It’s archeology, and it’s a very under-used weapon in tourism and place-branding.

Most times, tourism officials are wrongly obsessed with building convention centers and hotels. They think they need to meet with advertising folks, and have they little time for odd people in worn clothes who dig up things.

Many people who are seemingly for “economic development” see archeology  as something that slows down large construction projects. That can be true in some cases, but the reality is that prudent developers always check first with a county planning department before they buy a property. It’s called due diligence, and making a few quick calls before you sign a deal is prudent, as you don’t want to be building a new hotel on an old native American burial place.

Newness Never Lasts

A focus on newness has most local tourism promoters thinking about the wrong things, and making friends with the wrong people. A new convention hall at a new hotel can only be “new” for about 6 months or so. By the third or fourth year, it’s old stuff. Yes, a nice convention hall is expected, but it does nothing to make your destination more interesting over the long term.

But sophisticated destinations understand something different. These destinations see a connection between history and culture, and will often promote digs as part of the tourism product. For instance, the PR agency Weill sends out regular press releases on finds in Israel. A new street? Send a release! Some Roman bit? Send another?

Here’s how Israel does it:

New York – February 18, 2010: Flagstones from a 1,500-year-old street were discovered this month during an excavation in the Old City of Jerusalem.

The ancient street follows the same course as the present-day David Street in the Old City and provides evidence supporting the Madaba Map–a 1,400-year-old mosaic map which depicted the Land of Israel in the Byzantine period and the entrance to Jerusalem from the west that led to a single, central thoroughfare on that side of the city.  The mosaic is believed to be from the largest bustling street during the Christian rule of Jerusalem.

“We discovered the flagstones, more than a meter long, paved the road at a depth of about 14 feet below street level,” says Dr. Ofer Sion, Excavation Director, Israel Antiquities Authority.

Now, you say. We don’t have artifacts of Biblical proportions in my little corner of the world. This Does Not Apply.

Not true. Even modest digs are interesting to the public. And realistically, most parts of the world have native cultures that are thousands of years old lying beneath.

Archaeology does something long-term for your destination. It builds interest in your place, and gives your region a narrative, sometimes thousands of years old. A few reasons why archaeology is so potent for tourism:

1. It happens over time. Finds are never quite done. They keep unearthing things. Even small items tend to build interest in other things. The media never tires of finds. Yes, it’s exciting when gold trinkets and such are found, but the constant dribble of any  bit of modest news helps keep your destination in the press, both in local, state and international circles.
2. It touches all groups. What you find is always across demographics and races. Findings are almost always subversive.
3. The process itself generates economic activity. While no one would think a dig would be as big an employer as a factory, the dig is almost always a low-cost investment. The dig itself generates room visits, purchases and such. The other thing; digs almost always come before large road projects, etc., so they help promote what happens after the dig.
4. It lays a foundation for community support for culture and history. The people who care about culture and history are the people who support the sorts of amenities that make a destination interesting.
5. It attracts academic interest in an area. A dig is always of interest to areas larger than your immediate MSA. Very few digs are just interesting to a local community; they are written up in journals and such, and become part of the international academic community. This permanent attention lives on forever.
6. Youth are always interested in archaeology. The local youth can always be a part of the project through school curriculum. Almost all digs fit into some standards of learning; getting the youth of a community interested in its past ultimately gets them interested in the future.
7. It aligns your tourism office with the “right” local folks. The sorts of folks who show up at local historical society meetings and such are usually the old guard of a community. Many CVB and TDC officials move from place to place. They are often in a disconnect, and then wonder why they are undermined. But historical societies and the like are an easy way to connect with these folks who can either help you, or undermine you.
8. Historical writing and research precedes literature. Getting a destination mentioned in books and literature is important to building interest in a community. The only way writers know the interesting facts about a place is through research.
9. It helps with search engines. The information gleaned from any dig should be posted online. The information is never just about the dig, though; it always relates to the whole geographic area and its story. These keywords are valuable in building the online “story” of your destination.
10. The end is never in sight. The interest in one part of your destination helps build interest in other pieces of your destination.

