Creating a brand takes time and talent. Beyond the initial surveys and strategies, creative talent develops a look, feel and attitude. Media and “social” take hold to “message” the new brand out to the target audience.
It all feels a little manipulative. Okay, a lot manipulative. How many states can be the most _____? All seem to be trying to attract the key demographic of young, male, and educated.
So many states seems to have their own crowd-sourcing content to position their state in the “not quite so unique” place of young, growing, edgy, and fun. Making Colorado. Thrive in Ohio. We Are California. Illinois where fresh is. The 50 states rebranded.
Not only states, but it seems like all the cities are trying to brand themselves as vacation destinations, good for business, it’s not what you think, or great for education, and entertainment. My small town (officially a city) of Hudson Ohio hired an agency out of Colorado to brand the city. The initial feedback from the survey was “no one ever heard of Hudson“, which is probably a good thing.
Cranston RI (shown above) is eager to get people to move there, for business or to live. In fact, their website description is “The primary goal of this site is to provide residents, businesses, and those considering a move to our City, with in-depth information that can be accessed…”
Changing someone’s mind by rebranding is much harder to do than the initial branding of something new. It’s that first impression. Or the years of jokes on late night TV.
Traditional marketing says:
- First step, research. Take a survey of the stakeholders and the target audience.
- Then do an inventory of what the area has to offer. Choose the best strategy and positioning to match the goal.
- The clever tag lines and creative scenes in a video on YouTube will come later.
My question is, “When so many cities brand themselves with a similar positioning trying to get businesses to relocate into their borders, how does a business owner decide?” Tax breaks? Attractive financing? Good talent pool?
Without branding and marketing your location, perhaps your city, county, state, region won’t even get on the short list. But how much should a city, county, state invest… and what should the expected return on investment be?
Please leave comments below. I’d be interested to hear your thoughts.
