Ep. 24: How To Make Marketing More Inclusive, with Joey Hamilton

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This is the second half of a two part episode, the first part aired September 29, 2020.

In part one, we met Joey Hamilton. He’s a brand strategist, who for years led the marketing efforts for Central Oregon, the region we both call home. In the first half of the interview, Joey’s message—be the voice for those not in the room—was crystal clear. We talked through the travel industry’s collective “wanting” to do more—about embracing social issues instead of ignoring them. We talked about Nike, the NFL, and the ways in which tourism can begin to spread a message of inclusivity that goes far beyond posting a black box.

On this episode, our conversation continues. We talk through marketing messaging, specifically, how we can make our efforts inclusive, broaden our perspective, and cast a wider net for the betterment of our hotels, communities, and destinations.

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I learned so much from Joey.

The theme of our conversation was really this: start somewhere, start now, and don’t stop. You can begin by updating your photo library, and while you’re at it, broadening that target market and the publications you’re choosing to advertise in. You can take a look at your team, and start to have conversations about social issues. You can hire a DEI expert, you don’t need to do this yourself. You can join in and celebrate communities of color. You can be the voice for those not in the room. The more we have these conversations and rally around the BIPOC community, the better. Thankfully, change is coming.

For my part, I’ll continue to use this platform for more conversations like this one.

I hope hearing from Joey has sparked some ideas. More than that, I hope you’ll take action.

As always, keep sharing your stories.