SARASOTA - At the Mote Marine Aquarium here, there is a small cabinet of shark repellent brands. During World War II, the Navy tried to come up with ideas, and numerous brands were launched. They didn’t survive.

Apparently, certain copper compounds do chase away sharks, but there has never been a definitive product that proved itself. The search continues for a solution.

Above, Presto Shark Chaser, which advertised that it protects “even when least expected.”

Right, 1 HR Shark Chaser. It was designed to protect a fishing line for an hour. There was also the shark repellent brand Swim Safe, which came in an aerosol bottle.

Shark brands are just not about repellent. Below, a shark bite testing machine, made by NCA Engineering Corp. of San Gabriel, California.

MIAMI – There could not have been a more perfect Florida ambassador, and airline, than National Airlines.

When the “Sunshine Airline” merged into Pan American World Airways in 1980, a uniquely Florida institution was lost. Arguably, it was the only airline that promoted a state as its marketing position and achieved national prominence with that approach. (New York Air sort of succeeded for a time; Air Florida was the other, and we know what happened there.)

National, founded in 1934 by George T. Baker, did everything for Florida. It was the first domestic jet carrier and the first all-jet carrier. It pioneered transatlantic service from the South to Europe. After being taken over by appliance heir Bud Maytag, it created a nationwide stir with the airline’s 1971 “Fly Me” campaign, which highlighted stewardesses telling of reasons to “Fly Me” by flying National. Feminists protested, but the campaign worked.

The Florida sun theme (and Sun King logo) was everywhere, and not just painted on DC-10 tails.

In New York’s JFK, National built the Sundrome, an extravantly elegant glass-walled terminal designed by I.M. Pei. (It sits next to the TWA Flight Center (now of JetBlue) and the Pan Am Worldport (now of Delta). No matter what the weather in New York, this Florida “embassy” was warm and sunny, filled with gorgeous flight attendants in Oleg Cassini uniforms taking guests to the sun. National changed the marketing of Florida from a seasonal destination to an all-year market. It also helped change the image of Florida as a place not only of hotels and swamp-brokers, but a state where technological leadership and business acumen were celebrated.

Every bit of the airline was close to perfection. The airline even owned its planes outright, which made it a too-plump takeover target. It is a cautionary tale, and proof that in capitalism, something that is run very well can still disappear for reasons that have little to do with economics.

A successor airline also had the moniker National Airlines, but it had no direct connection with the original. For a time in the 1990s, the Sun King logo appeared on the planes of Key Airlines, which was a small Southeast airline.

In most areas, zoning and sign restrictions have become so severe that there are fewer and fewer ways to get the word out. Enter this contraption, which sells for about $500. There is no franchise fee; you just buy the thing and go out and sell some ads.

Sarasota, Florida entrepreneur and limo owner Bob Nickla of Boss Limousine got the concept together, built a prototype,  put up a website and started selling them on the internet at the website ipedalads.com. We heard about it, and thought of some uses other than as a mobile billboard company:

1. Pharmaceutical promotions: In many hospitals, pharma reps are banned from giving out gifts. It can easily be used in a medical campus to promote certain drugs.
2. Universities: Companies could take it to university settings to hand out freebies or promote books, food and the like.
3. Door-to-door delivery: With the addition of a carrying area in the trailer, it would be a perfect regular promotion for a restaurant, drugstore or pizza delivery service; restaurants would just buy one, and leave their banner up as they took food around.
4. Restaurant promotions: Restaurants and food shops can give away free samples and menus in busy pedestrian areas.
5. Malls: This would be an excellent addition for a mall; the mall management could license the I Pedal Ads to one person, who could then set up a schedule of promotions for tenants. For instance, the Macy’s chick who gives away perfume samples or the Asian eatery owner giving away chicken samples could travel up and down the mall, livening up the mall scene. Or alternately, the mall management could buy one for the mall, and allow store owners to use it for one hour each week, with prime shopping hours raffled off to tenants.
6. Theme Parks and Resorts: One issue when guests get to a destination is to get visitors to spend. How about a mobile promotion to hand out freebies and coupons for shops and restaurants in the park.
7. Visitor Bureaus and Chamber of Commerce: Very often, visitor bureau and chamber of commerce staff in a resort area sits behind a counter. Getting out on an I Pedal Ads with coupons, menus and visitor information just might be the ticket to selling tourists on staying an extra night, or just eating dinner out.

