Subscribe by RSSBranding and Design for Eugene, Oregon
Published on March 11th, 2008 || 3 Excellent Comments
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?
Pretty Permalinks
Published on March 5th, 2008 || 4 Excellent Comments
It has been bugging me for months that my permalinks said very little about what they were linking to. Prior to today, my links looked like this:
http://www.barrettcreates.com/blog/?p=5
You know you want to click on that. I bet you are thinking right now, “What will I find if I click on that link?” Are you brave enough […]
Masquerade Ball Rally Application
Published on February 27th, 2008 || 1 Excellent Comment
At Monaco, I constantly design rally applications. An RV rally is a gathering of coach owners for a few days of entertainment, RV related vendors, and time to socialize with each other.
Every rally has its own theme, though the event rarely sticks to the theme. My latest application calls the event a masquerade ball. I […]
Portland Swing Fest Poster
Published on February 20th, 2008 || 4 Excellent Comments
For the past six months, I have been working on a side project marketing for the Portland Lindy Exchange. This is an event that happens every other year and swing dancers from all over the country and beyond come to Portland for a weekend jam-packed with dancing opportunities. It has been a challenging and fun […]
Color Correcting Photos
Published on January 29th, 2008 || 2 Excellent Comments
I took photography in high school and love to play around with my camera, but my photography skills need a bit of help. Maybe I need to invest in some photography classes or maybe I could use some photography equipment. Nevertheless, I enjoy taking photos and rely on my Photoshop skills to make up for […]
Defending Your Artwork
Published on January 23rd, 2008 || 2 Excellent Comments
After pouring time and energy into designing a project for a client the last thing you want them to say is, “This is not at all what I was expecting, can you show me something completely different?” I hope that, by the time you have reached this stage of the process, it is clear what […]
Let them dance!
Published on January 16th, 2008 || 2 Excellent Comments
I have not written anything here in a while because I have been using my free time to work on our new marketing campaign for ELLA. Recently, our dance group got together and formed a plan for generating some new interest in swing dancing. We realize that the swing craze of the nineties is ancient […]
Marketing Your Brand: Part 3
Published on December 19th, 2007 || Leave Your Thoughts
By now, you might see a common theme: service is the key to marketing your brand. These days, people record their favorite TV shows and fast-forward through the commercials. They have Adblock and popup blockers in their web browsers. Many have even switched to satellite radio or listen to their iPod to avoid the annoying […]
Marketing Your Brand: Part 2
Published on December 17th, 2007 || Leave Your Thoughts
Let me reiterate, your logo is a symbol of your brand–it does not define your brand. With that in mind, how do you help people associate your logo with meaning? With who you are? In Part 1 of this series, I talked about standing out in a positive way. Drawing attention to your brand name […]
Marketing Your Brand: Part 1
Published on December 7th, 2007 || Leave Your Thoughts
A brand is so much more than a logo. It includes everything that represents an organization and the opinions people form about it. Working closely with marketing professionals for the last five years and learning through my own trial and error, I have obtained some knowledge that you might find useful when marketing your own […]