The Hummingbird Effect with Wendy Coulter

Welcome to today's episode, hosted by Wendy Coulter, president of Hummingbird Creative Group, alongside marketing strategist Hanna. Joining them is Bri Hensley, Marketing Director for Queenstown Harbor. Learn how small innovations in marketing can lead to significant transformations in business. Bri shares her insights on transitioning from traditional to modern marketing strategies, emphasizing the importance of two-way communication with customers. By integrating customer feedback and creating a personal brand persona, Bri showcases how Queenstown Harbor has achieved increased visibility, engagement, and growth across multiple business pillars. Tune in for actionable insights on listening to your audience and transforming your brand!

00:00 Introduction to Hummingbird Creative Group
01:04 Meet the Team: Hannah Jernigan and Bri Hensley
01:45 Bri's Journey and Experience
04:01 The Hummingbird Effect in Action
06:13 Transforming Marketing Strategies
09:26 Measuring Success and Engagement
11:35 Connecting with Diverse Audiences
16:09 Company Culture and Employee Morale
20:09 The Power of Experimentation
26:12 Key Takeaways and Conclusion

Creators and Guests

Host
Hanna Jernigan
Account Coordinator at Hummingbird Creative Group
Host
Wendy Coulter
As CEO at Hummingbird, I generate ideas that TAKE FLIGHT! I also have a passion to advocate for women in business, and I am an active real estate investor.
Guest
Bri Hensley, MBA
Marketing Director at Queenstown Harbor | Development Professional

What is The Hummingbird Effect with Wendy Coulter?

Welcome to "The Hummingbird Effect," a podcast dedicated to uncovering the subtle yet powerful ways that small innovations can transform your business. Hosted by Wendy Coulter, CEO of Hummingbird Creative Group, this show delves into the stories and strategies behind successful brand building.

For over 25 years, Wendy has helped CEOs and business leaders redefine their brands through innovation and compelling narratives. In this podcast, she shares the insights and lessons learned from her extensive experience, exploring how a strong brand orientation can significantly increase the value of your business.

Each episode features engaging conversations with industry leaders, business advisors, and innovators who have harnessed the power of branding to make a substantial impact. Discover how focusing on core values, mission, and vision can drive your brand beyond mere marketing tactics, fostering a culture that resonates with your audience and enhances your business's reputation.

Inspired by the concept of the Hummingbird Effect—where small, adaptive changes lead to remarkable outcomes—this podcast aims to help you understand and implement the incremental innovations that can elevate your brand and business.

Join Wendy Coulter on "The Hummingbird Effect" and learn how to evolve your brand, attract more customers, and ultimately enhance the value of your business through strategic branding.

32 Hummingbird - Bri
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Wendy: Hi, I'm Wendy Coulter, president of Hummingbird Creative Group, where we help CEOs and marketing leaders unlock the hidden power of their brands. For years, business leaders have focused on marketing tactics, but what truly matters is building a strong brand. Have you ever experienced a hummingbird effect, like the co-evolution of the hummingbird and the flower? This is when small innovations in branding can lead to surprisingly big results in unrelated areas of the business, like an increased valuation, a stronger [00:01:00] culture, or an operational breakthrough. Welcome to the show. Today, I have hummingbirds marketing strategist Hannah Jernigan, with me as usual. Good morning, Hannah.

Hanna: Hi, Wendy. How are you Doing?

Wendy: I am doing great. I'm doing great.

Um, so I'm so excited about today's guest. Um, she actually had a bit of a stay in North Carolina, so I had met her working at the Mooresville Chamber. Her name is Brie Hinsley and she's a marketing director for Queenstown Harbor near DC now, and we are welcoming her to the show today to dive deeper into the world of brand building. Uh, you're my research extraordinaire. Hannah, tell us what you found out about BRI today.

