Anika Kimble-Huntley has learned that being the state’s chief tourism marketer involves certain responsibilities that go beyond the published job description.
She took the R.I. Commerce Corp. job three years ago and oversees seven employees and two outside ad agencies. It’s a position that often serves as a lightning rod for criticism from the Ocean State’s famously fussy citizenry over the way the state is presented to the world.
During a sit-down with Providence Business News on the most recent effort to woo cash-laden travelers to the Ocean State, Kimble-Huntley said sparking discussion and intrigue is part of the job.
After a larger-than-life replica of a stuffed quahog began showing up at airports across the country in September 2023, serving as a tourism “ambassador” for the state, many local critics immediately pounced on choosing to have a clam represent Rhode Island to outsiders.
But Kimble-Huntley says that in places such as Detroit and Baltimore, the stuffie became an icebreaker. Passersby didn’t know what to make of it. They wanted to learn more about one of the state’s most cherished types of seafood.
“I don’t know how many people in Rhode Island liked it. I don’t know how many people didn’t like it,” she said. “But if it is getting people’s attention and having them come here to support our economy, then I think you have to be a little more open-minded to it.”
Perhaps more a result of macroeconomic forces than any clever advertisement gimmick, Rhode Island welcomed a record 28.4 million visitors in 2023, a 2.2% increase over the previous record lodged in 2022, according to consultant Tourism Economics.
And those visitors shelled out cash when they came, spending roughly $5.6 billion and generating $935 million in state and local tax revenues, Tourism Economics said. Food and beverage sales and overnight lodging account for almost 50% of total spending. Airline spending and recreation increased 10.2%. (The data for 2024 has not been compiled yet.)
R.I. Commerce ended the giant stuffie promotion in December 2023 and launched its “All That” campaign in February.
Rhode Island is currently marketed in 30 states and the southern tip of Ontario, Canada, via billboards, digital and streaming ads, and video spots appearing in 20 air service markets with connections to Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport.
For 2025, the tourism marketing budget stands at $9.25 million, up 20% from a year earlier because of rising advertising costs, Kimble-Huntley says. R.I. Commerce also has contracts with two outside firms, RDW Group Inc. in Providence and Tallahassee, Fla.-based Zimmerman Agency.
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SPREAD THE WORD: Anika Kimble-Huntley, chief marketing officer for the R.I. Commerce Corp., says it’s important that Rhode Islanders are brand ambassadors because 27% of people responding to an R.I. Commerce brand perception tracking study said they come to the Ocean State because of family and friends and 35% said they will find people in their circle who have been to Rhode Island to find out about it.
PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO[/caption]
R.I. Commerce recently received four gold awards for its “All That” destination marketing effort, the first statewide tourism campaign since 2018. What have been the most successful aspects of the campaign to earn that recognition from the trade publication Travel Weekly?
When the campaign was launched, the first thing we did was go out with a brand perception tracking study in 18 different cities with a survey that gauged the perceptions of Rhode Island. Then we waited five months to do a follow-up.
We learned that it resonated well with our target audience, enhanced visitor perception and increased awareness. And that respondents feel our state is a family-friendly environment, and they feel “free” and part of history when they come here.
We will do another follow-up in five months to see if we moved the needle.
It’s so important that Rhode Islanders are brand ambassadors. Because 27% of the people we surveyed say they come because of family and friends. And 35% who had not been here said they will find people in their circle who have been here to find out about it.
So far, this fiscal year we have had 6.9 billion impressions [a metric that counts how many times a piece of content is seen by individuals].
The other thing we are measuring is looking at net sentiment on social media, which is a measurement of consumers’ emotions around a brand. We look at all the comments and interactions on social media, take the negative feedback and subtract it from the percentage of positive feedback.
In February, our net sentiment was 71%, which is not good. And unfortunately, our net sentiment was being brought down by locals.
But as time moved on and locals got used to [the giant stuffie and “All That” campaigns], our net sentiment began to climb. As of October, it was 93%. What that is telling us is the true target audience has embraced the campaign and [is] speaking positively about that and about the state.
When the campaign and short videos were unveiled locally, there was a suggestion that there would be another phase of the campaign. What specific marketing plans have been unveiled since or are in the works for 2025?
Obviously, first we want to maintain the momentum in tourism. We are seeing exponential growth in the state.
The governor has asked that we start really talking about our history. Because what we have been doing in the past is playing catch-up. When gas prices were high [during the COVID-19 pandemic], we had the “we are closer than you think” campaign. Then gas prices fell.
Now we can get into a core brand message [and] start incorporating the distinct aspects of Rhode Island that we have been wanting to share. And history is a big piece of that.
How can we talk about Gaspee or do storytelling around Nathanael Greene? Or about all the many firsts in Rhode Island? Because I don’t think anyone has really told that story yet.
We also want to really bring technology in tourism to the forefront. We dabbled in augmented reality last year with the [oversized replica] stuffie. You could visually appear in front of six or seven postcards that you could then share on social media. So now we want to take that a step further where you will be able to scan a QR code and appear in front of an entry into [for example] a Newport mansion and see a 360-degree view. And at specific points of interest, we will bring you the history. Those are the types of initiatives we are working on.