See Ipedalads.com

And then, a few weeks ago, I go to the opening of their store on Sarasota’s Tamiami Trail. It’s a civic occasion because IHOP (and McDonald’s and Outback) seem to be the only new businesses opening up on our bit of suburban strip in this shut-down year, and everyone in town is wishing them well. They hired 125 folks when they opened the store. If this is to be a long recession, every job is precious.

The store, a franchise, explains the run-up in share price the chain has seen in recent months. IHOP is actually DineEquity (NYSE: DIN); it renamed itself after its merger with Applebee’s.

Having been at IHOP restaurants that were no better than a Lum’s, the turnaround I saw inside was a revelation. The place was packed, and the store nailed it on every single count. I thought it might be instructive to list what went right:

• Location: They opened it in some of the best real estate in town, in an outparcel of a shopping center anchored by a Barnes & Noble and Best Buy. The location was previously a Village Inn that closed last year.
• Hiring: The hostess outside, Roberta, was easily able to deflect annoying customers who wanted to grump about the wait. Our waitress was equally friendly. While you don’t have to be a genius to wait tables, it does require a certain stamina, and many restaurant chains do not try to hire friendly folks.
• The Look: The decor is perfect for its market, clever but not edgy. Silkscreens of old IHOP restaurants, sketches kitchen whisks and the like are on the wall, giving a hip but homey feel to the store. It is obvious that the Glendale headquarters staff knows what it is doing. While the whole idea of IHOP is kitsch, it is no longer kitschy but now classic.
• Nostalgia: They have  sense of the nostalgia of the IHOP brand without living in the past. Old photos are done in collages, to keep them from being backwards feeling.
• Accountability: The manager, a polished Patrick Welenc, had his name emblazoned on the front door of the restaurant. It was obvious that the restaurant was his, as he walked from table to table to check in on patrons.
• The customers were upper middle class. While it is Sarasota where there is lots of money, I wasn’t expecting the crowd I saw. For instance, the grandfather heading up the table next to us wore a Berkshire Hathaway polo shirt, and he had long discussions with his sons about municipal unions and bottlers while waitresses served up Rooty Tooty breakfasts.

IHOP’s success proves that the full-service family restaurant isn’t dead, by a long shot. The shakedown Americans have felt in this pullback have put people back in reality, and I feel quite certain that IHOP will be a part of that reality for a long time. If a chain can’t perform in this sector, it isn’t because of consumer trends. It’s because they can’t do the simple things that are needed to run a restaurant.

The success also bodes well for other full-service, mid-market restaurant chains that might attempt revivals in this economy. If they are done well, they can succeed.

We wrote about the Cypress Gardens closing on Nov. 17 and the last day under old ownership for the park. Read our post entitled Twenty One Ways to Save Cypress Gardens.

Thankfully, it will open again on March 28, with a new leader who knew and worked with the founding Pope family. Bill Sims is a former executive vice president of Cypress Gardens who worked with the founding Pope family from the early 1970s until 1985, when the park was sold for the first time.

Sims is also is the former chief executive officer and executive vice president of the Silver Springs attraction near Ocala, a former executive with Weekee Wachee Spring Hill and a former state tourism representative. Sims is president of CG MGMT LLC, which has been retained by owners Brian Philpot and Rob Harper to oversee the operation. “I cut my teeth in the entertainment industry at Cypress Gardens and learned from the best in the business, Dick Pope Sr.,” Sims said in a press release distributed at a Winter Haven news conference.

The press release said that the reborn Cypress Gardens will focus on the botanical and topiary gardens along with Splash Island. To save on operating costs, the park owners have found new homes for the creatures from the attraction’s former zoo and are selling and removing the carnival and adventure rides installed in 2004. Sims said 14 of the park’s previous 38 rides have already been removed.