Hanna: Oh, well you did touch on a little bit. So she has lived in the same area as Wendy and I, and that is how they met, um, the Carrie Chamber, Morrisville Chamber connection there. Um, let's see. [00:02:00] Brie one time led an educational travel opportunity program and events for international students at the Florence University of the Arts, so I'm sure she has. Plenty of fun stories to talk about with that. Um, and now she is working for Queenstown Harbor, which you mentioned. So Brie welcome. Did I touch on everything? Is there a more, another fun fact to share?

Bri: Um, I mean that you went way back in my history there. Um, but I mean, you pretty much. Summed it up. I've been working for Queenstown Harbor for three years now. Um, I actually worked here 10 years ago as well, so I was invited back. When I moved back up here. I was with the Morrisville Chamber for five years.

Um, dabbled in nonprofit wedding planning, event planning. So kind of a little bit of everything.

Wendy: Yeah, I feel like your calm thread through everything has been that event piece. Is that

what you love to do the [00:03:00] most?

Bri: Yes. Um, I think it's really exciting. It's, you get to meet so many different people. Um, but then recently I have shifted more towards that marketing aspect, but I'm still in the events world. We have a event venue over here, so still, still marketing for the events world. Definitely.

Wendy: and I've only seen Queenstown Harbor online, but I must say it is a gorgeous, um, golf area from what I can see. Um, and is that, is it on the Potomac or is it, what river is that that

Bri: Yeah, so we are right on the Chester River and that feeds right into the Chesapeake Bay, so you can actually see the Chesapeake Bay Bridge from half of our property, which is really cool.

Wendy: Gorgeous. Yes. Yes. Well, that's awesome. Well, it sounds like you're in a great place for someone who loves events, just from what I've seen of the website. I'll have to visit next time I

come up [00:04:00] your way. Um, so let's transition into a hummingbird effect. Um, we would love to hear a specific instance from you where a seemingly small change in your company's marketing or branding strategy led to a significant and positive outcome or results in some other area of the business. talk to us about what you're, what you're thinking a hummingbird effect could have been for you.

Bri: Yeah. Um, I think. I could talk for hours on so many different things, but, um, for today's purposes, um, I think my main thread is if you aren't checking in with your audience, you aren't effectively marketing to them. So I, um, stepped into this marketing role almost a year ago now, and one thing that I changed right away was interacting with our audience, um, online mostly, but then it also has transitioned into in person.

Um, if you [00:05:00] check our Google reviews, you'll see that we get so much positive feedback on, um, our customer service. Um, and that goes from the golf side, the lodging side, to our food and beverage, to our beverage cart girls. Every single person that we have on site is going to try to go above and beyond for every client, customer golfer.

Bride, whoever you are. Um, and so I've kind of transitioned that into our marketing side, into our marketing strategy of checking in with everyone, um, who visits us or potentially visits us. And then that has actually led into. Finding a new audience. Um, golf is rapidly growing, so we, you can't, you can't stay stagnant with what's working.

So if you're not checking in with your audience and knowing what they want, um, how they're changing, then you're not gonna be able to continue to grow your business.

Wendy: So [00:06:00] describe for me kind of what you walked into and how through, um, you know, innovative, um, ways you've implemented something new there.

Bri: Um, so I walked into kind of a delicate transition, um, where we actually had a third party marketing company working, um, for us. And they were doing just the minimum kind of to keep us visible at that time. Um, but it was a lot of flyers, graphics, um, and not. Forward facing. It wasn't our faces, it wasn't our client's faces.

Um, and before that it was very, um, lack of a better term, it was kind of old school, right? So we did a lot of print advertising. We did, um, we started working, digital started increasing. But when I noticed, when I really started digging in that we weren't interacting with our audience. So we were giving in all of the [00:07:00] information, which is great, but we weren't receiving anything back.

So one thing that I did was, um, I really started researching on social media, people who were talking about us and then interacting with their content that they were posting. And in the past nine months, I would say, um, we've. We've gotten more people sending us dms of pictures they've taken on site because we then post them and everybody loves to be featured, right?

