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City of McAllen Branding Integrated Marketing Campaign

authored by:

Chelse Benham

Amparo Moran

City of McAllen Branding Integrated Marketing Campaign Authored by Chelse Benham and Amparo Moran Advertising and Promotions Strategies graduate MBA classat The University of Texas-Pan AmericanDecember 5, 2009

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Table of Contents

I. McAllen Overview…………………………………………………….. 2

II. McAllen’s Past Present and Future……………………………………. 3III. Market Segmentation………………………………………………….. 3

a. Behavioral Segmentationb. Demographic Segmentation

IV. Target Markets………………………………………………………… 4V. SWOT Analysis……………………………………………………….. 5

VI. Product Definition……………………………………………………... 5VII. M.O.R.E. Campaign…………………………………………………… 6

VIII. Brand and Brand Image………………………………………………... 6IX. Promotion Budget……………………………………………………… 7X. Advertising……………………………………………………………... 8

a. Print Media……………………………………………………... 8b. Television………………………………………………………. 8c. Online…………………………………………………………... 9d. Direct Marketing………………………………………………..10e. Alternative Marketing…………………………………………..10

i. Guerrilla MarketingXI. M.O.R.E. Ideas………………………………………………………….11

a. Mexican Nationals………………………………………………11b. Promoting McAllen in Creative Ways………………………….12c. Business Related Promotion…………………………………….13

XII. Success Metrics…………………………………………………………14a. Data Collectionb. Measuring Success

XIII. Conclusion………………………………………………………………15


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I. McAllen Overview

In an effort to create a comprehensive branding strategy for the City of McAllen, extensive research, looking at the McAllen Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), City of McAllen, McAllen City Chamber, and Explore McAllen websites, was reviewed. In our research we evaluated official documents including, but not limited to, published articles such as: the McAllen Chamber Economic Profile; the 2008 City of McAllen Strategic Plan; MEDC 2008 Real Estate Market Overview; “Branding of Cities, Exploring City Branding and the Importance of Brand Image” by Julia Winfield-Pfefferkorn at Syracuse University; and comparison studies for the cities of Tucson, AZ and Laredo, TX, and a large number of articles on border economics, trade, business, tourism, culture, and retail. This is what we found.

In 1950 the area of the Rio Grande Valley was recognized as a rural and agriculture based community characterized by sporadic growth. Today, the Rio Grande Valley is developing into a major international trade area. Although other cities in the Valley are doing well, McAllen economically is the jewel of the Valley (McAllen Chamber of Commerce website). McAllen is the retail center of South Texas and Northern Mexico. In the past 20 years, McAllen’s population has grown, and its industrial attraction has increased as well.

McAllen Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) has been rated as: One of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the state of Texas. Forbes listed McAllen as one of the top 10 cities for recession recovery in

2009. It ranked 7th out 200 best performing U.S. metropolitan areas in the nation. CNN Money recognized McAllen as the one of the best places to launch a

small in business in 2009. It ranked 3rd in the State of Texas in total retail sales per household and per

capita.


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McAllen draws a consumer base of more than 8 million people. According to the Census Bureau, McAllen achieved 3.51 Billion in retail sales in 2008. This amount represents almost 50% of the total sales in the Hidalgo County. McAllen in 2008 only represented 17.8% of the total population of the Hidalgo County. McAllen’s population is growing. From 1990 to 2000, McAllen had an 81.3% growth rate.

II. McAllen’s Past, Present and Future

There has been a long-term decline trend in the McAllen Economic Index signaling the ongoing contraction in the McAllen metro area general economy as defined by a sustained decline in overall economic activity. That decline began some 18 months ago, and over that period of time, the McAllen Economic Index has fallen by 10.6%, and has declined for 17 of those 18 months (2008 McAllen Chamber Economic Profile).

The following paper outlines a marketing campaign that seeks to help the City of McAllen solve this economic decline and build a strong brand image. It has been expressed that the City of McAllen is currently undergoing a branding campaign, but has yet to decide upon concrete ideas. McAllen wants to create a place where people will want to live, shop, and do business.

