The Power of Together
Uncover how Houston First worked to develop a single, unified approach to help spur tourism, economic development, and investment in America's fourth-largest city.
Houston First works to promote Houston and the surrounding region to convention goers and leisure travelers worldwide through its primary consumer brand, Visit Houston, as well as several sub-brands targeted at particular markets.
However, the city lacked a common brand and messaging for tourism, economic development, and investment attraction. Therefore, in 2021, Houston First created a positioning strategy and messaging that would help Houston’s organizations speak the same language as they worked to attract visitors, talent, and investment. The work resulted in a strategy, brand proposition, and messaging that leveraged the city’s inclusivity and diversity by focusing on the powerful collaborative energy they made possible.
The idea helped the “city of the future” evolve into a city that positioned itself to welcome talent and investment to build their futures — a shift from Houston’s many features to its emotional benefits for the audiences it wanted to attract. United under the platform “The Power of Together”, Houston First created economic development and tourism videos, trade show communications, graphic systems, and other content on B2B and B2C platforms.
Our team met with Clint Pasche, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer for the Greater Houston Partnership. Pasche highlighted the importance of being united in the messaging of the city, even if the organizations have different missions. He mentioned that Houston First, because of budget size among other things, was in the best position to create the Houston brand which partner organizations may then align with and adopt. The excellent communication lines between organizations allow the messaging to become more of a collaborative effort.
The Destination Effect is a joint initiative by Destinations International and Tempest. To share your destination's success story, please email join@destinationeffect.com.
