Marketing Happy Hour - Making Your Marketing Feel Like an Invitation, Not an Ad | Ashley Johnson of Visit Newport Beach

Episode Date: September 3, 2026

In this episode, we sit down with Ashley Johnson, SVP and Chief Marketing Officer of Visit Newport Beach, who has spent twenty years building some of California's most beloved destination brands, including sixteen years at Visit Laguna Beach, where she became President and CEO at just thirty three years old and won an Emmy for a children's educational campaign that used storytelling to change visitor behavior. Ashley brings a perspective that translates far beyond the tourism industry: she breaks down what it actually means to sell a feeling rather than a product, why the best marketing feels like an invitation rather than an advertisement, how her in-house team of seven executed over twenty two campaigns in a single fiscal year, and what she has learned about imposter syndrome, leadership, and hiring in two decades of leading teams.Key Takeaways:// Sell the feeling, not the feature. Nobody books a vacation because of a beach photo. They book because they can picture themselves there. The strongest marketing makes the consumer the main character of the story, not the product.// Great marketing feels like an invitation. Give people enough information to feel comfortable, enough inspiration to get excited, and then get out of the way and let them have their own experience. Overly prescriptive marketing removes the magic.// Market with your community, not around them. The biggest mistake a brand can make is building a strategy that ignores or inconveniences the people closest to it. When locals see your marketing and think "yes, that is exactly us," you have done it right.// Storytelling can change behavior. Ashley's Emmy came from a seven-minute educational video for school groups that made kids want to protect tide pools before they ever visited. Great storytelling does not just inspire — it influences what people actually do.Connect with Visit Newport Beach: @visitnewportbeachConnect with Ashley Johnson: @missashleytaylor____Join the MHH Collective! The MHH Collective is a community for marketers and business owners to connect, ask real questions, and grow their careers together. Join for access to live Q&As with industry experts, a private Slack community, and ongoing resources: https://www.marketinghappyhr.com/mhh-collectiveSay hi! DM us on Instagram and let us know what content you want to hear on the show - We can't wait to hear from you! Please also consider rating the show and leaving a review, as that helps us tremendously as we move forward in this Marketing Happy Hour journey and create more content for all of you. ⁠Join the MHH Collective: ⁠Join now⁠Get the latest marketing trends, open jobs and MHH updates, straight to your inbox: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Join our email list!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow MHH on Social: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Welcome to Marketing Happy Hour, a weekly podcast helping marketing professionals and entrepreneurs build better strategies and hit career goals. I'm Cassie and I'm Allie. We're marketers and your hosts through these unfiltered convos with your peers and experts in the space. Let's dive in. Grab your favorite drink and let's get to this week's episode. Today we are joined by Ashley Johnson, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Visit Newport Beach, a destination that I haven't been to in a while. absolutely love it there. Ashley, welcome to the show. Thanks for being here. Thank you so much for having me and we need to change that and get you out here ASAP. Yes. Yes. It's definitely on the list. Again, it's probably been like five or six years since I've been there. So I'm due for another visit. But again, beautiful. Everything you guys do and have just for visitors and even locals too

is just amazing. So kudos to you guys for that. Yeah. Well, we have lots to cover today. Of course, all things marketing want to hear more about just the tourism industry from your POV as well. But before we dive in, we got to ask, what's been in your glass lately? You know, lately it's been a skinny margarita. You know, preferably with an ocean view and some sunshine, it's been so warm here in Newport Beach lately that we're basically, we're living in paradise, but I feel like the drink should definitely match the setting. Yes, agreed. I feel like it's been hot everywhere. It has been. Yes. So margaritas are always a go-to for sure. Do not blame you. Yeah. I love it. So Ashley, if you don't mind to just can you tee up our conversation a little bit by sharing a little bit more about your background and how you landed to where you are today? Yes, absolutely. So I have spent essentially my entire career in destination marketing, which I always joke is the greatest job in the world because our product that we're selling is happiness. You know, nobody has to take a vacation. They get to take a vacation.