III. Market Segmentationa. Behavioral Segmentation

Occasions Benefit Usage rateA shopping day A Satisfactory

Shopping Experience At least Once a week

Starting a New Business Business Opportunities, a growing market,

International Investors, Rio Grande Valley business owners,

Moving to McAllen A low cost place to live with infinite opportunities and a

Once a year, once in their life,


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warm weatherWeekend Night Out Convenience and

Availability of Entertainment

Rio Grande Valley Families, Mexican Nationals,

b. Demographic Segmentation

Generation Family Life Cycle Income level Place of Residence

Generation Z young single upper lower Northern Mexico, Rio Grande Valley, State of Texas. ?

Generation Y single, married, divorced, with children, without

lower middle, upper middle

Northern Mexico, Rio Grande Valley

Generation X single, married, divorced, with children

upper middle, lower high

Northern Mexico, Rio Grande Valley,

Baby Boomers single, married, divorced, with children, grandchildren,

upper middle,lower high

Northern States in the U.S.

After analyzing all the different segments, we came up with four possible segments to be targeted:

A person looking for a shopping day who can be a Mexican National or a local resident of the Rio Grande Valley who belongs to any generation,

Investors looking to start a new business who seek a growing market. They can be international, national or local investors from Generation Y, X, and baby boomers with an upper middle, lower high and high income level.

A person or family looking to move to McAllen as their new home place or temporary (Winter Texans) from Northern Mexico, other cities in the Valley, and Northern cities in the U.S.

A person or family looking for entertainment during their weekend from any generation who live in Northern parts of Mexico and Rio Grande Valley. Income levels may vary.


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IV. Target Markets

1. Mexican shoppers2. Businesses, Corporations, and highly educated professionals. 3. Winter Texans and Tourist4. Rio Grande Valley Residents

V. SWOT Analysis

Strengths

Low cost of living Entrepreneurial Opportunity Quality Schools Superior Retail Performances Strong Real Estate Market Young workforce

Weaknesses

Transportation Infrastructure lacking Area is remote and cut off from larger

cities Not enough cultural attractions enticing

outside businesses to relocate Educational attainment and average

income level low of the residents

Opportunities

Young entrepreneurial population highly motivated to stay in the area

Regional growth strong - McAllen is a trendsetter

I-69/1TC Infrastructure Texas Corridor road & rail development project will help the movement of people and goods, and the relocation efforts

Threats

Anti-border economy sentiment and legislation -recent trend of border security, immigration reform, reports of drug related violence and a lack of understanding of the region by elected officials

Delays in Transportation Infrastructure Development

Brain Drain - limited influx of higher paying jobs for educated workers and the lack of satisfying employment will mean more of the educated youth will move away

VI. Product Definition


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The product that the campaign is marketing is a city. According to a research by Julia Pfeffekorn, there are some important characteristics that a city must have in order to be considered a brand (“Branding Cities” pg. 10). A good city must have:

Offer attractive employment. Not be unduly expensive in relation to wages. Provide good and affordable housing. Have reasonable public transportation. Have good schools and recreational/cultural attractions. Have a reasonable climate.

McAllen posses all of the characteristics except it lacks a reasonable public transportation system and regional transportation infrastructure (rail line) to larger cities such as Houston, San Antonio. Currently McAllen has local transit service called McAllen Express (ME). ME has seven routes serving 60% of the McAllen population from the McAllen downtown area. ME operates six days a week, 12 hours per day. However, this is not enough to serve the rapidly growing city (McAllen Chamber Economic Profile).

VII. M.O.R.E. CampaignAfter reviewing all the potential that McAllen has to offer as a city, and also comparing it with nearby cities, we wanted to create a campaign that would embrace all the things that McAllen has to offer. The marketing campaign seeks to create a distinctive brand that captures the spirit of a city, and it’s able to inspire the travelers, the industry, and the general populace itself. According to Pfefferkorn,“Cities should brand themselves in ways that are believable to the residents” (pg. 15).

