March 2014 - Parks & Recreation - 74

Operations
must recognize, however, that no
matter how good a branding strategy is, it will not overcome a poorly managed leisure service agency
and will also not replace the process of consumer choice of service,
or what is generally referred to as
consumer behavior. The questions
each agency needs to ask are how
strong is its brand and what is being done to build and protect the
brand. In so doing, each agency
needs to be aware of what constitutes both positive and negative
branding.

The concept of values and risks
involves understanding what is
most important to the users of recreation, park and tourism services
by rank and identifying potential
risks related to the different types of
leisure-based services. Every individual in every region or state will
have unique value systems related
to culture and tradition. The trick in
branding strategy is to understand
what those key values are and incorporate them into the marketing and
promotion of programs, events and
facilities.

The key in branding is to understand the specific
benefits consumers are prioritizing and position those
benefits throughout any marketing endeavors.

Defining Brand Equity
The equity or degree of perceived value by a consumer of leisure services
is normally based on two specific factors: (1) benefit segmentation and (2)
values and risks. For every defined
recreation, park and tourism offering,
there may be multiple benefits sought
by different participants. For example,
a fitness program may offer such benefits as low price, a higher degree of
fitness, social status, improved health
or ease of location, while a tourism-based special event may be developed for a variety of target market
interests. Different individuals may
register for the program, but each may
have chosen it for any of a number of
different benefits. The key in branding
is to understand the specific benefits
consumers are prioritizing and position those benefits throughout any
marketing endeavors.

Parks & Recreation

The risk factors in the participation
of leisure-based services are many.
Knowing such risks and understanding
ways to mitigate them certainly aids in
the branding process. While risk factors include many specifics, there are
some general risks that may be part of
any specific offering, including:
Functional risk (the risk that the service will not perform as expected)
Physical risk (the risk to self and
others that the service may pose)
Financial risk (the risk that the service will not be worth its cost)
Social risk (the risk that a poor service choice may result in embarrassment in front of others)
Psychological risk (the risk that a
poor service choice will have a negative impact on a consumer's ego)
Time risk (the risk that the time spent
in an activity may be wasted if the
service does not perform as expected)

| M A R C H 2 0 1 4 | W W W. N R PA . O R G

There are a number of methods that
can be used in order to mitigate any of
these types of risks. Some of the more
common options include money-back
guarantees, testimonials by past participants, free one-time participation
allowances, introductory workshops,
liberal cancellation policies, positive
image building and a good variety of
promotional literature.
The key to risk identification is to
understand which are most important to your target markets and to try
to mitigate such risks as much as possible. Risk management mitigation
includes both the risk of actual participation and the risk of choice of
provider. The organization that offers
the least amount of perceived risks
will usually have the most amount of
participation.
Beyond value and risk factors, brand
equity variables may also include:
Brand awareness (familiarity based
upon promotion)
Brand liability (with emphasis on
maintaining specific legal requirements)
Perceived quality (quality offerings
lead to a perceived quality brand)
Brand assets (value-added features
beyond basic service benefits)
Brand association (based on the concept of luxury brand extensions, by
developing partnerships with other
well-respected providers of recreation, park and tourism services)
Establishing the Brand
The branding of any organization
begins with the firm establishment of
both an agency's vision and mission,
or more specifically what the agency
wants to be and how it plans to get
there. This includes the specific areas
of benefits and features. Benefits are
the specific values, which consumers
are most looking for in a recreation,

March 2014 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of March 2014 - Parks & Recreation