Chief Marketing Officer, VisitGreenvilleSC
By Leigh Savage | CONTRIBUTOR
After growing up on the Jersey Shore and then taking on high-profile advertising jobs in New York City, Jennifer Stilwell did not envision life in a smaller Southern town. Even after being recruited by Leslie Advertising, she wasn’t convinced, but decided to give Greenville a shot – for a couple of days.
Twenty years later, “it’s the best decision I ever made,” she says. She ran the S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism account at Leslie, overseeing a campaign that won more than 90 awards. After a brief foray at an Atlanta agency, she leapt at the chance to return to Greenville almost three years ago to become chief marketing officer at VisitGreenvilleSC, formerly the Greenville Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Social media awareness, print and online coverage and accommodations growth are rising, and Stilwell’s goal is to continue the upward trajectory. “I fell in love with this state,” she said. “I’m one of the biggest advocates for South Carolina.”
[break]
How did you get your start in advertising?
I always knew I wanted to work in advertising. When I was a senior at Rollins College, I found out I had an interview at Young & Rubicam, then the nation’s largest advertising agency. I had to miss Senior Week, but I did the interview, graduated and started working there right away. It was an amazing experience.
What led you to the niche in travel and tourism marketing?
After Young & Rubicam I worked at Warren Kremer Paino in New York, which specializes in travel and tourism. I worked for the Four Seasons Hotel, Club Med and properties in the Caribbean, among others. I just fell in love with it. Travel is always fun, and it’s all about experiences. It’s pretty exciting to say, “Here’s this neat experience or community or destination that we want to share with you.”
What brought you to Greenville?
I wasn’t looking for a job, and I wasn’t looking to relocate. But a recruiter was very persistent. I had never heard of Greenville before and had absolutely no interest, but the recruiter said, “What do you have to lose?”
When I left New York, everyone said I wouldn’t last a year. A year later I was saying, “Little do you know what I’ve discovered.” I’m never going back.
How do you view your role at VisitGreenvilleSC?
I consider myself a brand architect and a brand navigator. It’s storytelling, and we distill that down into something that is relevant and resonates.
There are direct results, such as “heads in beds” in hotels. But then there is an indirect effect that goes further. The more people you bring to a destination, the more people visit the restaurants and attractions … there is a direct economic benefit to the businesses and to the community.
What are some accomplishments you and your organization have achieved recently?
What a difference a year can make! The hashtag #yeahtthatgreenville has been used 34,000 times. In accommodation growth, we’ve hit the highest mark ever with 68 percent. We’ve increased media coverage by 57 percent and social media by 378 percent. Web traffic and inquiries are up. In a year we’ve been associated with 86 articles that have made 76 million impressions.
What are your plans for the future at VisitGreenvilleSC?
It’s important to keep our eye on the ball, and be strategic and effective with our dollars. In about a year and half, our hotel inventory is going to double. So we can’t maintain the status quo. We have to make sure we are driving demand and awareness to fill those rooms.
Our No.1 job is to grow awareness of our destination so that we are in the consideration set. If you aren’t in people’s consideration set, they aren’t going to come.
What advice were you given that helps you in your career?
The best piece of advice I got was early on – don’t be concerned with the past and how things have been done. A lot of people do things the way they have always been done. That’s not how I look at anything. Everything that I do is a blank canvas where I can be creative and innovate. Creativity is ultimately the game-changer and what makes people take notice.
