I have struggled with Columbus' new 'smart and open' campaign. It isn't very catchy or hip, but it actually says something about the character of the community. "this is cleveland" doesn't say anything. I wish Cleveland had something about "classic" or "gritty" or "strong" or "resilient" or "grand". I don't know. At least something that says SOMETHING.

What's ever been wrong with "Progress & Prosperity?"  I don't think this is played up enough as the City's motto...

Cleveland: Big City amenities you can afford to enjoy!

Joking aside. The more I think about this the angrier I'm getting. This marketing campaign not only comes across as apologetic and snarky, but completely undercuts two of the biggest strengths this city has. We are the only city in Ohio with a developed rapid transit system, and a nationally recognized BRT system (regardless of what you may think of the efficiency of that system). We have a well cultivated foodie scene, with, again, some nationally recognized chefs. And what do we play up? The availability of food that, while certainly delicious, can be obtained in any restaurant in America, and parking. PARKING. The one thing that's completely antithetical to urbanity and to the people that would be interested in relocating to an urban environment. Certainly, neither thing creates an aura of excitement or makes me any more interested in this city over, say, the mall.

 

The more I think about it, the more I feel that this campaign is not just disappointing. It's detrimental. It needs to be killed immediately. Go  back to the drawing board. We're marketing a city, not Applebee's. 

I think this is pretty bad as well, precisely because parking is one of the biggest marketing problems that downtown has in drawing people here. People who live in the suburbs largely don't understand how good we actually have it in terms of parking and it's one of the biggest sources of complaints about coming downtown, as you all know. To play that up as a strength is really misguided. And burgers? Really? Why don't they just say bacon appears on almost every menu so we can be completely passe.

I think this is pretty bad as well, precisely because parking is one of the biggest marketing problems that downtown has in drawing people here. People who live in the suburbs largely don't understand how good we actually have it in terms of parking and it's one of the biggest sources of complaints about coming downtown, as you all know. To play that up as a strength is really misguided. And burgers? Really? Why don't they just say bacon appears on almost every menu so we can be completely passe.

But are suburbanites the audience that we are trying to attract here? Certainly they are ONE demographic, but I feel like even suburbanites are now a little more savvy to what Cleveland has to offer. I was under the impression that Positively Cleveland was meant to market the city to those out of the region and outside of the state. How does this marketing campaign do any good for the city? Their comment about the hamburger makes it seem like we have no interesting food scene. And the parking, great...it's basically an ad for Applebee's. Why would anyone be persuaded to come here if they can just go to a chain restaurant in Anywhere USA and get the same thing?

 

At least the Downtown Cleveland marketing campaign says/shows what Cleveland really is, an exciting place with an abundance of amenities, an engaged population, and a growing atmosphere of excitement.

Based on this, I wonder if Positively Cleveland is lobbying local chefs to install drive thrus for their burger eating customers who are concerned about parking.  This is Cleveland.

 

I'm with AJ93, the more I think about it the angrier it makes me.  We are going to spend money to reinforce a negative perception of the city?

 

 

I wouldn't put much stock in an unfinished website. For all we know the "This is Cleveland" is just a placeholder for the actual slogan, and the rubbish about parking and burgers is in draft form.

 

I say wait till March 19th before sounding off.

 

Also, Mark should not have posted the story. It's not as egregious as the "is Sharon Reed Lebron's baby mamma" story, but it is unnecessarily damaging to the region (think "39mph" and the consequences of that preliminary number).

I think this is pretty bad as well, precisely because parking is one of the biggest marketing problems that downtown has in drawing people here. People who live in the suburbs largely don't understand how good we actually have it in terms of parking and it's one of the biggest sources of complaints about coming downtown, as you all know. To play that up as a strength is really misguided. And burgers? Really? Why don't they just say bacon appears on almost every menu so we can be completely passe.

