Transcript

Bennie F Johnson 

Hello, and thank you for joining us for another episode of AMA’s Marketing And. I’m your host, Bennie F. Johnson, AMA CEO. In our episodes, we explore life through a marketing lens, delving into conversations with individuals that flourish at the intersection of marketing and the unexpected. Through our episodes, we’ll introduce you to visionaries whose stories you might not yet have heard of, but are exactly the ones you need to know.

Through our thought -provoking conversations, we’ll unravel the challenges, triumphs, and pivotal moments that have all been shaped by marketing. Today, my special guest is none other than Leah Chandler, the Chief Marketing Officer for Discover Puerto Rico. As CMO, Leah provides strategic marketing leadership for the organization, and it’s under her leadership that the company has repositioned its brand and setting the stage for four stellar years of record tourism growth performance. Prior to her move to San Juan, was chief marketing officer of Explore Branson, where she also led the growth of the community’s tourism industry, repositioning it as a destination brand. Recently, this summer, Leah has the distinct honor of being named this year’s AMAs Foundations National Nonprofit Marketer of the Year. Please congratulate her and welcome her to our podcast, Leah. Thank you.

Leah Chandler

Thank you so much for having me.

Bennie 

My goodness. It is such a pleasure. You know, I was excited that we could have this conversation when we received the official word that you had won the award. You had the first call we made was we wanted to have you on our podcast to really talk about the kind of energy and creativity that you’ve been able to lead in the last few years in your role at Discover Puerto Rico. Talk a bit about what you’ve done and what excites you about this current role in being chief marketing officer for this tourism brand.

Leah 

Gosh, there’s so much and we’ve had probably five podcasts that go through all of it. It really is an incredible organization and one that is still relatively new as far as destination marketing organizations go. actually here in Puerto Rico had legislation that was passed in 2017. It was bipartisan legislation that actually created for the first time ever a standalone private organization that would market tourism. In the past, tourism has been marketed.

Bennie 

Huh, right. Hmm.

Leah

By the government of Puerto Rico. So this really gave us an opportunity to rethink what tourism could do for Puerto Rico. I was the second employee hired. Now we’re up to a team of about 66 over the last six years, 85 % of whom are Puerto Ricans and live here on the island. And it’s really, I think, been a journey, know, starting in 2018 when we opened our doors.

Bennie 

Wow.

Leah 

Talking to consumers and wanting to first understand perceptions that people had of Puerto Rico, realizing that perceptions were pretty neutral. A lot of people weren’t thinking about Puerto Rico for vacations back then. And in fact, we saw in some research that there’s about a third of the population in the US mainland that didn’t even know you don’t need a passport to come to Puerto Rico. So that in its…

Bennie 

Right. Right.

Leah 

In itself is an exciting sort of blank slate for us to really think about how we want to reintroduce Puerto Rico to the world. Part of that is education and explaining how accessible the destination is, especially to US mainland travelers. And then outside of that sort of tactical message of access, it’s talking about what makes Puerto Rico truly unique and special. And it is the Boricuas themselves, the people who live here in the island.

Bennie 

Right.

Leah 

Who have created this tapestry of culture, whether it’s the music, the nightlife, the dancing, the food, you’re going to find an experience here when you travel to Puerto Rico that you just can’t get anywhere else in the Caribbean, or we think even in the world. And so it’s an incredibly exciting brand to promote and market. And I literally wake up every day and this is not…

It might sound cliche, but it really is true. I am so excited still after six years every single day to get up and market this destination.

Bennie 

Well, you I think it’s really powerful that that you have this marketing challenge that many people face. You actually had a brand that was indifferent, right? Wasn’t like people loved it or people hated it. They didn’t even think about it. And to have that as a challenge, right. But then to be armed with such a richness of the brand, we think about the food, the location experience. You know, you really are right. You have a blank slate to kind of run through. So when did you know you first know that you were starting to make a difference?

Leah 

Mm-hmm. You know, I think in the hiring process, literally on those early days before we even opened our doors and we were, our CEO, Brad Dean and myself at the time, you know, doing 15 interviews a day and starting to build out this team and realizing how unique and special each of these people were who we were bringing into the organization, that they were each so specifically gifted. So, you know,

Bennie 

Mm.

