If you visit Eugene, Oregon’s City Council website, you are greeted with “Welcome to the City of Eugene World’s Greatest City of the Arts & Outdoors.” That slogan makes me laugh for several reasons. A declaration of being the “World’s Greatest” anything is absurd and subjective, but most of all because the slogan is supposed to be “World’s Greatest City FOR the Arts and Outdoors.” If you dig deeper in the website they actually get it right.

I agree that Eugene can be described as a city for the arts and outdoors. During the five years I have been living in the area I have observed a general goal of the city and its residents to help and support these two items in particular. However, the “World’s Greatest” makes me question the arrogance of the Eugene City Council. I would prefer: “Eugene: A City for the Arts and Outdoors.”

Even though downtown Eugene has more arts and entertainment opportunities than anywhere else in the area, it has also been a concern of many of the residents that downtown Eugene has been losing its draw. Pan handlers hang out on Broadway, more and more store fronts are sitting vacant and several revitalization initiatives have failed to please the tax payers. A few buildings have been knocked down leaving giant holes and no one has even begun to show any sign of filling in any of them. During the rainy season I like to refer to them as swimming pools.

In 2003, Downtown Eugene Inc. (DEI) worked with Funk/Levis and Associates, a local design firm, to create a downtown brand identity and marketing campaign. DEI’s website had this to say about it.

In the case of downtown, we need to change a perceived personality that is largely negative. According to Funk/Levis CEO David Funk, “Branding takes what is true and makes it more true.”

What is true about downtown is that arts, culture and entertainment are flourishing. DEI believes that as an economic development strategy, a growing arts and entertainment sector makes sense.

There are several components of the Branding that need to occur. First, DEI will look at the physical appearance of downtown and make it brighter, cleaner and more colorful. For instance, regional marketing programs will help make downtown Eugene a destination for those interested in arts, entertainment and the outdoors. Branding downtown’s personality and character can also be accomplished through retail and restaurant promotions, downtown parking programs and consistent representation of the Downtown Brand through visual graphics and the use of the tag line “Surprise Yourself.”

From what I have read, my understanding is that they want to highlight the liveliness of downtown Eugene and make it more appealing to the senses. I really like the logo Funk/Levis put together for them. It captures the qualities of the branding initiative in a fun way.

I wonder though if the campaign is working. I have noticed flower baskets and colorful banners downtown. I have also noticed restaurants and clubs piping their music to outside speakers. However, I do not recall ever seeing this logo anywhere except on the DEI website. That does not mean it is not out there, it just did not burn itself in my memory. I read all 27 pages of their branding plan and continually thought to myself, “I wonder when they will implement this portion of the plan?” I even asked a few of my coworkers if they had ever heard of the “Surprise Yourself” tagline before. None had. One of them made the joke, “Come to downtown. Find out how you will react when approached by a shady stranger on the street. Surprise yourself!”

What to you think? Does your city have similar marketing campaigns? How do you feel about applying a brand identity to a city? The Big Easy? Sin City? Do you think it helps cities attract more people?

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