Our goal is to create an integrated marketing communications plan that provided a marketing strategy that blends many diverse elements so that the client’s message touches the customer in the same way regardless of where this interaction occurs.

It is a fact that McAllen has MORE retail stores, national chain restaurants, city festivals and activities, cultural arts, professional sports teams, and live music venues than any other city in the Valley. McAllen has affordable cost of living and mild weather. McAllen has MORE opportunities to offer to its residents and visitors. When coming up with a list of potential characteristics a person might look for in a city, McAllen would have more options than its city neighbors. The campaign aspires to inspire positive feelings towards McAllen as a city. We strongly believe as


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many other people that McAllen has MORE to offer to its residents and visitors. Therefore, we are basing the campaign in something that is believable.

VIII. Brand and Brand ImageThe campaign has the objective of building a strong brand for city of McAllen. Therefore, the

Brand or brand name is: City of McAllen. The slogan for the campaign is : McAllen = M.O.R.E. However, M.O.R.E. is

an acronym to “McAllen, Opportunities Ready to be Experienced” It is easy to translate to Spanish (McAllen = MAS or McAllen es MAS), and a word easy to pronounce by everyone.

It embraces several components:

It is catchy, punchy, and succinct. Incorporates an implicit call-to-action. It is believable because it is true. It elicits an emotional sense of fulfillment, opportunities, and growth. It works on multiple levels. Many target demographics can be addressed (foreign

national shopper & business person, local residents, youth, young entrepreneur etc.) in addition, it promotes the City’s assets as strengths such as having more sporting teams, more cultural events, more festivals, more performing arts, more schools, more chain restaurants, more shopping, more night life etc.

McAllen is M.O.R.E should create an image in the target markets of a place that has more of everything. The brand aims to be associated with fulfillment, opportunities, comfortable lifestyle, growth and expansion. McAllen is the hub of activity in the Valley.

IX. Promotion BudgetThe M.O.R.E campaign will consist of three phases, which will take place over a two year period. Each phase will have a percentage of the total budget assigned to it. Percentages are decided based on the importance of each phase.

Phase 1, which will last a complete year, will allocate 50% of promotion budget to unveil the image and media blitz. Phase 1 includes: TV ads & Webisodes, Print, Billboards, Web content, Guerilla marketing and social media presence. Phase 1 is a critical phase because it will create a solid ground for a strong city brand.


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Phase 2 will reinforced the brand image that was created during the first year. It will be an ongoing promotion over the second year of the campaign. Thirty percent of the campaign’s budget will be assigned to this phase.

Phase 3 consists of measuring the success of the campaign. This is a very important phase of the campaign. It will take place in the last three quarters of the second year. Phase 3 will be given 20% of the total budget. Its focus is in data collection in tandem with Phase 2. Through tracking website traffic, counting social media messages, tallying feedback from web traffic, analysis of coupon redemption of specially marked coupons that were strategically placed, counting license plates at La Plaza Mall, polling at city events and festivals, and a myriad of means to assess success, not the least sales tax receipts for the city will be used to calculate success of the campaign.

X. Advertising

a. Print MediaPrint Media advertising will consist of magazines, newspapers, and outdoor billboards. Print ads will be placed in different print media according to our key target markets.

Ads will be placed in AARP and RV magazines for Winter Texans. For the businesses, corporations, and also tourists markets, strategic print

advertisements will be placed in Forbes, USA Today, Money, and Texas Monthly magazines.

Mexican Nationals will be reached by advertising in El Norte Mexico newspaper and Selecciones, which is Reader’s Digest Hispanic version, during peak shopping times. El Norte is the most read newspaper in the Northern states of Mexico. Appendix A shows a sample ad created for this campaign. The print ad introduces the campaign slogan, and tries to associate possibilities, opportunities, and fulfillment of goals with its imagery.

b. TelevisionM.O.R.E. campaign suggests creating different TV ads for cable channels to promote McAllen to segmented markets. The same TV advertisement should not


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be used universally to target all sectors as their interests differ, and for that reason the advertisements should be different, specialized driving a specific interest directly related to the specific target it addresses. The following are suggestions of the TV ads, their messages, and target audiences to be reached.