Hallelujah! The move will not please coaster enthusiasts, but that is good. Becoming a theme park added to staff costs, and attracted a different crowd than the original park, which enjoyed the gardens and ski shows.

Ski shows and electric boat tours will resume operation as will concerts and special events, including flower festivals.

The gardens and the water park will have separate admission gates and separate ticketing, though a combination pass also will be available. Ticket prices will be reduced up to 40 percent off the 2008 prices.

Season passes will go on sale March 1, and the expiration date of valid season passes sold before the park closed in mid-November will be extended by four months.

See CypressGardens.com

Aciman found the cologne, after a long search, at the Maus & Hoffman men’s store in Palm Beach (the store has branches in Naples, Sarasota, Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton). Maus & Hoffman itself is an institution, founded in 1940 by William Maus, Sr. and Frank Hoffma.

If you are searching for an old perfume, read our posts on perfume:

• History of Wolff-Freres
• History of Unique and Historic Perfume Brands

But most have forgotten something. That for over a decade, the Lilly brand was defunct. Kaput. Out of business. When Lilly Pulitzer decided to retire in 1984, the whole thing shut down, only to be revived a total of nine years later.

And then it returned. Yes, some old patterns were revived, but essentially, it is a completely new company. Reinvented, after closing for nine years. This is a good omen for those who wish for Burdine’s, Marshall Field’s and Carroll Reed to return. It can be done; in fact when there is a great story, it makes it easy.

Recently, Lilly did the ultimate for a brand. It opened a boutique on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Please do go by and visit this holiday season. It’s at 1020 Madison Avenue.

The park was founded in 1936 by Dick Pope, originally to show off his lakefront gardens. It grew with the addition of water-ski shows, many led by his son, Dick Pope Jr. At its height, it attracted the likes of the Shah of Iran, who even took a spin behind a boat! The park was constantly on television and in movies, with regular star visits from the likes of Elvis and Ester Williams.

After the park risked closure, a Friends of Cypress Gardens effort led by Burma Posey raised millions to buy easements and protect the park, all with the help of Gov. Jeb Bush, local officials and thousands of fans, former employees and neighbors, all of whom didn’t want to see the icon close.

It is now owned by Mulberry, Florida-based LandSouth Adventures LLC, part of Land South Holdings, LLC, a real estate investment company created in 2003. Cypress Gardens was managed by Steve Baker’s Orlando-based Baker Leisure Group, a theme park consultancy and management company founded 1988.

Enormous Goodwill

When one considers the viability of a brand that is dying, one looks at goodwill, that intangible (and tangible) sense of love for a product. In the case of Cypress Gardens, the love is more than intangible, as citizens actually contributed donations to keep the park from being sold off. If anything, the past management has not been able to properly tap into this affection with the right economic formula.

We went for the closing weekend, to observe the park at work, find where there was brand value, and recommend what could be done. A few thoughts:

