As the temperature gauge heads ever higher this September, Solvang is already planning for a white Christmas with Julefest in its sparkling, shimmery sights.
The big question is: TV advertising or not?
And that, my friends, apparently depends on who the city of Danish lights is trying to attract. If you ask Connie Anderson, the vice president of client strategy at the Abbi Agency—Solvang’s latest and greatest contracted marketing company—the city’s Toursim Advisory Committee wants to “reach a younger audience.” So, the agency proposed spending 75 percent of the city’s media budget on social media advertising.
For those of you who are older than 45, that means Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Tourism Advisory Committee Member Tracy Beard believes you over-the-hill folks “do not look on their phones, do not look on their Instagrams,” but apparently you watch a lot of television with long-ass commercial breaks rather than streaming services on all of your tech devices.
Umm, Tracy, they do look on their phones. And they do the boredom scroll, flicking their fingers past all of those paid social media advertisements that pertain to everything they’ve ever said, everything anyone they’ve been around has ever said, and any place they’ve ever been with their phone. Because phones are creepy.
And you know when they’re doing all of that scrolling, Tracy? While television shows—which, who even watches actual TV anymore?—are on an ad break.
That $36,000 the city of Solvang spent to air two 30-second commercials on California television stations before Julefest last year would probably go a lot further on social media, where the city can target folks who are likely to come on down to Dane-town for a visit.
Tracy was also extremely miffed that the Abbi Agency dared to promote Ostrichland USA in a reel on the city’s Instagram account. (For those who are 45-plus with flip phones stuck in TV-land, a reel is a video. But, you already knew that!)
“Is it that big of a deal? It’s in Buellton,” Tracy said during the committee’s Sept. 1 meeting.
Yeah. Buellton is so far away!
Umm, Tracy, it’s 2.6 miles away from downtown Solvang. Have you ever been there? Visitors can actually feed a bunch of giant birds running around, laying giant eggs, and sticking their heads in the dirt. It’s a big deal. It’s social media gold.
The post she questioned got more engagement than any of the other recent posts by a great order of magnitude.
At least the Abbi Agency understands social media, even if you don’t. Wait. Are you older than 45 and stuck in the dark ages? Or are you suggesting that Solvang should also ignore all of the wineries around it that aren’t in city limits? Ignore the outdoor adventures, too? There are really only so many pictures of danishes and the downtown windmill to populate a feed with. People want to explore more, baby. They want action, adventure, and diverse things they don’t get to see at home.
They want to be wined and dined, and to take photos of cool sights just right to make their friends jealous. Things like ostriches.
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This article appears in Sep 8-15, 2022.