So, um, we're, we're not only getting our content out to more people, but other people are now posting on our behalf and getting to their followers. Um, and so I think that's probably the biggest change that I've seen. And, um, I would say even in copy. Uh, of our social media, of our, um, print advertising.

We've taken it more of a client focused as opposed to a information [00:08:00] promotional focus. And so that has really changed how people see us The brand tone has changed because we're not marketing as a business anymore.

We're marketing ourselves as a a person. Essentially. We've, we've created a brand persona that's an actual person that's your friend, um, that's friends of these customers that are coming on site. Um, and I think that's really changed. We almost immediately, that when I changed that tone, we saw our views digitally go triple of what they were, I wanna say, within like.

Two days, so

Wendy: a great measurement.

So you're embracing what we hear about so much now, and it's a big trend in marketing, which is user generated content. U-G-S-U-G-S for the listeners who are trying to keep up with all the marketing lingo in the world today. Um, and it sounds like that has [00:09:00] made a tremendous difference is letting your customers have their own voice as part of your brand voice too,

and

being their friend as

your persona, which is um, which is so interesting.

And so talk to me some more about measurement. 'cause you're touching on that and I, I kind of went down that path with you, but I, I'd love to hear more about how you're measuring online

and what you're seeing happen.

Bri: Yeah, so I'm a big analytics person, so, um, if there's not a number, I don't wanna see it. Um, but pretty much our, our biggest goals right now are visibility. Um, and so we're really looking at those, um, viewable impressions, those, um, number of views that you can see the little numbers on, like Instagram and TikTok of all the real videos.

Um, that's kind of my main source of is this working? Is this [00:10:00] resonating with our audience? Um, and then in the return we've seen increased. Leads come in. We've seen people, um, noting that they saw us on Google, that they saw us on TikTok or wherever it may be. Um, but they're actually saying that to our front staff as well.

So not only are we getting those digital leads, but we're also getting the people coming in of, oh, I saw your reel the other day and it reminded me that you have this great new technology that I need to come try out. Um, or, oh, I didn't know you had this. Um, we've gotten those comments as well. So, um, I think that's probably the biggest measures that I'm currently using is that visibility, the views.

Um, and then of course you always wanna look at that engagement. How many, um, comments, shares, likes are you getting? Um, I love the shares right now 'cause if we share something, then uh, other people share it, then it [00:11:00] goes to how many more people. So.

Wendy: So we always talk about kind of the difference between tactics and strategy, and so you are able to measure these tactics individually and what's going on with things. But talk to me about strategically. What were the business metrics? What goals are set, um, and how you're meeting or exceeding those higher level strategic business goals,

um, and where you see that able to take you next.

Bri: Yes. So we are, we are a unicorn property. So, um, we have golf, we have lodging, we have a wedding venue, we have a driving range, um, and we have a small restaurant. And then we have a trajectory, trajectory kind of to double everything we have in the next five years to add more. So, um. When we talk marketing strategy, we're looking at all [00:12:00] five of these content pillars and saying, how do we, how do we bring them together and how do we market them to this five different demographics, but also to the same demographic?

Um, so that's kind of our overall marketing strategy, which is very, is is a lot, right? So one person doing all of these content pillars is. A little on the crazy side, but, um, but it also keeps our marketing strategy super tight. So I am a marketing director who I am talking to every single one of those content people, um, on site every single day.

What's going on in the golf? What's our T sheet look like today? Um, how are lodging guests reacting to X, y, and Z onsite as well as digitally? Um, how many wedding leads have we gotten today? How many corporate meeting leads have we got today? How many retreat leads have we got today? Um, how many people came in and had lunch during lunchtime, [00:13:00] today, div, all of these different things.

And so our overall arching marketing strategy really is how do these five pillars connect and how do we get that message out to these five different demographics and. That's a lot. Um, so the main way that we look at these different things and measure these different things is different for each content.

