Using Art and Artists as a communication tool to promote U.S. destinations

NEW YORK - April 25, 2020 - PRLog -- In a recent article, NYU Professor (SPS Jonathan M. Tish Center of Hospitality) Pierre Gervois proposes several ways for DMO's marketing and communication teams to proactively use art and artists as a powerful public relations tool:

1- Inviting visual artists to re-design advertising campaigns and all press releases materials

Ask visual artists to entirely design advertising banners for your destination: a photography, a painting, a drawing, or a poem can say much more than a regular banner using the same old stock images in use for the past ten years. Tip: Let the artist(s) you'll have selected completely free to express their creativity. Working with the art department of your local university can certainly be a good starting point.

2- Inviting artists "Take over" the DMO's official social media accounts for a period of time

More than ever, prospective visitors will have no mercy for boring and bland social media feeds. During the recovery period, don't be afraid to go wild. Why not letting several artists take over your destination's Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok (Yes, your destination should be on TikTok) and express themselves about what your city, county, or state has to offer? Music, dance, poetry, street art can seriously refresh your destination's image and create a buzz.

3- Commissioning murals to commemorate and remember the resilience of local communities in front of the COVID-19

In a hundred years from now, this pandemic will be in the history books. Our great-grandchildren will talk about their ancestors who have lived and died during this period.  How, collectively, do we want to be remembered? As a tribute to the resilience of each community, why not commissioning murals depicting the courage of each city, county, and states in the face of the pandemic. Is it the job of DMO's to commission such public artworks? Yes. Absolutely. 100%. They probably have never done this before, but today is the right moment to think about destination marketing in a holistic and engaging way. I would suggest taking aside a portion of the funding traditionally allocated for advertising or promotional events to commission public artworks such as murals to represent what the destination has to offer, the diversity of their communities, and their resilience in the face of adversity.

Pierre Gervois (https://www.sps.nyu.edu/homepage/academics/faculty-direct...)

Adjunct Professor, Tourism Advertising and Public Relations

New York University

School of Professional Studies

Jonathan M. Tisch Center of Hospitality (https://www.sps.nyu.edu/homepage/academics/divisions-and-...)

Read the full article here: https://www.legitprod.com/blog/using-art-and-artists-as-a-communication-tool-to-promote-us-destinations-pierre-gervois-professor-new-york-university