Town of Webb Publicity Director Mike Farmer said he is looking forward to the quiet of the post-snowmobile, pre-summer shoulder season, but not because he intends to slow down.
Farmer said he plans to spend the month of April regrouping and planning for the town’s upcoming marketing season.
And it’s the first time he’s had the chance, because at this time last year, Farmer had just been hired as publicity director.
“I missed this season,” he said. “This time last year it was a get-down-and-go-to-work period; and I had a lot to learn.”
Now that he had a year under his belt, Farmer said he plans to reflect on marketing changes that may need to be made for the future.
“This year, I can look at the results of the advertising and marketing plan we did last summer and tailor things for the upcoming season,” he said.
Since he was new to the job, Farmer said that in many ways he was making up the plan as he went along.
But now, having time to reflect, he sees where he can coordinate a little better for this next summer.
“I found I was a little ahead of myself. In marketing the Town of Webb, I was marketing a brand, but I hadn’t really defined what that brand is,” he said.
Farmer said he has a better handle going into this year.
Old Forge is the “name recognition” component, but each hamlet in the Town of Webb is a necessary component.
Farmer said he plans to shine a light on the whole Town of Webb in future marketing efforts.
And he’s already started in some of the town’s early-season print advertising, he said.
“I have started to list the hamlets—Thendara, Eagle Bay, Big Moose, Stillwater, Beaver River…”
Farmer said those names and places have a charm and character that locals may tend to lose sight of.
“If you wanted to give someone the impression of the Adirondacks, you couldn’t find made-up names that would do the job any better,” he said.
“So first, I want to include all those communities. This is a group effort, and I don’t want them to feel overshadowed by the emphasis on Old Forge. They are all really important,” he said.
Farmer likens the “Old Forge only” marketing approach to a steak dinner.
“Without the potatoes, the vegetable, there’s nothing,” he said.
Farmer said he intends to carry news of the Town of Webb to the major advertising markets, along with a description:
“This is Adirondack.”
And indeed it is, Farmer said.
“As soon as visitors arrive, we’ve got everything they want in an Adirondack vacation. They don’t need to go any farther. And with the gas prices, they don’t want to,” he said.
And the individual hamlets that make up the Town of Webb are its jewels, he said.
There have always been people that come to stay in Old Forge partially because they want to get up to “Big Moose,” according to Farmer.
“I bet people look on maps sometimes to see if it’s really a place,” he added.
So when people think of the Adirondacks—and many do, all across the country—we need them to also think Old Forge, Farmer said.
“I want to help them make that association.”
Farmer said his best tool in crafting a marketing approach, has been the area’s many visitors.
He said he frequently introduces himself and asks four questions of people and families he sees on the street.
• Where are you from?
• Have you been here before?
• How did you hear about us?
• How long are you staying?
“I found myself getting more information than I ever anticipated. I didn’t need more questions,” he said.
And when he took the answers and distilled them, Farmer said he found that people are simply comfortable here.
“They get out of their cars when they arrive, and they feel at home,” he said.
Comfort, scenery, and plenty of things to do and enjoy. That’s the Old Forge area’s special combination, Farmer said.
“That feeling of comfort in concert with the natural recreation, however they want to enjoy that. Whether they want to sit on a dock or ride the cruise boat; paddle down the river and ride the train back, or mountain bike at McCauley. Whatever level they choose, there is plenty for them to enjoy.
“We team the rustic, classic, Adirondack recreation with that feeling that everybody’s comfortable here. That’s our brand,” he said. “It’s pretty simple stuff.”
