Ben, director of marketing at the Utah Office of Tourism, presented the office’s strategic rationale and campaign plans, framing marketing in three ways: his personal connection to Utah as a native, the economic case for visitor spending and the advertising industry’s role in storytelling.

Ben said the office views marketing through a customer‑journey lens and the GOES framework (goals, objectives, strategic initiatives, tactics). He described new audience segmentation (adventurers, families, 'ventureistas' and others) and introduced a unified creative approach the office calls 'Utah person' that will weave ski, parks & beyond and urban creative into a consistent statewide campaign.

The office also previewed 'Utah Forever', a stewardship messaging effort designed to provide partners a flexible, statewide framework for responsible visitation; the office said an EDA grant will fund a one‑time in‑state launch likely in the May timeframe to encourage partner adoption rather than create a separate long‑running brand buy.

Ben summarized economic rationale for continued marketing — visitor dollars support state and local tax revenue, jobs, education and road and conservation projects — but several numeric lines in the transcript were garbled; the presentation emphasized the point that visitor spending produces measurable local and statewide benefits. Ben gave examples of activation timing (ski campaign running in winter, parks assets to be added to film captured in Moab) and said the statewide campaign’s creative will start broad awareness pushes and shift into targeted tactics in February.

During Q&A a participant asked how TikTok fits into the office’s channel mix. Ben said the governor signed an executive order prohibiting state agencies’ use of TikTok, so the office deactivated its account and is awaiting policy changes. He noted agencies are exploring whether non‑state vendors could operate a presence on TikTok on behalf of partners.

What’s next: the office will share campaign assets and timing with local partners; Ben invited local DMOs to coordinate so the state’s messaging and local creative align.