[We] partner with publications such as USA Today and others with advertorials and put the QR code in them so you can experience what [it is] like to be here before you get here. We want to do the same thing with streaming TV and the end of commercials.
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ON TOUR: A giant stuffed clam was carried around part of the United States by this truck, including to Washington, D.C., and Detroit, as a way of drawing attention to the unique cuisine Rhode Island can offer visitors.
COURTESY R.I. COMMERCE CORP.[/caption]
Are there any lessons you have learned about what works in promoting tourism and what could be improved?
I did an evaluation when I got here. The team was already doing a great job. There was public relations being done.
But from a marketing side, I wanted to spread our budget around a little differently than my predecessors did. We weren’t using billboards. To me, that was a prime opportunity, especially since we have the technology now where we can serve you an ad.
When I first got here, we had a minuscule database. But since then, it has grown to over 200,000 [individual email addresses from visitors to VisitRhodeIsland.com]. So, we can continue to re-market and re-target. We didn’t really do anything on the national level, such as the partnership with Jennifer Hudson. Or other types of media outlets where we can put Rhode Island on the national stage. These are ways to cover the 20 states we are not marketing in.
We weren’t doing streaming radio and audio.
When you think about the way consumers are being reached today, it is a little different than before I got here. We have opportunities that are generational. Baby boomers want to be involved in history. Gen Z and millennials want nightlife and entertainment activities. I believe we are not showcasing enough of that in our marketing programs.
We are not showing people at nightclubs, at concerts or just hanging out. We need to show more of that.
How satisfied are you with the cooperation and coordination between the state and seven local tourism districts?
We have monthly meetings with the districts. Any new initiatives we have, we want to ensure they agree with what we are doing. Because it is going to affect them directly. We need the regions involved. We are going into their area and want to make sure they are comfortable with what we are doing. It’s very collaborative.
Since we are always looking at what we can do to continue to leverage the assets that we have to responsibly bring people to the state, we are working with the districts on locations where people can have those augmented reality experiences.
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GOING FOR GOLD: The R.I. Commerce Corp. recently won four gold awards from Travel Weekly for its “All That” destination marketing campaign.
COURTESY R.I. COMMERCE CORP.[/caption]
How successful was the quahog/stuffie promotion and will it be brought back as part of “All That”?
I can tell you the fishermen were happy because it was bringing awareness.
We put installations in different airports around the country. And had it on a mobile truck that traveled from Ohio to Baltimore. We estimate we had about 11.6 million impressions between the airports and driving up and down the East Coast.
We were the brand ambassadors. We were selling the state. Some of the feedback was from people wanting to know what it was. And then we were able to ask why they had never been to Rhode Island. People were happily surprised we would take the time to come to them with an experience like that.
We don’t have a [New York-sized] budget. So if we have to do things that seem radical, if it gets people’s attention, then we’ve done our job. I would not have done anything differently.
Do you envision a future marketing department that is not so reliant on private agencies contracting much of the creative direction? Or is this a good status quo?
I’ve run in-house agencies before. And you are going to be limited in terms of staff and technology. The benefits are speed to market. When you are working with an agency, this is what they do. An agency such as RDW has a whole team of people working behind the scenes doing things it would take us a very long time to do ourselves.
It’s true we are saving on salaries and benefits. But at the same time, it’s about the amount of knowledge that comes with an agency. We have access to about 30 experts. If I need something on the database side, I don’t have to go out and hire somebody and go through the interview process. It’s speed and expertise.
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Anika Kimble-Huntley / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO[/caption]
In a previous interview with PBN, you highlighted a desire to create ethnic-specific marketing campaigns. Where does that stand?
A part of our strategy has been to diversify the base of people [who] are coming to Rhode Island. When I first got here, it was about 81% white and 5% Black. Because we can see [the data].
Now we are implementing different multicultural tactics. We purchased ads in special editions of USA Today. There is a special edition for Black History Month and a special edition for Gay Pride Month. And we are looking to do more national media.
Rhode Island faces a potentially significant budget shortfall next fiscal year after several years of federally infused surpluses. Finding ways to boost state-generated revenue will again be a priority. Do you agree tourism still has room to grow as a revenue generator for the state and local communities?
We’ve got different allocations of money, but most of our funding comes from hotel tax revenue. So, I have to put on a magic hat to forecast what I think hotel revenue will be. And that is my budget.
Do I think moving forward [that] our budget will be affected? I don’t. We are diligent on how we spend money and constantly analyze our programs. So, if we see something is not working, then that’s not going to happen anymore. We will move to a different tactic.
But it’s always important that Rhode Islanders are brand ambassadors.
(Corrections: An earlier version of this story gave an incorrect web address for the R.I Commerce Corp.'s tour site. It is visitrhodeisland.com. Also, the earlier version gave an inaccurate racial breakdown of visitors to Rhode Island when Anika Kimble-Huntley first arrived. It was about 81% white. And to clarify, the people who transported the giant stuffie were considered brand ambassadors for Rhode Island.)