And so essentially I'm here selling vacations, celebrations, memories, sunsets, great meals, really everything that people are looking forward to. I spent 16 years at Visit Laguna Beach just down the road eventually becoming the president and CEO there and about three years ago, I guess almost four years ago, I made the move over here to visit Newport Beach as the senior vice president and chief marketing officer. Here today I oversee everything, whether it's brand, advertising, PR, social, digital content. creative, business intelligence, and Newport Beach, it's just such an incredible brand to steward because it's really aspirational and luxurious, but there's also this wonderful, playful, and relax side to it, which I absolutely love. And so we really, you know, with our brand platform, luxury at your leisure, I think it really captures Newport Beach perfectly. You know, luxury here doesn't have to try too hard, and it really doesn't. I love that. And I think you mentioned something

that piqued kind of my interest here, which is destination marketing. I think that that that's, you know, a term that we don't hear often in the industry. And so I'm curious to hear from you, you know, what's something about destination marketing that people are misunderstanding as they're thinking about going on vacation and how they're being talked to and marketed to? And then how are you approaching that, kind of selling that feeling? Yeah, absolutely. So I think, you know, people assume destination marketing is really about showing beautiful places. And obviously here in Newport Beach, you know, that makes the job really easy. But beautiful photography, alone doesn't create that desire. So we're really in that business of selling a feeling.

How will I feel when I'm there? You know, who will I be with when I'm going there? What will I remember six months later? So instead of saying that here's our beach, here's our hotel, just super generic, here's our restaurant, we really want to tell that story that lets you and or the consumer picture yourself inside the destination and especially in luxury travel. I think that distinction really matters today. You know, luxury really isn't necessarily any more about that more. You know, it's really about less. I mean, it's less rushing, less planning, less noise, more time, you know, I think more ease in connection with who you are and who you're traveling with. And so I think it's really been really fun to tell that story of Newport Beach and all of the

special nuances. Yeah, and I would imagine, too, that that kind of ease of connection with the, with the surroundings in Newport Beach also comes into play with all of the sort of small businesses and things like that. How do you approach those relationships? relationships. What does that look like? Yeah, absolutely. So we really work so closely with our business community. You know, I think, you know, the biggest mistake a destination can make is marketing around its residents instead of with them. So we really bring them every step of the way. Tourism has to work for the community first. We all know this. The visitor economy supports, you know, restaurants, retail, attractions, cultural organizations, city services that residents really enjoy

every single day, but they're not experiencing tourism through that economic impact report. You know, they experience it when they're trying to find parking or get a dinner reservation or driving across town. So we really have to understand both sides and everything that we're doing. And so for me, the goal really isn't simply more visitors. It's really attracting that right visitor at the right time who really values our destination in the way that the community does because we want our community and our residents to be extremely excited with the folks that we're bringing in here who are generating that economic impact and we also you know when our locals see our marketing I want them to think like yes that is my Newport Beach and be proud of what we're

doing on their behalf for sure and I imagine too that that offers the opportunity to have locals actually be either featured on the channels or or something to that effect from a marketing perspective because it just gives the value of the residents that are actually living there that are proud to live there so I love that because I think tourism can sometimes get a bad reputation with locals you know It sure can. It sure can. And we have just such a great community. It's so business-minded and business-focused and just collaborative. So it makes it fun every single day. Yeah. Well, speaking of community, too, I want to kind of ask your perspective on that topic. It's become such a buzzword and marketing. We all aim to build what is a community and what that looks like for us. So what does genuine community building look like for you specifically? Yeah, absolutely. So I think, you know, community really isn't an audience segment.

You know, I think a lot of destinations, you know, want to put locals into a marketing plan and call it community engagement. And I think it's so much more. I think it's truly about relationships. It's showing up when you don't need something. It's knowing your hotel partners, your restaurateurs, all the small businesses, the city leadership, and the residents, and truly listening to what matters to them. I think, you know, some of those most valuable conversations aren't happening in formal meetings. You know, they happen when I'm walking through town at a community event. over coffee, when somebody just simply calls and says, you know, have you thought about this?

And sometimes community building means giving someone else a microphone rather than, you know, me holding it myself. So, you know, I just think it's really, really important to engage, engage the community in all different facets. Yeah, I'm curious to, you know, with any sort of experience that you're marketing, I think it's super important to have this consistency between the on and offline experience. right you want to be able to draw people in digitally they come to your destination they have a great time they tell friends and family about that so how are you as a marketer kind of impacting that uh in person experience are you speaking a lot with operations locally etc like what what does that feedback loop

look like i guess in order to make sure that a tourist experience or a locals experience is just really great all across the board yeah absolutely i think that's such a good question i think you know So hospitality really starts, I think long before someone checks into that hotel. It really starts, you know, like you mentioned, with like that first Instagram post that they save. Maybe it's an article they read and travel and leisure or a website they visited or an email that makes them think, oh, I want to be there. How do I get there? And I think every touch point really gives us an opportunity to say there's a place for you here. And to really engage with them, make them feel welcome.

