TheBuzz
TheBuzz
Hawaii's image as a place to do business is no day at the beach. At least, not according to national press the state has received since the 1980s, if not earlier. Biz climate -- cold,
hot or just right?A move to reverse the years of negative publicity is afoot through research being conducted on the mainland, in Asia and in Hawaii.
"Hawaii has a strong brand as a visitor destination and we want to keep that," said state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism Deputy Director Sharon Narimatsu. However, the department would like to "complement that with another brand of Hawaii as a place to conduct serious business."
Advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather Hawaii is conducting the study on a pro-bono basis.
"We're approaching it like a branding project," said Ogilvy Managing Partner Tim Anderson.
"Essentially it's to determine what are the truths about what it is to do business in Hawaii -- so that if we understand those we can have a much more meaningful positioning (statement)," he said.
Part of the process was a survey that asked four multipart questions relating to "how business people feel about doing serious business in Hawaii."
The focus group phase is under way. In about a month, Narimatsu said, officials may have "some recommendations on how to go about creating a brand for Hawaii as a place to do business." She believes this is the first study of its kind.
The project was launched last summer, well before Sept. 11, but the infamous date caused a four- to six-week delay in survey distribution. It was decided the survey should "not impose on the business community at the time when their focus should be on surviving and remaining profitable," Narimatsu said.
Free trips to chilly Hawaii
With island-thinned blood it's hard to imagine that anyone would consider Hawaii a warm getaway lately. However it's doubtful the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau would ever say there's a bad time to promote travel to the islands.A Detroit radio station is giving away Hawaii trips using a twist on tried, true and, frankly, tired contest jargon. Instead of telling listeners to repeat "the phrase that pays," for a chance to win the prize, listeners of WDRQ FM are to recite, "The phrase that leis."
The ABC Inc.-owned station's Web site www.931wdrq.com features a series of beauty shots -- beach and palm-tree type; it also identifies one of its promotional partners as Worry Free Vacations.
The company is the charter-operating division of Minnesota-based MLT Vacations Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Northwest Airlines Corp. There was no answer at the local office of MLT Vacations.
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin.
Call 529-4302, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached
at: eengle@starbulletin.com