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Marketing contractor reports more visitors, rolls out "Basecamp Kanab" creative and plans refreshed "Be Kind to Kanab" push
Summary
Contracted marketer Boncom told the Kane County Tourism Tax Advisory Board that 2024 digital campaigns produced more visits and video views while spending less, and previewed a new "Basecamp Kanab" creative push and a planned refresh of the county's "Be Kind to Kanab" stewardship messaging.
Boncom, the county's contracted marketing agency, told the Kane County Tourism Tax Advisory Board on Jan. 20 that 2024 digital campaigns produced more engagement while the county spent less on media, and previewed a new creative platform called "Basecamp Kanab." Boncom representatives said they will continue to prioritize domestic drive markets and test additional media partners in 2025.
Boncom account lead Brett said the team optimized ads for conversions across Meta, Google and other partners and observed more efficient outcomes year-over-year: "we actually are able to spend less money, but get more results," he told the board. Boncom also reported higher website visits and video views compared with 2023 and said average length of stay in the county measured in one credit-card dataset declined from about two days to 1.8 days.
Board members and staff noted limits in the data. Jeanette (Kane County tourism director) said the credit-card tracking source excludes most international transactions, and Boncom confirmed international stays were not visible in that dataset. Boncom described core domestic markets as Nevada, California, Utah and Arizona, with additional testing planned in Texas and New York. The agency also described regional performance differences — for example, Las Vegas produced a high share of the county's Facebook followers while LA produced low cost-per-click rates on some placements.
The agency previewed multiple new video cuts and creative assets for the Basecamp Kanab campaign. Boncom and county staff said the campaign began limited distribution late in 2024 and will run more fully through 2025 so it can be measured against the earlier "Imagination" creative. Brett cautioned that the new creative had not yet had a full year to run: "we didn't get it its full chance to shine," he said.
Board members raised local stewardship concerns that staff and the contractor said they will fold into marketing. Alan Bates (new board member, BLM) and Ashley Heaton (new board member, Wild Time) described recent incidents of carving and vandalism in slot canyons and asked whether the county could refresh the "Be Kind to Kanab" campaign to emphasize leave-no-trace messages specific to fragile features such as slot canyon walls. Jeanette said the county has run a "Be Kind to Kanab" campaign since 2020 and that staff and Boncom have discussed a revamp targeted at issues like carving, trail abuse and restroom behavior.
Boncom said it currently does not purchase paid placements on X (formerly Twitter) because of moderation concerns but will continue organic outreach there and test other partners. The agency also noted that some creative or messaging can trigger platform moderation (for example, a banner referencing "slot machines" used for a "slot canyons" creative required appeals to platforms in past campaigns).
Board members suggested making marketing assets available to local businesses and event organizers so those partners can republish consistent collateral locally. Boncom and county staff said they will share assets for local distribution and cross-promotion (newsletters, venue posters and partner channels) where appropriate.
Provenance: Boncom presentation and board discussion, Jan. 20, 2025 meeting (transcript excerpts start with Boncom intro and run through the marketing Q&A and stewardship discussion).