But are suburbanites the audience that we are trying to attract here? Certainly they are ONE demographic, but I feel like even suburbanites are now a little more savvy to what Cleveland has to offer. I was under the impression that Positively Cleveland was meant to market the city to those out of the region and outside of the state. How does this marketing campaign do any good for the city?

 

I agree, only one demographic, but the one that's likely to judge it the quickest and perhaps the most harshly, since it's local. As someone pointed out upthread, the michigan.org campaign is truly masterful, at least to a nobody like me. The soothing voice, the "escape" themes, the familiarity, the pictures, it's a consistent and successful marketing message that, at least to me, had me more excited about a trip to Ann Arbor I made a couple of years ago than I would have been without the campaign. How do you look at a campaign like that (which, admittedly, is state-wide and not for a city, but still) and come up with "we have burgers and parking?"

Why not forget the "this is"?

I'm not opposed to "This is Cleveland" as a phrase. But when you pull back that curtain, I'd sure hope they'd market us better than "lots of parking, and burgers on every menu."

^Thats a good point.  I had not realized that Mark Naymik.  He seems to be the PD troll for anyone who likes Cleveland.

 

It would not surprise me if he hyped up the worst parts of the website.

 

I'll reserve judgement until the final launch

 

I wouldn't put much stock in an unfinished website. For all we know the "This is Cleveland" is just a placeholder for the actual slogan, and the rubbish about parking and burgers is in draft form.

 

I say wait till March 19th before sounding off.

 

Also, Mark should not have posted the story. It's not as egregious as the "is Sharon Reed Lebron's baby mamma" story, but it is unnecessarily damaging to the region (think "39mph" and the consequences of that preliminary number).

 

I’m one of the first to criticize Naymick when he doesn’t do his homework again, but why shouldn’t he have publicized it?  It’s not his job to be a booster.  If the 3/19 rollout is much different and/or better, that’s one thing.  But if it’s not, he’s got quite a scoop.  We’ve spent money on something so generic it could have applied to Aztec ruins.

Because the website isn't ready yet, and first impressions are so vital for this kind of thing. Mark is not reporting news but rather is  inciting negative feedback by posting an incomplete document. That's completely unfair to Positively Cleveland, the group they hired, and the region as a whole.

I'll just chime in that if the website isn't ready they shouldn't have made it live for people to see it yet.

...I can't argue that one

I just tried to go to the website and see for myself and it reroutes me back to Positively Cleveland's homepage. I wonder if they took it down until the formal unveiling.

^Hmmm...sounds like Mark Naymik maybe stumbled on a link that wasn't supposed to be live yet and the folks at Positively Cleveland quickly pulled it.  If these comments are shared with them perhaps they can address the concerns raised here prior to 3/19...a sort of unplanned soft preview to gather good feedback.

The Pure Michigan campaign works because it's not a hard sell. It's not a gimmick. Miles and miles of pristine beaches, some of the best most beautiful scenery in North America....come on, who doesn't like that? That's almost too easy.

 

I think AJ is onto something (if I'm understanding correctly) about playing up the sophisticated, metropolitan aspects of our city. Easy sell. World class culinary scene, burgeoning live original music, cool architecture, major league sports, transit and amazing arts from the Museum on down to the smallest gallery. Easy sell, because it's true. 

^ Exactly. I'm ok with 'This is Cleveland', and I'm not proposing that we try to upsell ourselves as something we're not. Just be proud of what we are and what we have. Great amenities combined with better accessiblity to those amenities than the competition. And we're nicer than NYC. ;-)

 

What I saw today was too 'aww shucks' folksy for my liking. Like we don't want to be seen puttin' on airs. Well, I say if you got airs, put 'em on, b!tches!

What do we have that is unique? Thats what we should focus on. And are we attracting tourists or potential future residents? Two completely different campaigns.

 

http://thisiscle.com/

"If you don't like what people are saying, change the conversation."

 

Oy.

 

I'm also not crazy about the URL. It seems phoenetically close to "this icycle"

 

 

Also, what the hell cleveland.com? Ctownballr2 copy-and-pasted my comment about Mark posting the link too soon. Word for word onto cleveland.com. Boo to that.

