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?
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4 comments:
I believe Mr. Brooks' point was that people who did not know what Last Chance Gulch was would not associate it with a street or a downtown. This would comprise a large portion of the US population and even a larger portion of the traveling world population. You missed the point that LCG requires marketing to capture the visitor's likely positive response to that unique name. Mr. Brooks got your attention, as was his intent. People in the community working to protect its charming qualities do have to think about how to be effective marketers and are learning how to do that with his help.
I appreciate you taking the time to defend Roger Brooks in this forum, but I must disagree with your take on what he really meant when he scoffed at the name "Last Chance Gulch".
Mr. Brook's point is best expressed in his own words, as reported by the Independent Record's John Harrington on Jan. 21 2007. Quoting Mr. Brooks: "I would never call downtown a gulch, no offense. 'Gulch' is right down there with 'ditch.'".
The most basic marketing stategy of all is putting emphasis on what makes your product unique. Oddly, Brooks suggests that the unique name "Last Chance Gulch" should be downplayed. I fail to see the advantage of that tactic.
We have to face the fact that Helena's tourist draw depends upon its gritty and glorious gold rush past. Negating that history and that image may prove lucrative for Mr. Brooks, but it won't accomplish anything positive for Helena.
first i wish to thank you all for the great effort for providing this information.
now i must tell you how sick i get at the continuied resolve the officals have for throwing money out the window for the next person that come down the road and proclaims to reinvent the wheel(consultants) good lord this is just offensive, helena is a mining town, land formations such as gulch are facts, the miner named the last chance gulch for what it is a gulch. now who are us to spread a cheep coat fo paint on it and BRAND it, o helena, it is what it is. helena is grand and wonderfull with out a cheep paint job. plese i live here and i am proud there of. but please quit flushing my money down the pot.
Your assessment of this whole process is spot-on. What was billed as a grand "revisioning" of downtown Helena turned out to be nothing but an elaborate come-on by a sign peddler. I attended one one of the focus group sessions which preceded Mr. Brooks' presentation. We generated a number of ideas for real, structural improvements to build on downtown Helena's strengths and alleviate some of its weaknesses. When the sign salesman presented his considered opinion that what Helena really needs is more signs, we knew we'd been had. I could only think of the monorail salesman who suckers Springfiled on the old Simpsons episode: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AportXHv7jg
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