So, um, lodging, we're pretty booked up every weekend, um, about a year out. So we look at what leads are coming in, um, on a daily basis. What is our availability and how is that gonna grow in the future? Um, why that's kind my job with that portion is pretty much. Giving numbers to support why we need to build more cottages, right.

Um, with other things. So we have, um, a new driving range that is very technologically [00:14:00] savvy with, um, it's called top tracers. So it's, um, kind, it's the same technology that Topgolf has. Um.

Wendy: Oh, that's cool.

Bri: Yeah. So, um, we have our golfers love that, right? But then now we're marketing how do we get females here? How do we get the non-golfers here?

Um, we are not a big city, so it's very much concentrated of, um, how do we get those people to come to our destination? Um, and the main thing of that is I love hearing, oh, I didn't know you had that too. Um, and so a lot of our wedding parties will actually have their welcome party at our top tracer range now.

And so we're marketing top tracer not only to the golfers that are already coming, but the wedding couples that are coming and we're involving the males right in the wedding dominated female demographic into that wedding planning. So it's really making everything, a mutual activity [00:15:00] of golf is not just.

My husband, it can be, I'm gonna come and go sit on the back of the patio over the Chester River, right? Um, while my husband plays golf, or I'm gonna grab some of my girlfriends and we're gonna go to Top Tracer and have some seltzers and hit a few balls. And maybe one day I'll be able to get on the course with my husband and learn how to do that.

Um, so. Kind of, that's really where we're leading to in the future of, we have a pretty set foundation of where we've been for the past seven, 10 years, and now it's how do we connect all of these pieces to grow to the future. to grow to the future.

Wendy: [00:16:00] So how has company culture and morale been influenced by some of the new. Strategies that you've been putting in place, um, personas is interesting to talk about in

this way too. You know, you said that your, your persona has become a friend to your customer, right? Has that had an impact on employee morale and company culture in a deep way as well as marketing?

Bri: I think so. Um, definitely we, for the longest time we were just a golf course, so we had the older demographic. Um, the same guys came every morning and had the same tee time and saw the same starters every morning. It was very much a, [00:17:00] a good buddy buddy morale. Right. Well, now we're having. who don't know how to play golf.

People who are just coming for the views, people who are just coming for the a wedding weekend who may or may not ever come back. And so that's completely changed the demographic of client that we have. We've added more staff because of that. And it's been more of a younger staff, right? So now we're having these intergenerational communication styles, um, and even on the marketing side of.

We're, we're marketing differently, right? So we have our customer journey for each of these five pillars. I have taken it a step further and kind of created a brand product persona for each of these. So it's that customer journey's best friend, right? So, um, so the guys who are coming to golf, um, that brand persona is more of that loose fun.

Um, we wanna. Do all the [00:18:00] fun things, um, get a little bit competitive, um, but it is more boisterous, right? So, you know, guys in their guys weekends, golf, we're playing poker, we're getting out on the boat. Um, that's our brand persona for that demographic. But then you look on the other side of our weddings, our wedding clients, um, that brand persona is really, we are here to support you.

We are that I think of like L Woods and Legally Blonde, right? So like everybody loves us. We are pretty, we are nice. Um, but we are here to support you. We are a girl's girl. So two very different demographics, right? But they can definitely go together. So it's really finding it's that that that wedding weekend where we need to get the guys on board, right?

Like you can come play golf, you can come hang out with your bachelor party, you can come hang out. But then your girls, you are planning. Best day of your entire life that [00:19:00] you've dreamed of since you were 12. And we're gonna support you through that in a completely different way that we're gonna support the guys.

So it's really, um, that culture on on site has changed tremendously, but it's super fun to see. Um. How everybody interacts as well. Um, one of, literally one of my best friends on site is like a 79-year-old guy who does, he always gives me the biggest hug when he sees me. And, um, it's like, it's like having a grandpa, right?