CNN, MNBC. The commercial will promote business growth, proximity to Mexico, availability of skilled workforce, growing markets, etc for the business person.

The History Channel, Travel Channel, QVC. Commercials will target the tourist, retiree and Winter Texan. It will show the City as balmy and tropical with a low cost of living (near Mexico for lower cost in medical services).

Multimedios - Televisa which is aired in all Northern states of Mexico (Ex. Nuevo Leon, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Tamaulipas, etc.), and in paid cable television in the rest of the country. The commercial will be in Spanish and will emphasize the American shopping experience and savings opportunities.

Lifetime, Oxygen, and HGTV. This will be aim at promoting McAllen as a shopping destination for the female demographic.

MTV, VHI, HBO. The commercials will promote night life, concerts and sporting events, Art Walk to younger people and families seeking entertainment. Also, it will highlight the night life at 17th street.

National commercial TV stations such as CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox and CW will run image spots, announcements of city festivals and large special events for the general populace and families.

We also suggest running commercials on specialized channels such as GoRGV that caters to mobile home parks and hotels at South Padre Island (Rick Mallard Productions) to target tourist and Winter Texans

Doing one ad or a couple of TV ads is not recommended. Each ad must be different and fitting to the target.

c. OnlineUse Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Twitter, and blogs to distribute information about city events, news and festivals to the public.

The McAllen = M.O.R.E. campaign will promote the City of McAllen using Adwords from Google.


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McAllen is considered the No. 1 birding site in the United States. However, if you type birding sites in Google, one cannot see McAllen anywhere immediately listed in the print ad section to the right of the search results. Capitalizing on extremely effective Tags using Adwords will ensure that McAllen immediately is listed among the search results. Using media releases, through Public Relations efforts, and posting them on the web will also create more web traffic and exposure when people search birding.

We further suggest that the city cross promote by linking with other city websites and partnering with local businesses to be listed on websites.

For the Mexican Nationals, a web banner at El Norte Newspaper website is suggested to run whenever the city places an ad in the newspaper. For the younger Mexican Nationals, McAllen should be promoted at monterrey.2night.com. This website promotes McAllen’s lifestyle, night life, concerts, the Art Walk, etc. aimed at giving Mexican Nationals other reasons to come to McAllen rather than just shopping.

d. Direct MarketingDirect-mail bargain bags filled with especially marked and stamped with the City’s logo and branding money saving coupons, promotional fliers, bargain booklets, information and resources about participating sponsors will be left at doors in strategic neighborhoods in Monterey and Reynosa. This coupon bag will be given on Thursdays which will create awareness about store sales, special events, or restaurant specials in the minds of Mexican Nationals for weekends. Perhaps, this is a strategy best used during the months before the Christmas shopping times.

The ultimate goal is to drive Mexicans Nationals to McAllen during the weekends and regular weekdays. In addition, we highly suggest that similar bargain bags should be delivered to strategic neighborhoods in McAllen and surrounding cities.

e. Alternative MarketingCity of McAllen Branding Integrated Marketing Campaign Authored by Chelse Benham and Amparo Moran Advertising and Promotions Strategies graduate MBA classat The University of Texas-Pan AmericanDecember 5, 2009

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http://monterrey.2night.com/

i. Guerrilla Marketing

The warm and friendly “M” statute

Create a cool and edgy “M” and establish it firmly in the branding efforts to be used as a tool to market McAllen. (1) Create an artfully decorated “M” with personality and character that may be 3 feet high and 3 feet wide and 12 inches deep. The “M” would be sponsored by businesses and organizations that they decorate in a unique way. The differently decorated M’s would be placed throughout the city along walking and shopping routes in downtown McAllen. An effective example of this type of marketing can be seen in a little Smoky bear strategically positioned all around the city of Knoxville in Tennessee, which was strategically placed around an inner city walking and shopping route. The M’s could be placed at the different shopping plazas in McAllen. For example, Las Palmas Plaza at Express Way 83 and McColl Ave has different stores close by such as Burlington, Bed Bath and Beyond, Sam’s Club, and many different restaurants. It could be placed all along the Art Walk and at different businesses to create a route for customers to follow. This will help to create a strong bond to the “M” which represents “McAllen and M.O.R.E.”