1. Bring back the Dick Pope Cypress Gardens retail brand. Across the United States, those of us who only came to Florida once in their childhood, still knew about Cypress Gardens through Cypress Gardens/Dick Pope Jr. water skis. They were an advertisement for the park, as well as a moneymaker. Water skiing and wake-boarding are popular sports, and the Cypress Gardens brand has the street credibility needed for licensing. It should be as big a brand as Quicksilver but as authentic as Birdwell’s. The Cypress Gardens brand becomes like Ron Jon. Instead of trying to expand the size of the park, you shrink it and instead develop a T-shirt and sportswear brand where small boutiques and push carts, like Peace Frogs, begin to appear across Florida. Surf and ski youth value tradition, so that the “antique” aspect is actually an asset, not a liability.
2. Accentuate the non-profit. An economic model for Cypress Gardens to consider is the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond, Virginia. Like Cypress Gardens, the place has roots in a garden, as well as an attraction. The Botanical Garden came out of tobacco baron Lewis Ginter’s zoo that was situated at the end of the streetcar line, as well as a men’s cycling club. It became the residence of Grace Arents, Ginter’s niece. They have a small children’s water feature, and at Christmas turn the operation into a wonderland of lighting. There are for-profit operations that run the food, under license. They have a Tea House that functions like a club, only available to members. The gift shop operation, led by Martha Anne Ellis, is superb, and could be a model for Cypress Gardens. Hint: The retail at the front of the gardens is open to all, all the time.
3. Don’t forget a new generation. At the show, there was a rush of people to come over and greet the water-ski stars. To me, that looks like a great market. If Sea World can sell encounters with dolphins, than surely Cypress Gardens can sell an afternoon with a water-ski pro. Right now, there are dozens of water ski schools around the state of Florida. Currently Nautiques and Masterline sponsor the show. It would not be too hard to set up a school for week-long classes in conjunction with Cypress Gardens and these brands. (The Joe Smith Wakeboarding School at Cypress Gardens.) That way, Cypress Gardens is developing new talent and fans. At the end of the course, parents come from Chicago and see Sally and Joe perform in front of the stadium. Now that’s a vacation.
4. Good for you to remove the rides. They are expensive to insure, to maintain and to supervise. Baker is smart to remove these rides, which go against the original “brand” of the park which was centered around a slow-moving water ride and gardens (see #6).
5. Some rides should remain. Smaller rides like the carousel could move. At Rye Playland, some of the rides at one time were owned individually by individuals in the town. This sort of thing helps to not only spread the risk, but to provide human capital to keep the park open, and give locals a stake in its future. The Cypress Belle might be leased out, for instance.
6. The electric canal boats should return. The boats that went through the garden canal should return. Remember. Cypress Gardens is a restful brand.
7. Get rid of some of the Busch Gardens and Adventure Park additions. The theme park was owned by Busch, which owns Sea World and Busch Gardens Tampa. They tried to make it big time, but could not make it work. So look carefully at those changes, and all the post 1980 changes. Scale back to the future. The awful arcade, however, is a gorgeous building, far more sophisticated that it would seem, that used to be the entrance in the 1960s. It is hip. Restore it, perhaps for the entrance to the nearby water park.
8. Don’t forget about the food. At a large theme park, with lots of crowd volume, you don’t have to concentrate on the food. Instead, you try to sell a lot of high-margin starchy foods like fries and funnel cake. But being a smaller park means you need the food to attract the guests, who expect to be able to eat in a non-rushed environment. How about regional foods, to go with the Florida wine shop, Florida plants and Florida atmosphere. Have fewer places to eat, but better. If the crowd volume picks up, add food stands that can be moved out of storage.
9. The Garden. The Garden. You have to provide something different than Disney and Sea World. Exquisitely maintained gardens and restful places are less costly than a high-intensity tourist attraction. Cypress Gardens is part of Florida history. It allows you to operate the park with a smaller staff. The gardens (even a Jesus statue) are fantastic. And it’s not just the historic section but the topiary garden, Snively mansion garden and greenhouse. Perhaps Cypress Gardens is two attractions, working side-by-side. A for-profit water park and a non-profit botanical garden.
10. Wholesome sexy. A dichotomy? Perhaps. At Cypress, it’s wholesome to see a shirtless guy with a hot chick hanging all over her, completely improperly in totally suggestive directions, in a bathing suit. That’s because you have to get CLOSE to do the trick. One can create athletic sex appeal in a performance that attracts both sexes but at the same time not be edgy.