So I feel like that's how a lot of our employees have kind of interacted of you. You kind of like buddy up. You have your, you have your older generation with your younger generation. Um. Talking to each other, um, going out and playing golf. We have an employee tournament every year and you'll see, um, so many different people and generations in each of those groups.

It's really fun. Um, definitely a challenge, definitely a transition that we're gonna keep fighting through, [00:20:00] right? Um, but it's a lot of fun and I think it helps bring the different demographics that we can serve to property as well.

Wendy: So we are really kind of straightforward about what, what marketing is all about here at Hummingbird in the sense that there is a lot of experimentation that happens, right?

Um, everything isn't black and white. You don't always get it right on the first shot. You've got to keep trying new things. Can you talk to me about how you use experimentation?

I mean, with all of these different demographics, I'm sure you've got tons of examples.

Bri: Oh yes, definitely. So, um, one thing that comes to mind is when we opened our, um, renovated top tracer range, um, in, it was more in the winter, so it was just about to be spring. The leaves haven't come in yet. Um, and so you can, it is right [00:21:00] on the creek. So in the winter you can see the water, right? Um, in the summer, once those trees grow in, uh, it's a little bit harder.

You have to kind of look for it a little bit more. Um, and so one of the things that I did in my messaging in my copy was, um, you know, you're, you're right on the water. I forget exactly how I said it, but, um, water views from every bay, I think is something like that. And our, um. Some of our golf guys was like, that's not true, that that's not true.

We're gonna have older guys coming and expecting to see the water and they're then we're gonna have to like take the wrap for it. And I'm like, it is true. Even though, you know, so it's like it's getting through those barriers. Um, it's, it's there. Um, it's getting them to really understand that, um, marketing, marketing is.

a, it's a nuance, right? It's getting them here [00:22:00] or at least getting them to look Again. That messaging was really like, oh, I'm gonna go to this website and then you'll see like, you know, you can't, it's not waterview, right? Um, but so it's like social media is really that first point of I need to get in front of you and then you'll go to our website.

You have to go to our website to. Book a tee time or book a bay or send in a lead form. you have water views from every single point on, um, on our property, and it's different in different seasons.

But that's also where, um. That messaging comes from. So when we're sending out that message in March when the leaves haven't grown in, yes you can see the water, but if somebody comes in July and the trees have grown in, that's, they're not looking three months back in our Instagram to see what our caption was.

Um, and so I think that is one of the, the biggest. [00:23:00] Challenges of, um, getting, getting the right messaging out. Um, but it was also a learning curve for me of, okay, I need to slow roll into this messaging shift and not just jump right into it. Um, so that was just, that was something that I had to kind of like take myself back on of, I know there's water there, everybody here knows there's water there.

But yeah, I can see your point of. If somebody comes in June or July, you have to look really hard for that water. So it's really that give and take. It's really, it's really understanding. You can't just make that shift automatically. Um, but now we do have people coming who are like, oh yeah, I can see the water.

That's awesome. Being aware of. How to make that shift I think is really important.

Wendy: And I think so many people make assumptions. That something could be a problem that doesn't turn into necessarily [00:24:00] a problem. And so that's part of the art, right,

of answering to people's concerns. And um, so I wanna take a step back to the Hummingbird effect and the idea of like, really listening to what customers have to say.

Um. What do you believe you've learned from that as a lesson so far?

And then how is that going to, to change your approach going forward? Or what's next? Like,

Bri: Yeah.

Wendy: next plan?

Bri: Um, so I think that listening to customers is I'm someone who always is learning. I love to research all the new different trends and, you know, all that fun stuff, all the algorithms. Um, so I think something that I've learned from listening to our customers is. have [00:25:00] to look back what's working, what's, what is that traditional, um, messaging, and then how can we.

Keep it the same, but shift it to get that new group while also keeping this group happy. Right. And so, I mean, you can't keep everyone happy all the time, especially with growth. Some people just don't, don't want to grow. Um, they love what they've been coming to for 20 years, which I fully respect and understand.