"If you don't like what people are saying, change the conversation."

 

Oy.

 

I'm also not crazy about the URL. It seems phoenetically close to "this icycle"

 

 

Also, what the hell cleveland.com? Ctownballr2 copy-and-pasted my comment about Mark posting the link too soon. Word for word onto cleveland.com. Boo to that.

 

I noticed that, I simply assumed it was you even though the name did not match.

"If you don't like what people are saying, change the conversation"

 

WTF?

 

This isn't 1988.

There are no Cleveland jokes.  Any article written about the city over the past 5 years, out side of the PD,  is enthusiastically positive (at UO I'm pretty sure we read all of them).

What are they talking about!?!

 

 

That quote should be Detroit's new marketing push

I realize this isn't a finished project, but I don't like what I see at all. Lo res pics of Sam McNulty in some beat up back yard doesn't really sell me on anything about Cleveland.

 

I am desperately hoping that this is going to be significantly upgraded by the unveil. Right now it looks like a blog by an amateur.

 

And I agree the quote is inappropriate. Again, we're not defending ourselves. We're promoting ourselves. Stop apologizing for how people perceived us 20 years ago.

"If you don't like what people are saying, change the conversation"

 

WTF?

 

This isn't 1988.

There are no Cleveland jokes.

 

There will be, if this comes out "as is".

"If you don't like what people are saying, change the conversation"

 

WTF?

 

 

Person 1 - "Cleveland sucks"

 

Person 2 - "No Detroit sucks"

 

Mission accomplished. Now eat a burger in your parked car at sonic.

 

 

http://www.cleveland.com/darcy/index.ssf/2014/03/state_of_the_city_potholes_edi.html#incart_river_default

Funny how everyone's perspective ends at the horizon. Ask someone from Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Toledo, Cleveland, Akron, Youngstown, Canton, Pittsburgh etc etc about the potholes this year and how uniquely their city is bad for letting it get out of hand. "Now why can't we be like our neighboring cities who have no potholes!"

 

Hint: it's bad everywhere. But the grass is greener and the roads are smoother somewhere over the horizon....

Funny how everyone's perspective ends at the horizon. Ask someone from Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Toledo, Cleveland, Akron, Youngstown, Canton, Pittsburgh etc etc about the potholes this year and how uniquely their city is bad for letting it get out of hand. "Now why can't we be like our neighboring cities who have no potholes!"

 

Hint: it's bad everywhere. But the grass is greener and the roads are smoother somewhere over the horizon....

 

Agreed about potholes. 

 

But I guar-an-tee (Justin Wilson voice) that if Pittsburgh or Baltimore came out with a "This Is..." campaign, the online Browns fans would be busily coming up with the most blighted images we could and captioning/tweeting them.  D'Arcy was, I suspect, using a relatively innocuous way to make his point.

 

Marketing agencies are stereotyped as being places where office politics is key and everyone is supposed to be positive minded and "with the program".  Do anyone employ teams of cynics, like the intelligence agencies employ "red teams", to predict what the internet fueled smartasses are going to come up with?

^Apparently not.  They should just run stuff by us.

^seems like a sound plan to me....

Well they do run some stuff by us. As it turns out I was contacted by the ad agency. They wanted some Lake Erie footage to use in the campaign.

Well they do run some stuff by us. As it turns out I was contacted by the ad agency. They wanted some Lake Erie footage to use in the campaign.

 

Couldn't they just go video some....oh yeah.  There may be "no surf in Cleveland" but there's no lakes in Kansas City.

www.thisiscleveland.com is now active.

 

At first glance it appears they took some of your advice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4FNejQu6sw&feature=youtu.be

I like it. I'd say that's pretty cool.