11. Don’t be afraid of the Mouse. Some might see this as competition, and it sort of siphoned off business. But today, there are thousands more visiting Florida than there ever were in the 1950s. So don’t try to be like them. I recall the advice of C.L. Slonaker, a Richmond, Virginia choirmaster and organist. He had a small church, but put on choral performances worthy of St. Martin in the Fields. He never had enough staff to really pull it off, but did it anyway. Fewer things of guality, not quantity, always won with him, and his audience. Remember. Dick Pope helped to BRING Walt to Florida. Cypress is part of the Disney story.
12. Bathing beauties at the pool! The Florida-shaped pool at the end of the garden, the scene in MGM’s Easy To Love, is legendary, and it is the perfect spot for photographs. Perhaps it needs a platform, so that one can have a picture take with the pool in the background.
13. Snively Weddings and Events. The focus on getting the Snively mansion in shape for weddings is perfect. For historic house museums, events bring in needed revenue. In addition, they are perfect for the corporate meetings business. They do this, but it needs to be ramped up and turned upscale. They can then host Rotary, clubs, reunions, etc.
14. Have memberships, not season passes. A change in thinking will help here. Cypress Gardens ought to be a cause. And causes need members. Members get a newsletter. They get discounts. They get to hang out and be invited to a yearly party. They even get a chance to donate! I would guess that members might not just be from around Polk County and Central Florida, but anyone who is connected or values water skiing, botany, pop culture and Florida history.
15. Use volunteers. It is hard for a place that has run for profit to ask for volunteers, but how about this. What if areas like the gardens, which have an easement by the Trust for Public Lands, are manned and partially maintained by volunteers, with professional supervision. If the historic parts of the park go non-profit, it can easily recruit retired volunteers to preserve this institution.
16. Focus on food. At Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, part of the main attraction is the high quality of the food. There is a sit down restaurant, a Tea House, where members could bring guests. It did not only attract members who were there just to visit. It attracted corporate lunches. In Winter Haven, there are not many really upscale options. A 60-seat lunch spot would do a great business with regulars (the retired who have time) but could also be a place for bridal parties, Rotary breakfasts, etc. when it is not open.
17. Ditch the parking charges. If you can afford it, parking charges make for less regular visitation. It also adds extra cost as you have to direct people around, and run a shuttle. Instead, if the crowds are smaller, let them walk in.
18. Open up the shopping village to the public. This is the same idea as Downtown Disney, but in miniature. You have a place where you can go all the time that there is no charge. It provides income for the park and gives locals a place to go. Why restrict casual visitors from the gift shops? The area would be so much more interesting if it had some leased boutiques. Think of the options if you didn’t have to pay to get in. Scrapbook store, with classes. Surf and skateboard shop. Cigar shop. Wine and cheese lunch spot. Ice cream store. The ticket area then moves inside, just past the shops. The nearby Century Retail Town Center at Cypress Gardens becomes a partner.
19. Community arts and theater. The theater becomes an icon for the Winter Haven community as well as the garden visitors. If the village is open to the community (see #15), it can be leased for local graduation ceremonies, concerts and shows. Everything from theater companies to chamber concerts can use it.
20. Love those Aquamaids. Love those Southern Belles. The beauty of Cypress Gardens was not enough to drive visitors. The Popes were promoters, above all, and promoted their Aquamaids and Southern Belles. Today, there are so many unwholesome paths for girls who want to get a touch of fame. The Aquamaids (and Southern Belles) are a great avenue for the aspirational girl who wants to get started in show business. Perhaps the Southern Belle program can partner with Barbizon, or other acting schools? Nearby Orlando is packed with these aspirational girls; perhaps Disney could support the Cypress Gardens Southern Belle program as a farm team for its cast?
21. Don’t give up. People love this place. It really is management that has been out of touch.

We would love it if current and former employees and visitors would add their own ideas here about how Cypress Gardens could be made viable.

It can be a ship’s store and a fishing tackle shop on a small island, like Gasparilla Island, Florida. Here, Whidden’s in Boca Grande. Whidden’s was founded in 1926, and still serves as a marina. It has also been a dance hall and restaurant.

What can we learn from Whidden’s? A good brand is usually connected to a person or a family. It changes over the years, and is often not the same business that it started. It also does not need to invest large sums in fancy branding efforts or graphics. One good sign will do it.

The brand is about the company and what it provides, not the hocus-pocus of new logos, design standards and such. Not that there is anything at all wrong with that. But that sort of graphic detail is reserved for large multinational companies, not small businesses.

By the way, they do have a great slogan. It’s:

A bad day of fishing is always better than a good day at work!