Leah

Distinct in what they were able to bring to the table. We were able to really find the perfect people for each job and very seldom does a CMO get to have that opportunity. You usually walk into a position and you’re inheriting a lot of the staff and you kind of work with what you have. Maybe a position turns over here there, but in this case, we were able to be so customized in the, you know, kind of the mission and the vision for the organization and finding people who matched.

Bennie 

Right

Leah 

Matched up with that ethos. And truly in those interviews, I thought, wow, something big is about to happen when we start seeing the talent that’s coming through the door and we start, you know, one by one building this team. And before we even started posting, you know, the big numbers that we’ve seen over the last five or six years, I knew something big is about to happen.

Bennie 

It’s so great when you can kind of fill it in that space. When I think about you being employee number two, it really leads to the conversation about partnership between the CEO and the CMO. And we hear a lot of kind of conversation about how does marketing get a seat at the executive table? How are we involved in decisions? You really were kind of a co -partner and engineer in building this out. Talk a little bit about your relationship with the CEO in helping you lead a marketing-first organization.

Leah 

Well, I’m very, very fortunate in the sense that I have a, think the perfect scenario for any CMO is a CEO who gets marketing, but doesn’t want to do marketing. that’s, you know, that’s what I mean, honestly, you know, every CMO probably fears that, you know,

Bennie 

Right. Right. Nice distinction there. I like the nuance, right?

Leah

You’ve got a CMO who gets it and they want you to be successful in your role, but hey, I’d love to see that before it gets sent out or hey, let me take a look at that ad. And that’s just not Brad Dean. Brad Dean really understands the bigger picture, the mission of the organization. He’s got very specific roles and relationships that he’s managing. I spoke to Brad for the very first time during a phone interview back in 2018.

And he actually asked me, he said, what is the most important thing that you need from a CEO? And I said to him, I said, I need someone who will take the bullets, you know, as a CMO, especially, you know, in an organization that’s kind of quasi government, you’re going to have, you’re gonna have supporters, you’re gonna have detractors, you’re, making a case, you’re building out this organization, trying to explain what it does and the impact it has.

And in order for me to be able to truly concentrate on the marketing and the results of the marketing team, you have to have a CEO who can handle all of the other stuff so that you’re not getting pulled into conversations that are distracting you from your objectives. And in that conversation, I remember him also talking about this opportunity to create this new destination marketing organization. And he referred to it as a mission.

It wasn’t a job. wasn’t a career move. It really was a mission. And I was immediately kind of stopped in my tracks. And it’s something that I’ve talked to every single person I’ve hired in the six years since that conversation to understand that it’s, yes, it’s about heads and beds and yes, it’s about revenue and yes, it’s about economic impact. But at the root of what we do every day is the people of Puerto Rico and how are we bringing prosperity of the people of Puerto Rico through.

Bennie 

Hmm. Huh.

Leah 

That transformational power of tourism, right? Brad and I really built our relationship on a lot of mutual respect and this shared vision for Discover Puerto Rico and what it could be and how it would impact the island.

Bennie

And it sounds like from what we’ve seen and what we’ve experienced in our conversations that those deep relationships continue not just with the CEO and the CMO, but through your staff and the community and the business that are around as multiple points that are tied into exploring this mission. How has the community changed since you all started? You go from not having any real brand marketing support to now you’re driving, as you said, heads in beds and tourism and interaction and hiring people. How has the community responded?

Leah 

We’ve had a very positive response from the community overall. And I think like any destination today, very different from 10 or 15 years ago, if you’re a CMO who’s not thinking about the impact of tourism on the locals and the people who live here, you are doing a disservice to your organization in the long run. And you’re also doing a disservice to the destination itself. That resident sentiment is more important today than it has ever been.

Bennie 

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Leah 

If you’re a destination marketing organization or a convention and visitors bureau and you’re just thinking about generating tax dollars, how do we get more people? It’s volume, volume. You’re in the wrong business because that’s not the way forward anymore. We have to be thinking about how we protect our environment. We have to be thinking about things like overtourism.

