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The Dispatch wrote
‘Cool’ factor seems like a Catch-22 for city
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
BY JOE BLUNDO
How do we get people to participate in the idea of Columbus? Brain chemistry. The anticipation of buying stuff causes our brains to release dopamine, a pleasure chemical. To lure visitors, Columbus must become a perceived source of surprising pleasure. Because most of the nation doesn’t perceive Columbus at all, the challenge is significant.
I say we target the young by following the Pabst Blue Ribbon model. You already know how: It’s cheap. The ultimate attraction of beer isn’t taste; it’s mood alteration. Pabst, at $1.25 a glass, gets that done just as effectively as a $7 brew.
I think Columbus has to become a sort of metropolitan Pabst Blue Ribbon: low-priced, unpretentious and favored by the young. We shouldn’t advertise the town as cool, though, because that wouldn’t be cool. Walker says the new rage in marketing is to stage poorly publicized events that build a sort of underground buzz.
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‘Cool’ factor seems like a Catch-22 for city
By: Walker
Related Posts:
What I got out of the article, and I agree completely, is that Columbus has a hard time knowing its identity, let alone marketing it. That’s the difficult part. I appreciate the efforts on the marketing side, but in order for it to work, it needs to be marketed to Columbus first (hence the Dispatch article, and not a USA Today article, I suppose).
Most of the other cities that are foremost in peoples’ minds as destinations spring from some sort of identity that we associate with those cities. We’ll get there. I’d rather not be known for having a bunch of loosely-associated cool areas to hang out in and more for something that most people in the city feel connected to. Like PBR :D
I have switched over to drinking Busch instead… maybe it will catch on… I don’t know. I don’t know!
PBR got popular by sponsoring lots of small/indie rock shows and channeling lots of marketing dollars that way starting about.. 10 years ago (i think)? . It didn’t hurt that they already had a “blue collar” image that they could bank on for cool factor.
I think one thing you can thank for the now populist appeal of PBR is the rise and fall of the Trucker Hat.
I actually think the resurgence of PBR started long before that… Perhaps you can even thank (or blame) PBR for the rise and fall of the trucker cap.
I actually think the resurgence of PBR started long before that… Perhaps you can even thank (or blame) PBR for the rise and fall of the trucker cap.
LOL :)
PBR is bad beer.
It’s been bad for a looong time, and it’ll continue to be bad.
For those who like it, I ask: “Do ya?”
Cheap: Yes (which can be good)
Bad: yes (which gets nixed by ‘cheap’ if that’s the point)
PBR: bad, cheap beer. Why aren’t they hiring me to market this????
I don’t really drink PBR, but one thing I would say is that their marketing efforts in this city are some of the best I’ve seen by a major corporation trying to reach people in Columbus, Ohio. They obviously did their homework.
It’s been bad for a looong time, and it’ll continue to be bad.
oooooo, Lew is not gonna like this at all….
PBR: bad, cheap beer. Why aren’t they hiring me to market this????
Hilarious!
PBR is kind of like that awesome Canadian Club ad campaign: “Damn right your dad drank it.” I know mine did.
It’s been bad for a looong time, and it’ll continue to be bad.
oooooo, Lew is not gonna like this at all….
Nah, probably not, I’m the one that gets bent out of shape about it. Lew likes fancy beer, I don’t, so it’s Bud Light or Peeber for me. PBR sponsers things I think are interesting (like LauraA’s art!!!), it’s served in most bars I like to be in, and it’s cheap.
All beer corrodes your insides, it’s alcohol. I’ve never heard anyone with cirrhosis (and I’m Irish, there’s been a lot in my family) say, if I’d only switched to the good, expensive stuff I might have been saved :roll:
I have no idea why this even matters to people, lol. If you don’t like it, don’t drink it :?
ETA: Interestingly enough, this is also how I feel about Columbus (to get back on topic). I chose to live here, I take it personally. If you don’t like it, find somewhere you do like. If you don’t like it and stay, deal with it, but don’t blame the city for your unhappiness :)
I cant drink PBR for two reasons.
