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Why are there only white people in the tourism ads for Asheville?
I've seen an ad with a tag line like this before. I didn't like it then.
This isn't creative, and it doesn't give you anything worthwhile as an advertisement. It's tired and cliched. I've shown it to several people and their reaction is all the same: "That's stupid".
Hell, the graphic is even bad. It's too busy in the background, and your eye automatically focuses to the hand holding the phone, not the phone or the picture on it.
Sorry for the negativity, but all of my experience in graphics and marketing comes to the fore and something like this rubs me the wrong way.
(And that's not even touching on the fact that there is a plethora of design firms in this city and they bid out of state. Jus' sayin'.)
Tennessee has so successfully marketed tourism in the mountains for years. All one needs to do is look at the stats for visitors to the TN side versus the NC side. Gatlingburg, Pigeon Forge, Dollywood and all the attractions on the TN side of the mountains dwarf anything in NC. This campaign is rather typical of NCs and Asheville's very bland approach to visitors and tourism.
Tennessee has so successfully marketed tourism in the mountains for years. All one needs to do is look at the stats for visitors to the TN side versus the NC side. Gatlingburg, Pigeon Forge, Dollywood and all the attractions on the TN side of the mountains dwarf anything in NC. This campaign is rather typical of NCs and Asheville's very bland approach to visitors and tourism.
I new Asheville was "found" and the way of becoming "anywhere" USA when I saw an ad for Asheville while sitting on a couch in Sebastopol, CA. more than a decade ago. I groaned. I am a native, and I was only visiting an old friend from Asheville once.
Remove the mountains, it's just another town. Substitute Athens, GA, Chapel Hill, or other somewhat "hip" towns.
Asheville, like other good places, is being "loved to death" and repopulated by "people from other places". I am growing weary of it. Case in point. A person hit a neighbors car the other day, neighbor's car was legally parked on the street. The one that hit it spewed "…we've been here two years, and these cars parked on the street are the dumbest thing. Back home…" I wanted to scream "go home" but instead told the terrified local girls to call the Police.
Very predictable and boring.
Biltmore as a backdrop.
White people (probably from Atlanta) and not much else.
This is boring, boring, snoozzzzzze!
Looks like the work of an Alabama ad agency. The Asheville Tourism Dept. should support local agencies.
Marla Tambelini has been working at the visitors bureau for as long as I can remember. She's always been an Assistant Vice President and never promoted to VP, so that it itself tell you something. People get stale and complacent in their jobs and changing it up is good. I think they need some new faces for fresh thinking. I am very disappointed that they would choose to pass over all the great local talent and advertising agencies and give this work to an out-of-state firm. They try and promote Asheville, but certainly don't promote local businesses by giving them a shot at work.
PLEASE TELL ME WHY THIS AD WAS DONE BY AD ADVERTISING AGENCY IN ALABAMA????
Looks like a magazine ad for an iPhone, not an ad for a tourist destination Not very creative, in my opinion. It might have stood out about 4 years ago, but looks dated.
Where is the diversity?
All we see are lilly white people behind the gates at the Biltmore House.
Really bad that this ad was not done locally. Where is the pride in supporting our community and business sector. Shame, shame.
I don't think its such a bad ad, depending on what publication in which it appears. Im sire there are lots of folks it would appeal to, not me but whatever. I would rather see something else in the background. If im wanting to escape I rather go somewhere else. That's just me.
With crap like this ad I'd suggest it's time for some serious reevaluation and change in the way Asheville tries to market itself to tourists. First of all, Marla Tambellini and the marketing folks at the Convention & Visitors bureau have been working there way too long and it's really showing with the same type ad and pr programs Promoting tourism for them is simply trying to please what Grove Park Inn, Biltmore, and a group of hotel and hospitality chains want. Adding much insult to our community by using an advertising agency in another state, not working with local talent. What a disgrace! It's time for some changes, this is weak and we can do better.
Very commercial and very typical these days. Nothing really new or innovative here, Asheville always markets itself in pretty much the same ways.
These apps have been in use in other cities and destinations for some time now. Not sure how much they are actually used, but are something every city and hotel has to have.
Overall, I think the Asheville ad tagline "Anyway you like it" is very weak and certainly not memorable. I recall a very memorable tourism slogan used here from many years ago that was something like "Cool, Green Asheville".
I have Called ID so that when 'Assville is calling' it goes straight to voice mail. -=WL=-
I read the article yesterday in print and was disappointed to see the ad campaign going to an out-of-town company. Nobody around here was up for it? Seemed a little wacky since the campaign is designed to generate dollars for Asheville.
Been There, based on your comment I'm guessing you may have mis-interpreted this as an add that is going to be sent to your smartphone which I agree would be annoying but that is not what this is, it is a print ad to be found in magazines, newspapers etc.. .
How very annoying. No different than the intrusion from insurance weasels or other folks trying to sell you something.
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