And it’s not just environmental sustainability, it’s cultural sustainability. In a destination like Puerto Rico, it’s how do we honor the people who live here? How do we make them feel pride in the marketing that we’re doing? And the main way we do that at Discover Puerto Rico is by including them in the conversations. When we launch a creative campaign, we’re not just doing surveys with the people in the mainland or in our international markets and talking to consumers, we’re talking to locals.

Bennie 

Right.

Leah 

And not just stakeholders, right? Not just the board members. We’re also talking to regular people who live here every day and whose lives are impacted by tourism. Today, we have more jobs in the tourism and hospitality sector than we’ve ever had in the history of Puerto Rico’s tourism industry. That’s the kind of impact that a destination marketing organization who’s focused on the community and on the people who live here can have. And I think the other thing about, you know, about community here and how the CMO has really helped solidify the relationship between us and the people who live here is by being very true and authentic to the marketing we do. So when we, when we talk about creating a new campaign, we’re shooting a new spot. We’re not only using local talent, our wardrobe is purchased by local designers. We’re using jewelry from.

Bennie 

Right.

Leah 

From local jewelry designers, all of the cast is, and the crew are going to be local. And again, 85% of our marketing team is local. So in order to truly say, we’re leaning into authenticity and we wanna be true and organic to the brand, you gotta walk that walk, right? And so that’s been a big focus of our organization from the beginning.

Bennie 

Right. When we think about, you’re relatively, you know, you’ve been in this role for six years, but relatively new to Puerto Rico. So you have the experience of coming into the marketplace, excuse me, in the community. 

Bennie 

As you go through your job every day, what are the things that still surprise you and you’re, you explore when you’re in Puerto Rico or San Juan or the community around? Are there still kind of moments and stories, restaurants and features that surprise you?

Leah 

Gosh, yes. I mean, the island is just packed with, I mean, and I’m going to sound like a real marketer here, but it truly is like this amazing blend of culture that is, like I mentioned before, it’s the food and it’s the music. There’s also the natural wonders. You know, we have the only rainforest in the U .S. forest system is here in Puerto Rico. There’s five bioluminescent bays in the world. have

Bennie 

Yes. Yeah.

Leah 

Three of them here in Puerto Rico. I mean, you know, we have seven different eco ecosystems, dry forest. I mean, you could literally spend every day traveling around this island and never see every nook and cranny. And that is a marketers dream. You know, I’m never waking up in the morning and saying, gosh, wish we had more stuff to promote. We’ve got a, you know, kind of an embarrassment of wealth and riches here in Puerto Rico in terms of

Bennie 

Right.

Leah 

Tourism product and we’re it gives us a lot of space to work in when it comes to creating campaigns and promotions and activation. So yeah, I love being out exploring the island. Food is probably one of my favorite areas to explore. There’s always a lot of the food scene here is growing exponentially and our award, our chefs are becoming.

Bennie 

Yes.

Leah 

More highly awarded and more acclaimed. And we love to talk about that with our marketing efforts.

Bennie 

I’d be remiss if I didn’t call out this point that you are going to be the only podcast guest ever that will have said by a luminescence. I can go out on a limb and say that and so fitting in this space in there. When we think about Puerto Rico’s rich history and its kind of connections back to community, do you find that there’s stories that are happening there on the island that connect to communities?

Leah

Hahaha! Awesome.

Bennie 

In the rest of the states that provide a connection point for people.

Leah 

Absolutely. Absolutely. I think, you know, one of the interesting connective threads is the number of Puerto Ricans who actually live in the US mainland. So we have a huge diaspora population in the US. fact, more Puerto Ricans live in the mainland than actually live here in Puerto Rico. So you have those stories in those generations really transcending the miles between Puerto Rico and the mainland. But I think there’s a story of connectivity for anyone, even if you’re not a part of the

Bennie 

Right.

Leah 

Puerto Rican diaspora, can find relevancy in the experiences that people have here on the island, whether that’s farming, whether it’s cooking, whether it’s being a tour guide. There are a lot of different stories here in Puerto Rico that make the destination unique. We think that the people, the Puerto Ricans themselves are the ones who bring the destination to life without.