The “M” Signal

Also during weekends or special events we suggest the use of a large, powerful light to shine a large “M” into the sky to draw attention to the city during a special event, in much the same way the “Batman” signal was used. It will be like a calling for the residents and visitors to come to the event. It will add something new to McAllen’s night life by creating “buzz” through word-of-mouth and it would align the city with an exciting, fresh and edgy “personality” among the residents. Another example of the use of the “M” signal could be in promoting a business that opens in McAllen. Almost every month a new bar or lounge is opening at downtown McAllen. During opening weekend, the “M” could light the place to promote the growth of 17th street.

The “M” Window Decal


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Furthermore, as an extension of the strategic use of the M, we suggest it be made into a window decal and given to all shops and businesses (perhaps distributed by the Chamber of Commerce) that want to align themselves with McAllen and its branding initiative. Such promotion would create greater awareness about McAllen’s branding and cohesive look.

XI. M.O.R.E Ideas and Strategies

a. Mexican Nationals Shopping ToursThe McAllen = M.O.R.E. Campaign encourages the partnership between Mexican Bus Lines and hotels to work with the City of McAllen to create two-day shopping tours every other weekend.

A possible bus line is Senda Transportes. Senda Transportes has buses coming from Monterrey to McAllen. The trip package will offer a round bus ticket from Monterrey to McAllen and McAllen to Monterrey, hotel room, shuttle bus service from the hotel to the La Plaza Mall on the first day. The second day of shopping could take place at the outlet mall. We emphasize that shoppers be taken to the McAllen shopping centers first and then to ones outside of the city such as the Mercedes outlet mall. If Mexican shoppers are going to want to shop the outlet stores anyway, and the city loses them to this attraction, then we suggest that they be brought into McAllen first.

The Mercedes outlet mall is an important factor in the decrease of sales in the past two years. However, our campaign strongly believes that McAllen should work together with the Mercedes Mall. The trip will consist of a two day weekend trip, which will take the Mexican shoppers to La Plaza Mall on the first day, and take them to the Mercedes Mall on the second day. However, because the shopping tour packages includes McAllen hotels and coupons to local restaurants and shuttles from the hotels to the shopping, they stay and do purchasing in McAllen first and foremost.

(NOTE: This strategy works well with concerts, sporting events, and other types of events, especially, if McAllen chooses to sponsor soccer games in the city.) According to a study conducted in Tucson, AZ Mexican Foreign Nationals shop stores that provide three things:


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1. Excellent customer service using bilingual staff2. Stores that accept the peso.3. Stores that promote sales and reasonable prices. (The New York Times,

Dec. 24, 2008).

Therefore, City of McAllen might want to encourage stores to cater to the Mexican Nationals through customer service, price and if possible accepting pesos.

Decorate for the Christmas holiday. Furthermore, we strongly believe that Mexican shoppers embrace the Christmas Holiday wholeheartedly. McAllen should dress itself up, throughout the entire city, in holiday festive decorations, especially at La Plaza Mall. We urge the city to make itself into an “Attraction”, visual eye-candy to such an extent that the “buzz” or word-of-mouth among Mexican shoppers is that McAllen is a sight to behold, to shop, eat, and stay during the Christmas holiday. The city would be like a fantasy attraction for regional shopper, tourists and Mexican shoppers. An excellent example can be found in Montreal and Ontario, Canada. Whereas these cities get snow and light up the entire city as a Christmas jewel, McAllen can do with a South Texas flare.

b. Promote McAllen through Creative Ways

Promote McAllen at other birding festivals around the country and in other countries such as U.K., Spain, and South America. McAllen should be promoted at conventions in the colder areas of the U.S. in the North East and Mid West.