1. Tastes like shit.
2. That’s my Dad’s beer.
I end up only drinking PBR when I’m at my Dad’s and its too late to go buy more beer ’cause I drank all mine :D
I live by this new rule and it generally goes like this.
After graduating college and getting your ‘real’ job, you aren’t allowed to normally have beer in your fridge that costs less than $25 a case.
Exceptions are only for when you have parties where mass quantities of alcohol are required. The other exception is if you are going to drink yourself silly, solo, at your place…then some cheap beer can fill in.
Although if you are going to drink solo, at least go to a bar and meet some people :D
$25 a case? you are a beer snob.
hell bud light is like $16 i think.
PBR is more of a novelty beer for me. i’ll drink a few if its dollar draft night or something.
lol, yeah I guess
last beer I bought was a 6-pack of Hoegaarden. I passed my rule :D
I like Miller Lite, I’ll drink it if I’m out and it’s going to be a long night or if I plan to get shitfaced. But generally not going to buy a 6-pack of it so I can have a couple with dinner. Great Lakes beer on the other hand…yep!
ugh…and people say PBR tastes bad. yuck! :D
…and then once you’ve been out of college for a few years, you realize that spending $25 on a case of beer is a complete waste of money, unless an essential part of your drinking experience is sitting around and marveling at how much cash you are willing to spend on a case of beer. :wink:
kind of like this homegrown approach to an online city guide:
in the words of the maker:
less work than a wiki?
ha! fair enough
some Great Lakes Elliot Ness is amazing though and I’ll buy that over some Bud any day of the week.
…and then once you’ve been out of college for a few years, you realize that spending $25 on a case of beer is a complete waste of money, unless an essential part of your drinking experience is sitting around and marveling at how much cash you are willing to spend on a case of beer. :wink:
there’s also the age/beer drinking bell curve
- at the start of the curve, when young you drink cheap beer
- post college you realize hangovers are attributed to said cheap beer, and you rise up the curve to good beer. one day you find yourself drinking nothing but swiss beers with corks.
- you eventually settle somewhere along the lines of Hennepin, Flat Tire or some domestic former microbrewery in your 30s . but then you wake up one morning to find that good beer and it’s high alcohol content actually lead to worse hangovers after only a few beers (if you are not there, it will come)
- one then must choose if you want only 1 or 2 pints of Bells, or more beers over the course of a party. thus you then settle at the bottom of the curve, realizing you can drink several corona lights (or insert cheap light beer here) with no resulting hangover.
this has nothing to do with why i think columbus is cool. it would happen to me in any city.
there’s also the age/beer drinking bell curve
- at the start of the curve, when young you drink cheap beer
- post college you realize hangovers are attributed to said cheap beer, and you rise up the curve to good beer. one day you find yourself drinking nothing but swiss beers with corks.
- you eventually settle somewhere along the lines of Hennepin, Flat Tire or some domestic former microbrewery in your 30s . but then you wake up one morning to find that good beer and it’s high alcohol content actually lead to worse hangovers after only a few beers (if you are not there, it will come)
- one then must choose if you want only 1 or 2 pints of Bells, or more beers over the course of a party. thus you then settle at the bottom of the curve, realizing you can drink several corona lights (or insert cheap light beer here) with no resulting hangover.
Agreed, I like quality beers too…and I always enjoy kicking off the evening with a few before I descend to the bottom shelf where I usually spend the remainder of the evening.
I think it may be a function of the “just got my first real job” syndrome where you feel it necessary to treat yourself to all the finer things in life that you’ve been missing out on. This is great fun for a few years until you look at your bank statement & realize that you spend 50% + of your income on dinners and drinks. I’m not much of a foodie, but I think I would enjoy a failed attempt at cooking some experimental dish for some friends at home than spend a zillion bucks at Rosendales. I just don’t think you can totally judge something’s quality or enjoyablility (?) by how much you spend on it.
and my apologies for my long-windedness, i’ve been trapped in an office building for the last few weeks w/ little internet access and apparently i feel the need to express every little thought of mine in great detail today. please avoid me at the happy hour tonight unless you want to get cornered and have me explain my thoughts and feelings on any number of topics at great length. :oops:
Ah yes the last part of your curve description rocks. Thats the thought process pretty much every night out now lol!