Prideaux, Bruce, and Watson, Terry (2010) Rebranding Norfolk Island – is it enough to rebuild visitor numbers? In: Lewis-Cameron, Acolla, and Roberts, Sherma, (eds.) Marketing Island Destinations: Concepts and Cases. Elsevier, London, UK, pp. 23-36.

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Abstract

[Extract] Brands are powerful marketing tools that are used to build consumer awareness of a product. From a destination perspective a unique brand facilitates differentiation from competitors. An important element in the branding process is identifying the psychological push factors that motivate consumer segments to select a particular destination type over other destination types, e.g. selecting an island holiday over a city holiday location. Brands build on destination image and should give an indication of the experiences that are offered and in some cases are targeted at specific market segments. Brands may also give indications of value. Over time the psychological push factors of consumers, described as those internal factors that stimulate an individual’s desire for travel, change. This process may be a result of changing lifestyle status, the change from a family with children to empty-nester being a common example, or a change in the level of income of the nature that occurs when a person transitions from employment to retirement. Destinations need to be aware of changes in their target segments and when necessary refresh their brand or even rebrand if the current brand has lost its effectiveness. One of the difficulties of rebranding a destination is that many destination brands are based on location and the images associated with that geographical location. Rebranding may therefore be a difficult task. Located in the Pacific Ocean two hours flying time from the east coast of Australia, Norfolk Island is a popular holiday destination for Australian and New Zealand seniors. After a sustained period of growth, arrivals began to fall in the mid-2000s, creating alarm in the island’s tourism industry and concerns for the island’s administration. Research undertaken by Prideaux (2007) found that one of the major reasons for this decline was the failure of the island’s tourism industry to recognize that the seniors market, its principal market segment, was undergoing generational change. The types of products and experiences and the quality of infrastructure that attracted the seniors market during the 1980s and 1990s are of marginal interest to the babyboomer seniors of the 2000s. Recognizing that significant changes were required in both its products and services and the manner in which the island is promoted a number of change strategies were implemented during the late 2000s. These changes included the adoption of a new five-year tourism development strategy, market research into the island’s shopping sector and more recently the introduction of a new destination brand titled ‘The World of Norfolk’. The aim of this chapter is to examine the process leading to the development of the new brand and comment on its likely effectiveness. The methodology used for this research was based on face-to-face interviews with staff of the island’s DMO (destination management organization), tourism operators and government officers.

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