Create a Music festival - McAllen has a lot of culture to offer to visitors. The blend of cultures combines different types of music. McAllen should take advantage of it and create Music Festivals that capitalizes on Tejano, Salsa, Merengue, Reggeton, Folklorico music, but also includes a wide range of music that can be held at venues throughout the city. The Austin does something similar. Another suggestion would be to create a major marathon and combine both music and running for a “Rock-A-Thon” like San Antonio.

Create a “Think Tank” McAllen should work closely with the idea generators such as: people in science, engineering, architecture, education, art, music, and entertainment whose function it is to create new ideas and innovations. Create a


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creative think tank and invite the creative class to discuss and think of problem solving solutions to the cities biggest issues. Create a sense of a real honor to be in the think tank. Request participation through an elaborate invitation and provide a catered event once every three months. Rotate members out so that new people are asked to come together and “think” about the city.

Support the young people. More than 54% of McAllen’s population is under the age of 25. McAllen has to take advantage of this and cultivate its young people’s minds. Create an idea contest that involves the young community in McAllen and surrounding areas. Also, McAllen should continue to expand current festivals held in the city and the Art district.

Create a Hike and Bike Trail partnership. McAllen should form a partnership to work with surrounding cities to create a Green Belt and Regional Hike & Bike Trail that connects the cities together. This will help promote McAllen as a “Green” city. Currently McAllen has been very successful with the walking trails built at specific avenues in the city.

c. Business Related Promotions

McAllen should work in providing tax incentives for new businesses moving into the area. We suggest McAllen create a Business Climate Portfolio that speaks about large bilingual workforce, city incentives, low cost of living, housing market, city amenities etc. These portfolios could be sent to factories, call centers, warehousing facilities in the U.S. and other countries.

McAllen should aim in attracting a national home builder to the region to build upscale homes for less. This will help to attract wealthier clients and keep the real estate market thriving.

Again McAllen should encourage young entrepreneurs to stay in the region. They may do this by creating a virtual business center on city’s website with downloadable tools for business with news, templates, and copies of business plans. Business workshops should be created to educate first-time business owners on business networking, bid processes, and incentive programs.


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XII. Success Metrics

McAllen’s first year branding goals are to create an integrated, customer-centric, cross-channel branding and marketing campaign to persuade customers to act, provide greater Return On Investment, and ultimately improve the organization's bottom line. Its branding efforts should create and promote a strong city brand that increases sales, business growth, tourism and resident loyalty for McAllen.

a. Data Collection

Data would be collected from tax receipts, web traffic, messages using social media, polls at border crossing, and license plates at shopping malls, brand buzz, customer satisfaction, net promoter indices, visitor engagement, and Web click data.

Also, research should be conducted on cities that are similar to McAllen. A comparison should be made on what they have done to brand their city including how successful they were. An example is Tucson, AZ.

b. Measuring Success

Success of the campaign would be based on the increase in tax receipts, increase in attendance to festivals. Also, the increase in tourist count for birding, shopping, and “heads in beds”. Also, the increase in “word-of-mouth” or “buzz” feedback from residents and visitors (positive or negative) would be a measure of success.

XIII. Conclusion

The McAllen = M.O.R.E. (McAllen, Opportunities Ready to be Experienced.) was positively received at its unveiling to City of McAllen representatives on November 30th at the McAllen Convention Center and chosen as a favorite among some of the panel members.


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This comprehensive marketing campaign identified target segments and proposed marketing strategies that naturally aligned to branding the city. The attached print ad created for this campaign received the highest recall rate at 91.5 percent, from 240 participants, of any ad produced in the group of print ads for The University of Texas-Pan American’s MARK 6372, Advertising and Promotion Strategy class.

We believe our branding approach was so highly effective because it is believable, it upholds McAllen’s bragging rights without over-inflating the facts, and works on multiple marketing levels.


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