Bennie

Right.

Leah 

You know, the unique narratives of the people who live here. We’re just like any other destination with, you know, shopping and nightlife and restaurants. And the people of Puerto Rico are what really sets us apart from other destinations.

Bennie 

You know, it’s really powerful that you’ve built a kind of new model around tourism marketing in space where there is a conversation about equity. There’s a conversation about economic empowerment and business development that all go hand in hand. And I think it’s really powerful that you’re touching on those points, which sometimes are dispersed, that sometimes are not connected in there. You know, you’re actually committed to growing business in the island. How has that help the organization grow in your relationship to helping businesses grow.

Leah 

Well, I think the biggest thing and probably the easiest thing in terms of helping businesses grow is providing them with the tools that helps them do their job better or makes their jobs easier. And as a destination marketing organization, we have opportunities to do that daily. One of the great examples of really living that opportunity is what we call IDEA. IDEA stands for the Island Digital Education Academy. We launched about two years ago. We hired local university students, trained them on the major travel platforms like TripAdvisor, Google My Business Listings, and Yelp. Those, what we call digital gurus, then went out and met one-on-one with tourism businesses to…

Bennie 

Okay, nice.

Leah 

First assess how they were showing up in those spaces and then training them and giving them the tools to improve their footprint in those spaces. These, know, and like probably many business owners and the business owners here are running their business. They’re not all necessarily marketers. So us being able to give them those basic tools to be able to improve, you know, the way people can find them on the internet and the way they’re showing up in those spaces.

Bennie 

Right. Right.

Leah 

Is a massive step forward, not just for that business, but it’s that rising tide lifts all boats and that the islands tourism industry as a whole is able to collectively grow when those tourism businesses grow. We have 78 municipalities here in Puerto Rico. In two years, we were able to activate this program in all 78 municipalities, impacting about 6,000 local businesses and ensuring that they knew how to

Bennie 

Wow.

Leah 

Access those platforms. We provided them with new assets for those platforms. So we hired local photographers who would go out and take photos and videos of those properties and then uploading them into the Google sphere, for instance. So that’s a very, very tactical way that we’re able to impact the success of local businesses, which in turn creates success for the organization and ultimately the island.

Bennie 

Right. It’s a really powerful way of taking the overall strategy and mission and delivering in such ways that are tactical, practical, and impactful for your audience that you have. So you’re in a space where you’re kind of quasi-governmental. So you’re in a space of kind public-private partnership and engagement. What are some of the things that you’ve learned from kind of navigating that space?

Leah 

Exactly.

Bennie 

For many of us who are listening to the call, it’s unusual to understand how you work with government, nonprofit, and private industry at the same time.

Leah

Sure, and Discover Puerto Rico is a private organization. It’s the way we were established, but we do receive funds from the government of Puerto Rico, which is where that quasi component comes in. We also in the past few years have received federal funds in the shape of American Rescue Plan funds, et cetera, throughout the COVID pandemic. It’s obviously very important that in a scenario that,

Bennie 

Thank you. Right.

Leah 

That like the one that we’re in, that we’re able to stay connected to government officials because we have complimentary responsibilities. In our case, the Puerto Rico Tourism Company, which is the government arm of tourism, is responsible for things like airline and cruise development. So they’re, in many cases, meeting with the airlines, trying to grow the number of seats that are coming into Puerto Rico, building new routes, for instance, Denver.

Bennie

Right.

Leah 

We secured for the first time ever a direct flight from Denver on United that started last October. Exactly. Right. And that kind of stuff, you know, if we’re not working hand in hand with the government on that, we’re missing out. It’s important. We obviously need airplanes in order to get people to Puerto Rico. There’s only a couple of ways to get here. So for us to be able to, you know, work collaboratively with the government.

Bennie 

Wow. Right.

