La.’s new gem could boost seafood industry
July 14, 2011
Eschete: Locals face busy year
July 18, 2011
Dig in.
Lafourche Parish’s new tourism slogan, an unashamed allusion to the community’s renowned cuisine, was unveiled Friday in front of the Lafourche Tourism Welcome Center.
Before dozens of Lafourche residents and officials, Parish President Charlotte Randolph and Carolyn Cheramie, the executive director of the parish’s visitor center, pulled down the drapes and revealed replicas of five billboard designs they will use in an attempt to drive tourism to the parish.
“We want people to see that the fork of the river can be an exciting part of a marketing campaign,” Randolph said. “What better way to learn what Lafourche represents than to dig in to our fishing, our food, our festivals and our fun.”
Five advertisements were unveiled in three design schemes. Each began with the same message, “Dig in…,” and then varied by theme. One was of an old plantation home, and the message concluded, “to our history.” The second was a photo of boiled shrimp on a tray with “to our food,” and the third was a commercial fisherman and “to our fishing.”
The campaign’s focal point will be its website, www.diginlafourche.com. Designed by The W.L. Gaiennie Company, it will feature the “Dig In” advertisements, a blog, a list of upcoming events, such as festivals, parades and theatre shows, and social media outlets like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.
Parish officials have said the designs will also be placed on billboards, with the marketing strategy kicking off in the Baton Rouge and New Orleans areas. As the campaign progresses, signs could be purchased as far away as Memphis and Shreveport.
“This is not a campaign meant for the people of Lafourche to see,” Randolph said. “This is a campaign meant for potential visitors to see.”
The exact marketing strategy has yet to be determined, so details were sparse at the presentation.
“The strategy is evolving, simply because there are gauges to determine where people are coming from to the area, and we will address that as we see a need,” Randolph said.
The marketing campaign is a product of $2.17 million the parish received to use over three years for tourism purposes. BP dedicated $30 million in total for marketing the state’s tourism industry late last year after the BP Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill cast Louisiana’s coast in an unwelcoming light.
More than a year after the spill, local officials and fishermen still fight the perception that Lafourche’s beaches are tainted and its seafood is harmful. “This is an opportunity to recover, rebound and rejoice in what we have here,” Randolph said.
Councilman Daniel Lorraine was in attendance and said after the ceremony that he was happy with the design of the advertisements. The campaign should work to draw people into the parish and quell concerns about tainted seafood in places such as Baltimore, where Gulf seafood is sold, he said.
“You’ve got to try to figure out a way to convince them that it’s good,” Lorraine said. “If you can gradually do it, gradually do it, then it will take off by itself.”
Cheramie said the visitor’s center will use Cajun culture and market the parish as the “bayou area” in an attempt to draw tourists who are visiting in New Orleans.
“We are the first Cajun area out of New Orleans,” Cheramie said after the presentation. “It’s unique. We do things differently here. Our cooking is different. We talk different. We market that way, but this ‘Dig In’ campaign is just going to only enhance what we’re doing. We work hand in hand or hand in glove, together, to continue to promote it.”
Cheramie compared the visitor’s center to the parish’s living room, as it is the first thing people see when they exit on La. Highway 1, and said the dedicated funds offer an opportunity to broaden the tourism industry’s boundaries.
“The funding for this marketing plan is much more than our annual budget, so it’s going to give us a chance to expand to other areas that we may not have been able to reach before because of funding constraints and things like that.
“The next step is to get the website up, get the advertising out and open the living room door.”
Lafourche Parish President Charlotte Randolph addresses a crowd of about 50 outside the visitor center last Friday after she unveiled the parish’s new tourism marketing slogan, “Dig In.” ERIC BESSON