I think great destination marketing should feel less about advertising and honestly more like an interesting. honestly more like an invitation. So it gives you enough information to feel comfortable, enough inspiration to get excited. But then you kind of get out of the way and then let the consumer have their own experience. And I think by doing that, you're going to be successful. Yeah, for sure. And a part of that that you've talked about is just this idea of making people feel really welcome. So what does that philosophy look like? You know, you already spoke about this a little bit, but how does that show up in your marketing as well? Yeah, I think it shows up because everything we're doing is very authentic.

I think we are always trying to find those special storytelling moments, those nuances. We really want people not only to be inspired to visit this aspirational place, but we want them to know that they can find themselves here, that they can uncover all these various nuances and experiences within the destination while they're exploring, that they are really going to be able to talk about for years to come. You know, I think, again, we as a team are really successful in finding those little nuggets of information. This year we're actually celebrating 120 years in Newport Beach. So we launched a 120 years of welcome campaign, basically highlighting the last 120 years through the lens of tourism.

And just, again, really highlighting the historic moments, the people, the residents. And it's been really fun to tell that story again on behalf of the residents. so they have the sense of pride about their community, but then also really, really engaging the consumer with these nuances that they had no idea existed and then thus hopefully engaging with them. Yeah, I love it. I want to pivot the conversation just a little bit and hear about this Emmy that you won for your work in marketing. Congratulations, by the way. Can you tell us a little bit about that campaign? What did you build and what do you think led to its success?

Yes, absolutely. So I won an Emmy when I was working down the street in Laguna Beach, which is the small community of 23,000 residents, but they welcome more than 6 million visitors every year. So there's a lot of impact on the environment. And so we were seeing not only visitors coming in, but tons of school groups. And we really realized we had an opportunity and really honestly responsibility to educate people about how to enjoy the destination while leaving it exactly as they found it. And the tide pools are a big attraction in Laguna Beach specifically and a huge draw. And so we were seeing people touching and removing anemones and sea stars and such without really understanding the impact. And so, you know, we produced a seven-minute DVD, which I know dates me. I don't even have a DVD player anymore. But it was really, it was really educational, but disguised is fun. And so we distributed it to school groups before their visit. So kids were learning how to be good stewards of the destination before they even arrived in Laguna. And then somehow, you know, this little educational, you know, this little educational project ended up winning an Emmy for children's programming, which was

pretty mind-blowing to actually have the opportunity to go up on stage and accept it on behalf of the entire destination. But I think, you know, what really made it special wasn't necessarily the Emmy. I mean, it really showed me early on in my career that destination marketing can be so much more than advertising. It's protecting a place genuinely influencing behavior and you can do all of that through great storytelling and people actually want to watch. And so that that showed us a whole new a whole new realm absolutely incredible thank you for sharing that and congratulations once again that's such an accomplishment so early on in your career and i'd love to actually pivot a

little bit to career now and specifically we have a lot of listeners that are dealing actively with imposter syndrome in their careers especially as as you know young men and women and so i'm curious to hear from you how you've dealt with imposter syndrome in your roles um especially you know being a woman in charge, you know, in terms of, you know, in being a traditional male-dominated industry. Yeah, definitely. So, you know, I think earlier in my career, I thought confidence meant knowing all the answers. Now, I truly think confidence is being completely comfortable saying, I don't know yet, but I'll figure it out. And so I became a CEO in Laguna Beach at 33, and there were definitely rooms where I would look around and think, am I supposed to be here?

And, you know, I was so incredibly fortunate growing up to be raised by amazing parents who really instilled a strong work ethic in me from a young age. They always pushed me to work hard to be the best that I could be and to never expect that anything was just going to be handed to me. I think, you know, that foundation really gave me this underlying belief that even when I didn't have the answers, I was willing to put in the work to find them. And so eventually, you know, I realize I'm already in this room. Somebody trusted me enough to put me here. and my responsibility isn't to prove that I deserve the seat. It's really to contribute once I'm in it. And I think, you know, as I've gotten further into my career,

I've also stopped trying to lead like I thought a CEO or executive was supposed to lead. You know, I'm energetic. I move fast. I love ideas. I love people. And I think those are things that I needed to, I think I thought those are things I needed to suppress in order to be and look more executive when in fact, they're really strengths that I learned how to harness. Thank you so much for sharing.

I think particularly resonates with me at the point that I'm at in my career as well in terms of feeling like you're not valued in the room or feeling like you're not fit for the room. And so I really appreciate that. I think that's great advice. And then in terms of your leadership style now at Visit Newport Beach, what does that look like? What are some of the qualities that you're bringing every day? Absolutely. So, you know, my leadership style is all about empowerment.

I have hired the best team that I could possibly ask for. Everyone truly wants to be here and be a part of the end product. And it's been so exciting to watch various team members just grow within their own facet. And, you know, I'm all about autonomy. I'm all about empowerment. And I feel like you have to give your team the tools to be able to be successful and then let them run. I'm obviously here every single day. I have an open door policy.