Leah 

We’re generating that demand and they’re saying, hey, Discover Puerto Rico, we’re gonna make sure we’re getting those seats for you to fill. So again, it’s very complimentary roles. We stay close to many government agencies in Puerto Rico, including the governor’s office to ensure, you know, we’re aligned on mission, that they have talking points related to the success of tourism in Puerto Rico and that they’re able to speak to how we’re growing jobs on the island.

Certainly one impacts the other. We know one of us can’t do our jobs without the other one. So having that kind of collaborative spirit is really, really important.

Bennie 

So I’m going to take you off of the island for a second, and we’re going to go to the air. We were talking before about how much we travel and flying around. So what drew you to the travel industry as both mission work and practice? What drew you in?

Leah 

Okay. Well, mean, probably most simply it was vacationing as a kid. I know, a lot of, I lived in the Midwest. I grew up in Indiana. We didn’t take a lot of vacations. Would we did, we would, you know, maybe go to Florida or to Myrtle beach and they were mostly road trips and driving and drive to destinations. you know, I imagine a kid from, you know, the cornfields of Indiana seen.

Bennie

Okay.

Leah

The ocean for the first time and having these experiences that are so different from the ones that I would have in my day -to -day life. And I even remember taking a cruise when I was about nine or 10 and getting for the first time to experiences cultures that were so different from yours. And it really was very exciting to see people who

Bennie

Right.

Leah 

Are different from you and try food that’s new to you. And I think that was something that always stuck with me. My mom tells me that I cried at the airport when we had to fly back home after going on that cruise, because I didn’t want to leave. I guess that kind of stuck with me. do see tourism does have the potential to change lives. I mentioned to you earlier, the Student Youth Travel Association, CIDA, which I’ve been involved in for several years.

Bennie 

Wow.

Leah 

When you see kids going to new destinations, that children who don’t have the chance to travel very much and they are going and being exposed to cultures that are different from them, it opens their minds. It really has the potential to break down barriers when you travel. And so that’s something that has definitely stuck with me. I still see that today and I think our world and certainly…

Bennie 

Right. Right.

Leah 

The U.S. mainland, like we need that more than ever for people to be exposed to people who are different from them. And so that has been a part of my ethos, my personal brand as I’ve continued in the tourism and travel industry and where we see the potential for impact.

Bennie 

Wow, so deeply personal question as you travel, as you live in a destination, one of the top in the world, what’s your favorite go to vacation spot that’s not Puerto Rico?

Leah 

Wow, that’s a tough question because I do spend a lot of my time off in Puerto Rico vacation. You know, I recently went for the first time to Ireland and that was this, this spring and it was amazing. I had a wonderful trip in Ireland. That is a place I would go back to and explore more.

Bennie

Okay.

Leah 

I’m a huge Game of Thrones fan, so I wanted to see a lot of locations where Game of Thrones was filmed, which leads to sort of my next bucket list destination, which is Croatia. So that’s another place I wanna go and check out more Game of Thrones locations. But I’ve got a bucket list that would surprise you that I haven’t seen a lot of sort of the iconic.

Bennie 

Nice. Thanks. Okay.

Leah 

Locations and destinations in the US. I’ve never seen the Grand Canyon. That’s one that’s, you know, that’s been on my bucket list for a long time. So, but I’ll tell you when you live in a place like Puerto Rico, it’s hard to get really motivated to go other places.

Bennie 

It’s hard and I knew that when I asked the question I was like this is gonna be hard.

Leah 

It really is because, growing up in the Midwest, you always were going to, trying to go to warm weather destinations for vacation. You people are excited to get to the beach, especially in the wintertime, which seems to be getting longer and longer. And you want to feel the sun, you want to drink a pina colada. And now I live in that place. I, in fact, live in the place that invented the pina colada. So it’s hard to get excited about leaving.

Bennie 

Right. Right. Right.

Leah 

Ha ha.

Bennie 

So what you find is the best brand ambassador for the work that you do. What draws people in the most?

Leah 

Well, I may sound repetitive here, but I do think it is the people. think the people of Puerto Rico who live here, no one is more passionate about the island than the people who live here. Like any destination, Puerto Rico is not without its challenges, but overall, mean, if you’ve been here, and I know you have, and you arrived to the island on an airplane and everyone starts clapping. And someone said to me, actually it was last week, they said, I guess people clap because they’re happy that,

Bennie 

Yes. Yes.