Um, but it's really like making sure that those people know that not your golf is still the same your. Your river course, your lakes course is still the same thing that you've always loved. We're making it better. Um, and we're bringing, we're bringing your daughter in, we're bringing your granddaughter in.

Um, so you're really, we're really trying to make it a generational place. Um, and I think that that has been the, the biggest lesson that I've learned from listening to the customers. Um. [00:26:00] Of making that brand persona the same thing that you've always loved, but then introducing that new generation as well, um, which actually supports that, that first, so.

Wendy: Hannah, I feel like Brie has unlocked so many opportunities with what she's been able to do by talking with the customers. Um, what do you think about this? What are you taking away from

the conversation?

Hanna: I think I've changed the direction of what I'm kind of taking away a lot of times. And Brie, I like to kind of bring us all back together and kind of highlight some of the points that I've heard to see if we need to kind of talk more about anything. So first of all, thank you for talking through all of this.

It was really insightful. Um, but. And you, you said this, but if we had to pinpoint your hummingbird effect and to restate it, it would be your move from one way marketing to intentional two-way communication. Um, the act of simply [00:27:00] checking in with your audience,

both online and person. It may seem small or it may seem simple to someone coming in, but it changed everything for you all.

Um. Okay, by listening, first you created room and space for your audience to talk back to, share stories, photos, feedback, and in return your marketing became more personal. Um, it was more engaging and I would say it's more human, especially if you're using your people to show it off. So visibility and awareness, you said went up. Very quickly, I think you said

like three days. So more people started showing up and speaking up and the brand became something people wanted to be a part of rather than just somewhere that they come to visit. Uh, but what's even more powerful, I think, and you haven't touched on it a lot, but I'm hearing it and kind of what you're saying is a shift that impacted your [00:28:00] team, um, when you made listening and communication part of the culture of. Every of your place. It sent that strong messaging internally of you already know what you need to know. You just have to listen. You already know the brand persona. You already know the voice that we're using. You just need to listen to the people that are coming to you. And that clarity builds confidence, whether it's someone starting their career.

'cause often at golf courses you do see younger. Kids who have a summer job,

um, even to the oldest people who are having a lot of change happen. So I think that that clarity helps build confidence with your team. It helps your team trust themselves and to be able to make decisions that don't always have to be run through you. Um, so they can lead conversations and they know the right things to do to get the results 'cause they've seen you do it. Um, so. I guess for [00:29:00] everyone listening, the takeaway is you don't always need a giant rebrand or a big flashy campaign. They're great. Sometimes I guess the most, the power most powerful thing you can do is. Listen, create a brand that listens to trust your team and to put trust the work that you're doing puts the right people in the right places. So that was a lot. I know you were expecting all of that, but there was a lot that I took from you of just sometimes the simple change is the right change.

So, yeah. Sorry, that was long-winded.

Wendy: I love it, Anna, you always recap. So awesome. And um, great takeaways. Great takeaways. , Brie, we really appreciate your insights today and giving us your time in this. Not in the studio, but

uh, here on the podcast, um, to explore the Hummingbird effect in action. [00:30:00] Would you like to share your contact information with our listeners today?

Bri: Yes, definitely. Um, you can find me on LinkedIn, Brie Hensley, um, you or look up Queenstown Harbor. You can find me on there as well. Um, and then if anybody wants to continue talking, um, feel free to send me an email brie@briebydesign.com. Um, I'd love to. Get your insights and your thoughts and maybe how you took your, um, your culture and shifted it or listened to your customers.

And I, I, like I said, I'm always loved learning, so I love hearing those outside perspectives.

Wendy: Well, I just wanna thank, thank each of our listeners for giving us your time and energy today. I hope we've brought you some joy through this episode with Brie and I hope you can take what you've learned today and go find your own hummingbird effect.

[00:31:00]