New York Times tells Columbus: "Get a better slogan"

clipped from www.nytimes.com There May Be ‘No Better Place,’ but There Is a Better Slogan Past branding efforts like “Discover Columbus” and “Surprise, It’s Columbus” have fizzled and failed to lure tourists to the city, which boasts “the most accurate replica” of the Santa Maria, one of Christopher Columbus’s ships. By ERIK ECKHOLM Published: July 30, 2010 COLUMBUS, Ohio — Quick, what do you think about when you hear the words “Columbus, Ohio”? Still waiting. ... And that’s the problem that civic leaders here hope to solve. This capital city in the middle of a state better known, fairly or not, for cornfields and rusting factories has a low cost of living, easy traffic and a comparatively robust economy. It variously has been pronounced to have the nation’s best zoo, best science museum and best public library. For sports fans, “Ohio State Buckeyes” says it all. This capital city in the middle of a state better known, fairly or not, for cornfields and rusting factories has a low cost of living, easy traffic and a comparatively robust economy. It variously has been pronounced to have the nation’s best zoo, best science museum and best public library. For sports fans, “Ohio State Buckeyes” says it all. What Columbus does not have, to the despair of its leaders, is an image. As home to major research centers, it has long outgrown its 1960s self-concept as a cow town, and its distinction as the birthplace of the Wendy’s hamburger chain does not quite do the trick these days. The city lacks a shorthand way to sell itself — a signature like the Big Apple or an intriguing tagline like Austin’s “Live Music Capital of the World.” As a result, those working to attract new companies, top professors, conventions and tourists have a hard time explaining how Columbus differs from dozens of other cities that likewise claim to be livable, progressive and fun. “Columbus has not had a bad image,” said Paul Astleford, director of Experience Columbus , which promotes tourism and conventions. “It has just had no image in the national marketplace.” And so, just as the Scarecrow searched for a brain and the Tin Man a heart, Columbus has embarked on a multiyear quest to define the city’s soul. At least six earlier branding efforts over the last half-century fizzled out with anodyne slogans like “Discover Columbus” and “Surprise, It’s Columbus.” Currently, the Chamber of Commerce declares “There’s No Better Place.” But this time, three years into their inner journey, city leaders expect to succeed by drawing the whole population into the process and teasing out shared points of pride. How do you stoke the imagination of outsiders and the enthusiasm of residents? Columbus, starting from relative obscurity, has found that you cannot just hire an advertising agency, like New York and Las Vegas did, and come up with a slogan. It needs to find something real and heartfelt to trumpet, a task force of business, educational, political and arts leaders here concluded. One model they have studied is Indianapolis, which raised its profile by describing itself as the amateur athletic capital of America. “No consistent image or qualities come to mind when people think about Columbus,” lamented Doug Kridler, director of the Columbus Foundation and a leader of the task force. The city must develop “a messaging mooring-post that different groups can use to describe our authentic strengths,” Mr. Kridler said. So what core message might everyone from the mayor to college recruiters be broadcasting one day? Sports can hardly be ignored in a city that is crazed by Big Ten football, but the city’s high proportion of college students and researchers, its civic engagement and its diversity of opportunities may be even more salable traits, task force members say. How many cities can boast of having one of the largest county fairs and also one of the largest gay pride parades? “We are a diverse, youthful, knowledge-based community that is open to new ideas coming in,” Mr. Astleford said. “That has not been the tradition in the Midwest.” Alex Fisher, director of the Columbus Partnership, which works to bring jobs, said the city needs to let people know that as a financial and insurance center it should not be lumped in with the Rust Belt. “We need to make sure we aren’t so bashful, with Midwestern modesty,” Mr. Fisher said. “Candidly, we believe we are one of the brightest stars in Ohio’s future.” Task force members have been sworn to secrecy until they reach a consensus, sometime next year. But do not expect them to use what one wag proposed, according to The Columbus Dispatch, at a recent meeting: “Columbus: We Are So Not Ohio.”