Leah 

That they landed safely. And I said, no, people that’s locals who are clapping and they’re excited to be home, right? So you leave and go anywhere else, but coming back to Puerto Rico, there’s nothing like it. And I think that that excitement that locals have and that love and passion locals have for the island, it bleeds out into every connection they have with people off the island.

Bennie 

It is, and it’s contagious. And every time you’re in there, you don’t even question you’re clapping along to you’re like, yes, I have no idea why we’re clapping, but I’m happy to. Which is the fun that spaces there. So there’s been a lot of new development lately happening in, Puerto Rico. How are you able to be on top or anticipate what new developments are having as you balance that with like the core traditional spaces?

Leah 

Hahaha! I’m in it. I’m here.

Leah

Well, I think, you we talk about our different audiences often. And, you know, we have people who are very, very familiar with Puerto Rico who have been here many times. And then we have new audiences. Denver is a great example of a market we haven’t been in before. So when we go into new markets, or as we call them emerging markets, we sort of have kind of a 1 .0 entry level messaging that is very general when it comes to, you know, sharing.

Bennie 

Right. Okay.

Leah

Okay, we have beach products, yes, you can have a cocktail at a resort. We’re trying to make sure people in those emerging markets understand that we can compete with any of those other tropical destinations maybe you’ve been to in the past, whether it’s the Dominican Republic or it’s Jamaica or it’s Miami. So we have to first help those people who are newer to our brand understand that we can compete with those destinations.

Bennie 

Right.

Leah 

By the way, we have a value proposition that many of them don’t have, which is the no passport required. So that’s kind of our 1.0 baseline messaging for new markets. When we get into those markets who know us much better, like in New York, Boston, most of our Florida markets, then we have kind of a 2.0 and 3.0 creative messaging that is deeper rooted in culture. It is showing newer product. It’s things that you, you know,

Bennie 

Thanks. Okay.

Leah

If you’ve already been here and you’ve done the bio bays and you’ve done the rainforest and you’ve been to old San Juan, here’s what’s new and exciting that you haven’t checked out yet. Or here’s a little bit more depth about what locals are doing that maybe you want to try on your third or fourth visit. So we really do try to match the message to the audience based on the level of awareness and familiarity that people have with the island.

Bennie 

Right. Talk a little bit about the insight work that went into that opening phrase, that opening message 1.0 that you have this destination that doesn’t require a I thought that was really powerful when you talked about building it out and that being a key entry point for people.

Leah 

Sure, it’s again, you know, surprising but true that a lot of people don’t understand that a passport isn’t required to come to Puerto Rico, that we are a US territory, etc. So that is a very unique selling proposition for the island. We did have some research that was conducted that solidified those numbers and helped us to understand that access needed to be a bigger part of our messaging than what it was at first. We’ve always had a no passport required sort of stamp in our advertising.

Bennie 

Right.

Leah 

But after receiving that research, we realized it needed to be more front and center. And then in fact, we launched last fall a No Passport No Problem messaging campaign, not necessarily a creative campaign, but really hitting hard on earned media, really hitting hard on our own channels about the accessibility of the island. It’s not just no passport is required. It’s also, hey, did you know you’re going to use US currency when you get here?

Bennie 

That is.

Leah

In most of the main tourism areas, people speak English and you’re going to have an experience that is going to provide you with some of the comforts of home if you need them. If you need to go to Walgreens and pick up a prescription, you can do that here. But at the same time, you’re going to feel this huge departure in culture from the US mainland where you’re going to experience new food and you’re going to experience

Bennie 

Right. Right.

Leah 

Dance and music and architecture that’s different from what you’ve seen before. So you have kind of that comfort and convenience of a US destination with a culture that is very, very international. And I think that combination is something you’re not going to get in any other Caribbean island.

Bennie

It’s so true. And you know, one of the things I’d love to talk about, you’re marketing in an age of creators and influencers, some big, some small. As you’ve been in your role, how have you seen your actual customers, tourists, become allies in promoting your brand and the experience? We know that in some of the travel that we’re seeing, you know, the gram and the TikTok post are really making the message.

