Tourism Consultant III -- Ka-ching!

Like a bad-news penny, marketer Roger Brooks keeps turning up in the Helena Independent Record. Brooks runs Destination Development out of Olympia, Washington. Destination Development is in the business of selling advertising and promotion concepts (what they call "branding") to local governments and business organizations who apparently have no marketing ideas of their own. Brook's primary cheerleader in Helena appears to be Jim McHugh, Director of the Business Improvement District.

It works like this: Brooks somehow makes a deal with a local business organization and/or city government to evaluate the city and its image. He comes to town, looks around for a few days, takes some photos, and then cobbles together a presentation based on his observations. Finally, he holds a public meeting to deliver his findings to the community. When he delivered his evaluation of Helena in January of this year, the high point was his pronouncement that Helena should lose the moniker "Last Chance Gulch" because, as Brooks said, "...'gulch' is right down there with 'ditch'."

That jaw-dropping remark, resplendent in its utter shallowness, apparently didn't dim the rosy opinion that the Business Improvement District, the Helena Improvement Society, and the City of Helena have of Brooks, because they've now given him $75,000 to cook up a "brand" for the city. This "branding" involves spending private and local tax money on logos, advertising copy, advertising space, signs, props and the like.

What will Helena's new "brand" look like? For examples of Destination Development's handiwork, look at some logos here. Check out these "project examples", and view what they've done for Moses Lake, Washington. Did you notice how you're not enticed to visit any of the places that have undergone Brooks' genius touch? Remarkable, isn't it?

Helena taxpayers, are you watching?