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Columbus Underground Messageboard » General Columbus Discussion
Columbus once again in the New York Times
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Core_Models
Columbus
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You know, the one thing that article hit on that struck a chord with me was "Diversity". The whole thing about having one of the largest County Fairs...and one of the largest Pride Parades...does create an interesting picture (kind of like Iowa being a legalized gay marriage state). The thing is, there is still some appeal in being a "cow town" to some, so maybe embracing the small town image as one side of the mirror to the booming metropolis on the other is the real idea here. Jocks and nerds...one of the most successful and popular college football programs in the country bordering one of the largest independent research centers in the world.
Granted, this would probably all get watered back down to a "something for everyone" message, which isn't my intention.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Talcott
Clintonville
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Core_Models wrote >>
You know, the one thing that article hit on that struck a chord with me was "Diversity". The whole thing about having one of the largest County Fairs...and one of the largest Pride Parades...does create an interesting picture (kind of like Iowa being a legalized gay marriage state). The thing is, there is still some appeal in being a "cow town" to some, so maybe embracing the small town image as one side of the mirror to the booming metropolis on the other is the real idea here. Jocks and nerds...one of the most successful and popular college football programs in the country bordering one of the largest independent research centers in the world.
Granted, this would probably all get watered back down to a "something for everyone" message, which isn't my intention.+1
The balance of extremes is what I love about Columbus, and also what makes it so hard to market. On paper (or through committee) the extremes get added and divided into "average" but we aren't average. Average would be having a mid-level fair and an okay pride parade, having great things at both (supposed) extremes is a very different thing.
I'm not sure how (or if) that can be boiled down to a single slogan though, and I think that's fine. I didn't even know that Austin had a slogan until reading these branding threads, but I was definitely aware of Austin's image. I'd love to see a (well-done) organized push, but I think the best way to spread the word about Columbus' diversity is to spread the word about individual things here, and lead people to realize they they're all in the same city.
The good news is that already seems to be happening. Slowly, but I think Columbus has a higher and more positive national profile than it did ten years ago. What Columbus needs more than a marketing team is a publicist to send whatever the city equivalent of sampler CDs are to people and media outlets outside of Columbus.
And, in the end, I think that we are that publicity team.
Posted 1 year ago # -
FADulous
Columbus
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Talcott wrote >>
I'm not sure how (or if) that can be boiled down to a single slogan though, and I think that's fine.
How about
"Columbus: Undefined"I agree that one of the best attributes of Columbus is a consistent inability to define itself in the way slogans need to do it. The city is a lot of things to a lot of people, but there is always room for cultural growth, fresh ideas, entrepreneurship.
But I admit, "Break me off a piece of that Columbus" has a real ring to it.
Posted 1 year ago # -
CMH Gourmand
(King of) the (Clinton)ville
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Columbus: Undefined - absolutely works
As for hiring Cooper, et al, forget that - the collective power of CU can brand this city. Just divide up the consulting fee and share it with the idea generators on this thread.
Columbus: Ice Cream Capital of the World
Columbus: Taco Truck Capital of the Midwest
Columbus: Past home of Jon Myers
Posted 1 year ago # -
ja
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I think part of the identity problem is that Columbus is largely a transient city - a place holder for many people. They tend to identify with other cities from which they come and have less incentive to buy into Columbus. It would be interesting to know what percentage of CU posters are actually from Columbus?
Posted 1 year ago # -
JonMyers
HCMC ✈
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Columbus has an identity, a good one, which many of you all have articulated well.
The problem is the organizations that represent the voice of Columbus in these kinds of articles have no identity, nor do most of the individuals quoted.
The photo in the article kills me. Dull.
Columbus needs better representation and a message, not an identity.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Core_Models
Columbus
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EAGLE PASS, TEX.: “Where Yee-Haw meets Oléâ€Â
That is by far my favorite btw.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Brant
Gahanna
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ja wrote >>
I think part of the identity problem is that Columbus is largely a transient city - a place holder for many people. They tend to identify with other cities from which they come and have less incentive to buy into Columbus.Ever been to Los Angeles?
Maybe it's time for us to do a serious postmortem on the Indie Art Capital initiative, which was the last time we tried to take the reins of the "lack of identity" horse to steer it in a new, positive direction.
Posted 1 year ago # -
wondermonk
Columbus
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That slogan generator is the link of the millenium...even tops prison bitch name and shakespearean insult generators. All laughing aside, that's probably as practical as any mode of creating a community slogan that there is, and far less costly.