Leah

Absolutely. And we see it in our metrics that people are searching on TikTok more for travel inspiration ideas than they are for, you know, searching in Google, right? So that trend has been happening for the last couple of years. So we have to be in that space. And there really is no better ambassador for the island outside of the people who live here than visitors who have experienced the island and have had an incredible time and they’re sharing it in real time.

Bennie 

Right.

Leah 

So we absolutely find influencer marketing to be a very important piece of our overall marketing matrix. It’s getting more and more important and we’re investing more in that than we ever have before. I think you’re only gonna see that continue to grow. It’s especially useful if we’ve gone through.

Bennie 

Okay, right.

Leah

You know, a significant challenge in 2020, you know, we had earthquakes at the beginning of the year and you want to get people on the island as quickly as possible to help them understand which areas of the island have been impacted. And hey, the majority of the island hasn’t been impacted. And now you’re seeing people on the ground in real time who are able to maybe combat what could be a negative message that’s playing out in mainstream media.

Bennie 

Right. Right. Right.

Leah 

So it’s not just a nice to have in terms of branding and awareness, but it can be a very, very tactical tool when it comes to showing areas of recovery if needed.

Bennie 

Well, I’m going to pivot a little bit because you said something before about travel and experience and your way of living in Puerto Rico. I’m going to ask the question about food because food incredibly bonds us together. So what’s your go -to dish now?

Leah 

Okay.

Bennie 

What excites your palate?

Leah 

Okay, so I’ve had this, sure, I’ve had this twice in the last couple of weeks and it’s Pagaito, which is a rice that gets kind of not burnt, but very crispy at the bottom of the pan. And so then it mixes in with the regular rice and there’s usually, you know, some kind of protein that might be, you know, a chicken or might be blood sausage in some cases.

Bennie 

Yes.

Leah 

It is the most flavorful dish I’ve ever had in Puerto Rico. I love, love, love that. It comes usually with like a side of rice and beans, which I love. Yeah, the food scene here continues to get elevated more and more, but at the same time, you can go to a local kiosk like in Lucio that’s east of San Juan and have a beer on the beach with a bacalaíto, some fritters.

Bennie 

Right.

Leah 

They’re both equally satisfying to go to a very high end restaurant with a celebrity chef or a restaurant with no sign above the door that locals are frequenting. And that’s a really, really cool phenomenon that’s been evolving here in Puerto Rico over the last five years.

Bennie

Right.

Bennie 

It’s so true. I think of the last time we were there and I had my friends, you know, giving me a hard time because I went to the fancy spot and then they said like, you need to come with us so we can tell you the next spot to go and it was the same day. And it was incredible in both spaces, but for different ways. But it was this love and pride and engagement in food is culture and experience that that we had there. But

Leah 

Yeah. Absolutely.

Bennie 

Yeah, it’s incredible space in there, but I love the fact that so much of your world you speak about through the terms of food and culture. So what are you most excited about as you turn into, we get ready, we’re halfway through the year and we start to turn into 2025. You’ve built a great foundation in the work you’re doing with the organization. What are you excited about next?

Leah 

Definitely. For us in the past year, we’ve really worked hard to build out a lifestyle strategy. And for Discover Puerto Rico, that is our path forward. We, at the heart, are a travel brand. But where I think we’re going in the future is that evolution from being a travel brand only to a lifestyle brand.

Bennie 

Okay.

Leah

It’s great to connect with travelers when they’re in the funnel and they’re considering a destination, they’re doing their research online and hopefully they choose Puerto Rico. They come and they have an awesome time. They post about it on social media. Then they maybe don’t think about you for eight or nine months until they start planning their next vacation. What excites me is thinking about how we get connected with those consumers outside of the times they’re planning for a trip.

Bennie 

Hmm.

