Steve Mensing, Editor
♦ Listen I notice our County’s Tourism and Development goes all out to sell Rowan County and Salisbury. I believe they work really hard at it and the glossy print pamphlets and brochures they turnout at the Visitor’s Center are pretty first rate.
Spending $500,000 to rebrand Rowan County seems like a misplaced effort. Fortunately its no skin off of taxpayers backs except for those folks who “bunk down” at a local hotel or motel and pay a tax.
I see branding for sneakers, computers, and cars having a value. But County brands? They appear lost in the “shuffle of everything”.
Walk up to someone in Salisbury and ask them: “Do you know what Salisbury’s brand is? They’ll look confused and likely not know what you’re talking about. A few might say “Historic Salisbury
There’s quite a few useful things that someone could do with half a million dollars. County branding isn’t one of them. It’s sort of like “Dress for Success” or “Home Makeover” where you go to some alleged expert-consultant who tells you what’s fashionable or what correct appearance is. You would hope a firmly grounded adult be able to decide that.
The large part of advertising, marketing, and branding bounces off of me. I’ve seen every kind of advertising and propaganda device imaginable. I’m very inattentive to pitches unless they’re really attention grabbing and something I want. I’ve thumbed through quite a few glossy tourism guides for cities and towns over the years–often there’s a certain sameness about them and the way they pitch their product. You know all those happy grinning people walking past a row of high-end boutiques, a juggler on a unicycle, friends gathered around pub in a micro brewery–its all been done before with some minor variations. Usually I turn past those photos to the lists of local amusements, restaurants, and what I might turn me on about an area.
I wouldn’t pay much of anything for county branding–certainly not half a million. I’d do it myself. Maybe one evening I’d hang out with some creative friends and discuss how to pitch an area and let creativity and intuition fly from there. This is how many marketing and advertising firms get it done. A small group bouncing ideas off of each other with an eye somewhat on what the research department sent over.
A half a million dollars?