I for one will appreciate my prom date (home town of Columbus) and not try to promote it for anything other than it is. The seeds for a community's identity were planted long ago, for better or worse, and attempts at trying to present anything different smacks of an identity crisis. Heck, I'd rather embrace a negative identity that is at least honest and reflective than one that is generated in the same way as designs on a cereal box, with focus groups, etc..
Columbus is many things and I really don't see attempts at wrapping it up in a slogan or identifiable "image" as being very fruitful. We only look silly and desperate in the process. And by the way, let's either properly maintain that Santa Maria, set it sail (if it can) or sink the thing for the Great Lower Scioto Reef.
Posted 1 year ago # -
christylwilliams
Olde Towne East
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I like Columbus: Undefined, but it's almost more like Columbus: Indefinable.
And how is it that both Cleveland and Cincinnati have had their own TV shows? Where's "Hot in Columbus?"
Posted 1 year ago # -
cr0m
"Lower" Hilliard
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drew wrote >>
I love this quote from the director of Experience Columbus:
“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.â€Â
Now lets look at how EC reflects this very smart and forward-thinking sentiment visually:
It makes me weep. I can't imagine how much damage that godforsaken logo has done to perceptions of the city.
I *suspect* that someone thought that the design was clever in suggesting the architecture of the convention center through color and geometry. It doesn't - certainly not to anyone who hasn't seen the convention center, and probably not even to most who have.
It's just bad. I've seen carny signs I could take more seriously, but this... this represents our city!Good god this is so true. Well said...
Posted 1 year ago # -
daniel
Old Town East
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Think this business of having NO identity isn't a complete idea.
When people think about things they don't have strong feelings about
they simply expand the context of what they're considering until
it provides enough information to draw a judgement about any
particular subset.EXAMPLE:
If I said, "Quick, what do you think of the corner of Oak and 18th?" some would know that corner, most would not.If you knew it was in Olde Towne East, you could judge it based on that
If you had to scale up your context to 'urban core' you could create an identity of the corner based on that.
Continue to pull back to more broad and general geographic definitions until you have enough information to define it. It would go on to include Columbus, then Ohio, then Midwest, then United States, etc.
This is the mental process happens every moment in an instant of time.
THEREFORE I PROPOSE
Building a stage one campaign that acknowledges the perception of Columbus at the
level of context that people select when drawing conclusions.I would also propose that the context that allows the most people, the most information
is "Midwest"To address and acknowledge that we are Midwest can be the starting
point to clearing that perception and then redefining the city.In a hypothetical campagin to brand Columbus, you would first
begin by challenging the current context of 'midwest'A slogan that represents this idea would be,
"Columbus: Midwest Reinvented."
or
"Columbus is The New Midwest"Once you address what we have been to people and
pique people's interest in something new, you can start
building new meaning from scratch.But first, what we are to most people (midwest) must be accurately addressed.
It's not that we don't have an identity. It's that the identity we
have is collapsed up inside this greater idea of midwest or "flyover country".Address that, clear it out. Then build your message. Anything less is
trying to brand ON TOP of an existing identity, which is so large and
vague by nature, that no details we provide about Columbus will stick.Posted 1 year ago # -
KyleEzell
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Indefinable / Undefined is totally authentic, not manufactured, and true.
I have a request for this very important task force to consider when formulating this slogan:
Get the guts to tell the truth about Columbus. Go ahead and put a picture of "the biggest fair" and "the biggest gay pride parade" together on your poster or in your television commercial. Play up the alternative part of Columbus because it exists (and coexists like no other place I know). Hey, no other city does this! And it's truth.
The best part about Columbus is its people. Both weird and normal.Frustrated and tired, we have proved over and over again that we can't define this place. What we all know is that we are a city of extreme dichotomy. Please don't keep us boxed in the live/work/raise a family only thing.
"Indefinable" is so sweet, and with the right imagery and subtext, it would be genius. And true.
Thank you.
EDIT: Examples for the Indefinable commercial:
A leatherdaddy taking his kid to school, talking to the staid school marm teacher.
Zombies walking past people waving from a church stoop on a Sunday morning.
Gay pride parade CUT TO Memorial Day Parade
Andonandon. That's Columbus. Seriously.
Posted 1 year ago # -
ja
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It probably would be easier to rename the city. Columbus is a rather generic name, requiring specification of Ohio in the same breath. I agree with the previous poster that focusing and obsessing on Columbus' identity does come across as a bit desperate and insecure.
Posted 1 year ago # -
redfish-bluefish
clintonville
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Just off the top of my head for lulz...
Geographic-
Columbus: Gateway to The Flatlands.Self Starter-
IndustriUS ColumbusIdentity-
Columbus is USMisc-
Columbus: No navigable riversPosted 1 year ago # -
Brant
Gahanna
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