Leah 

And a great example is a partnership we did with Pantone a couple of years ago where we created our own Pantone colors called Puerto Rico Sunshine based on the calculations of the rays of sun in Puerto Rico. And it’s this beautiful orange hue that comes from the sunsets in Puerto Rico. And we parlayed that into partnerships, for instance, with Eco’s Paint. So now people are going to maybe a hardware store and they’re seeing a paint can on the shelf.

Bennie 

That’s brilliant.

Leah 

That is Puerto Rico Sunshine and they’re maybe buying that and doing an accent while in their home. Now people are thinking about Puerto Rico outside of a trip planning window, right? And so that’s where I think you really start to build brand loyalty, you really start to get into that zeitgeist of the transcending travel and tourism and really focusing more on culture and meeting people where they are. Another great example was just a few weeks ago we launched

Bennie

Really.

Leah

Ice cream flavor with Van Luen ice cream in New York City. So we worked with them to create a Pina Colada flavored ice cream. This year we’re celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Pina Colada and National Pina Colada Day was July 10th. So we worked with them to create an ice cream flavor. They sold out of it in two weeks. We did a big activation in New York, but back to community, we used a local mixologist and we worked with him to

Bennie 

Okay. Wow.

Leah 

Help create the recipe that was used by Van Lewin. We used Don Q Rum, which is a local rum. The art that you see in the packaging was a design that was done by a local artist. And so again, like bringing those products to life, most people aren’t thinking about a vacation destination when they’re buying ice cream, but now they are. And I think that that’s what gets our team excited is thinking how we continue to activate and grow our space.

In a way that is beyond tourism and travel. And I think we see significant potential in that area and you’re going to see more from us in that space.

Bennie 

It’s, you know, an incredible testament to the work and the creativity that you’re delivering. You know, we started our conversation saying that your brand premise had been pretty much met, right? Your brand permits had been indifferent. And to move that to the way that you’ve gotten people excited about what was already an exciting, wonderful place, but to make that part of your brand energy and to see it show up in all these different markets and in our lives in different ways, I think is really powerful and speaks to this.

Leah 

Exactly.

Bennie 

Importance of marketing. I’d be remiss as we’re talking about marketing in Puerto Rico to not mention the fact that we actually have several AMA collegiate chapters on the island and some of the top -notch marketing students in the country are coming through the programs there. And it’s really a testament to the work, the creativity coming out of Puerto Rico these days.

Leah 

Absolutely, and that’s incredible to hear. I just can’t emphasize enough the talent in our team is obviously unbiased, but it really is the best in the business. When I go to conferences with our Discover Puerto Rico team, I feel like they’re celebrities. Everybody wants to talk to them about the work that they’re doing for the destination marketing organization. And it’s so powerful. It’s so powerful to see that kind of talent come to life.

Bennie

Huh.

Leah 

To help position the destination in a positive way that’s gonna really drive change here.

Bennie 

Well, I will tell you this, like I tell my team, you can be biased, but that doesn’t mean you’re not wrong. You’re not right. And I want to give you, I want to give you third party objective praise in the fact that, you know, there’s a reason why you were named AMA foundation nonprofit marketer of the year. And thank you. It’s been a pleasure having this conversation and, and we can continue to talk and we are because I’m going to get on a plane.

Leah 

Thank you, I agree.

Bennie 

And I’m going to come and see you and we’re going to have the crispy rice dish together. Which I think will be a ball, you know, in looking at what’s next, when we think about the power of marketing to meld with mission, the work that you’ve done in partnership with your chief executive officer and the co -creation with government, community, business and culture are really inspiring. Leah, I just want to thank you again for your work and your leadership.

Leah

I can’t wait. I can’t wait.

Bennie 

And congratulations on being the National Nonprofit Marketer of the Year.

Leah 

Thanks so much, Bennie. It’s been a lot of fun. I really appreciate it.

Bennie 

Well, thank you for joining us. And for those listening, I’d be remiss if I didn’t encourage you to check out Discover Puerto Rico. It’s an incredible space, incredible island, incredible people and culture, and incredible marketing that’s being led by our friend Leah Chandler. Thank you for joining us for this episode of AMAs Marketing And. I’m your host, Bennie F. Johnson. We look forward to you joining us again and being more involved in the American Marketing Association. Thank you.