I read that they tried to use a Black Keys song for the video but the licensing fees were too high.  Instead they used this song from a band that lives in Cleveland (Welshly Arms).  I think it's a good move for the story they are trying to tell to not use a nationally known act who lives in Nashville (although it would be more recognizable obviously).  Also, I'm glad they used this song for selfish reasons because now I have a new band to listen to.

I work in marketing and have developed many campaigns here in NYC and I'd have to say this strategically hits the mark for Cleveland.  It addresses the negative stereotypes head on and that's what the city needs to overcome because the city has excellent assets that will surprise visitors.  I very much live the direction.

Wow, I like it.  I was very skeptical after the whole "parking and hamburgers" debacle but this is actually pretty cool.

I work in marketing and have developed many campaigns here in NYC and I'd have to say this strategically hits the mark for Cleveland.  It addresses the negative stereotypes head on and that's what the city needs to overcome because the city has excellent assets that will surprise visitors.  I very much live the direction.

It just seems to me that this idea that Cleveland needs to overcome a negative stereotype is dated.  Just last night, I was walking into my local in the French Quarter and there were a bunch of people talking to the bartender.  They were all talking about getting to Cleveland soon because the food scene "is just blowing up".

None of these people are native Clevelanders, but Michael Symon and people taking notice of Sokolowski's James Beard Award are huge contributors to this idea.

 

And now our campaign is "Don't believe what you hear about Cleveland"?!?

 

^^In my experience the negative stereotype is alive and well.  Although I occasionally will come across someone who knows about the progress Cleveland is making, I receive many more *gross* faces when I mention Cleveland to outsiders in my travels (mostly those in their 20's-30's).  This is especially true in other parts of Ohio, which is said to be their target market along with Detroit, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, & Chicago.

I work in marketing and have developed many campaigns here in NYC and I'd have to say this strategically hits the mark for Cleveland.  It addresses the negative stereotypes head on and that's what the city needs to overcome because the city has excellent assets that will surprise visitors.  I very much live the direction.

It just seems to me that this idea that Cleveland needs to overcome a negative stereotype is dated.  Just last night, I was walking into my local in the French Quarter and there were a bunch of people talking to the bartender.  They were all talking about getting to Cleveland soon because the food scene "is just blowing up".

None of these people are native Clevelanders, but Michael Symon and people taking notice of Sokolowski's James Beard Award are huge contributors to this idea.

 

And now our campaign is "Don't believe what you hear about Cleveland"?!?

 

"The word "Cleveland" elicits a negative reaction in focus groups unlike anything researchers have ever seen.

 

Gilbert says that among slogans in competing markets, "Cleveland Rocks" was the most recognized behind "Pure Michigan." But the "Cleveland Rocks" slogan does not motivate people to come here. The slogan turns off people under the age of 45."

 

http://www.cleveland.com/naymik/index.ssf/2014/03/positively_cleveland_looks_to.html

How old is that data?

I agree, Cleveland has a horrible perception nationwide. Until now there hasn't been anyone countering that perception. Glad they got this right this time!

There's no doubt Cleveland still gets a bad rap but this punches that right in the face...true Cleveland style!

Well, it's not the route I would have chosen - I think a "Welcome home" campaign would be far more effective - but it's still an impressive video.

 

Two comments--from my travels, CLE has a VERY negative reputation across the country.

 

Second--the video---i've seen a lot of those images in the film before--they were in Case law school's video promo. Was this one made by the same company? or did they just use some of the same footage? Here's the case video---scroll down to the third row (not the video at the top of the page):  law.case.edu

Two comments--from my travels, CLE has a VERY negative reputation across the country.

 

Second--the video---i've seen a lot of those images in the film before--they were in Case law school's video promo. Was this one made by the same company? or did they just use some of the same footage? Here's the case video---scroll down to the third row (not the video at the top of the page):  law.case.edu

 

They were buying existing film footage. Or in my case, asking to donate footage.  Actually I wished they used some of the imagery of those Asian promo's for CLE. Now those were very cool also, especially the Lake Erie shots. Nevertheless for what they're gunning for, I give this an A.