link: For Travel, a Sustainable Comeback? Note: Story the result of MYPR’s long relationship with reporter Elaine Glusac. • Forbes.com – March 2021 Headline/Link: The Best Things to See and Do in Vail and Snowmass This Summer Note: Result of MYPR securing a visit by writer Katie Kelly Bell last year. • Jet Set TV – March 2021 Headline/Link: Betty Ford Alpine Gardens Mention Note: Result of MYPR providing host Nikki Noya with information for a visit to the area and content. • MomTrends.com – March 2021 Headline/Link: Best Spas in Vail Colorado Note: Result of MYPR hosting founder Nicole Feliciano to media courtesies during a visit to Vail in fall 2019. • Eater.com – January 2021 Headline/Link: 21 Exciting Ways to Eat in Vail Right Now Note: MYPR assisted writer Katie Shapiro with content for the story. Upcoming Media Placements • Mountain Living • Celebrated Vacations • PureWow.com • Salt Lake Magazine Q2 Tactics Following are priority tactics for Q2. • PR partners tipsheet – move to monthly starting in May. • Event producers meeting in April. • Identify dates for group and/or individual Mexico media visits – preferably in June or early July to still impact this summer. • Possible PR partners meeting in May to discuss what’s happening this summer and how things have shifted from a year ago. • Work with Sylvia to approve and launch media buy in Mexico once travel restrictions are lifted. • Continue to draft itineraries and support the web content program led by Cactus. • PR Newswire distribution of “what’s new” for summer in Vail release. • Draft and distribute a release on the top, most unique residential rental in Vail. • Secure media visits for summer. • Finalize influencer partnerships for summer – focus on two early season visits for giveaways to support population of the database. Upon review, please let us know if you have any questions. Thank you!