I love collaborating. I love ideating. I love all the facets that go into my day to day. But I think empowerment is truly the most important thing a leader can do for their team. Do you have, and when we're thinking about just like team in general, do you have a marketing channel right now that you are really excited about that you're maybe testing into that is kind of expanding the team or kind of pushing the team's boundaries a little bit?

I'm curious to hear from you. Yes. So we are constantly pushing boundaries. I think, you know, what sets us apart from a lot of destinations is we do everything in-house. So a lot of destination marketing organizations have, you know, these agencies that they outsource a lot of things to. We do every single thing in-house with a team of seven. And so, you know, this last fiscal year, we actually executed over 22 projects, programs, and initiatives. So something pretty much every 10 days.

My team is, you know, so excited about every opportunity, every concert. that we come up with and it's just so much fun to mind melt and build this idea together and to see the end product, you know, be successful. I think, you know, there's so many channels that we are testing, looking at, engaging on. I think a newer initiative that we had launched is our merchandise. We launched that about 12, about 12 months ago, so that's been a really interesting learning curve. And so we're, I think, you know, dipping our toe in TikTok and seeing how to do the TikTok shop and all of those things. those things and just trying to stay nimble and pivot where necessary to ensure that we are engaging

with the consumer, you know, where they are at their journey in their day. But, you know, my team is just so much fun to see them show up, be so excited about the various initiatives that we are working to accomplish on behalf of this destination and just to see the passion that goes into every single one of them. You know, they're not clocking in at nine and out at five. I have, I have team members texting me at 10 p.m. I'm like, go to bed. We'll handle it tomorrow. I love that you love your job. It's so, it's so great. But, you know, I have to curb that back because we just all have such a great energy and want to do the best we can do for this organization and this destination.

That's incredible. And that's how you know that everybody is getting so excited, right? Is that they're, like, thinking about it off the clock, quote unquote, that it's, like, that important to them to drive this tourism and also drive, you know, resident loyalty. So that's amazing. Absolutely. Yeah. I actually have one more question kind of based on that, too.

We get questions all the time about, you know, skill sets. that marketers need to be honing ways to stand out in the job market, etc. So just with your experience with hiring, I'm just curious, like, as of late, what are some of those traits or things that you look for in a potential marketing candidate that you feel stands out? Definitely. So I think that's such a good question because I think it has evolved so much over the years. I think, you know, way back when you look at a resume and it was how someone appeared on paper. And of course, how someone appears on paper is going to sort of get that excitement in front of you in order for you to interview them. But I think it's changed so much.

And I think, you know, I am always looking for someone who is excited, motivated, has an incredible attitude. I think everything else can be taught, honestly. I think I want someone that wants to show up, give 110 percent, wants to be a part of a team, leave their ego at the door, and, you know, drama-free zone. And I just think, I honestly think that's what it's about. I think everything else can truly be taught and learned as long as someone is willing to learn and, you know, doesn't feel entitled to a role or they're too big for something, you know, to do something. So that's what I would say. I just think it's evolved so much and, you know, so much of my team has started very green and to see where they are now and how much they've grown and how much confidence they now have in their day-to-day has been so exciting because it's just, again, it shows in the end product, truly. Yeah, that's so great. Thank you for sharing that. I know that's going to be super helpful to everyone listening.

Ashley, this has been so wonderful. Thank you for sharing just all of your insights from your team, your personal career, everything you're learning at Visit Newport Beach. We would love to stay in touch with you. So if you don't mind, share with us where we can connect with Visit Newport Beach as well as you personally online. Yes, well, absolutely. It has been an absolute pleasure. I'm meeting both of you ladies. Love your podcast. So I'm just so grateful to be a part of it. So thank you. The easiest place to find all things Newport Beach is at Visit Newport Beach across all of our social channels and our website. And you can find me on LinkedIn or on Instagram at Miss Ashley Taylor. I love connecting with other marketers, destination folks, women and leadership.

And I'm always happy to talk travel branding, leadership, or where you should eat in Newport Beach. I love it. We're super excited to stay connected. And Ally and I will definitely be planning a trip to come see you, guys um absolutely absolutely can't wait um actually um actually thank you again so much for joining us today this has been such a pleasure thank you ladies have a wonderful day and thank you again thanks so much for listening to this episode of marketing happy hour if you enjoyed it make sure you're subscribed to the show and sign up for a weekly newsletter with insights and marketing

resources we also invite you to check out the mhh collective our community for marketers looking to connect grow and learn together check out the links in the show notes. We'll see you next time.