Columbus must define itself, expert says

Promoters can go global once city tells why it's special

Wednesday,  February 20, 2008 3:05 AM

By Marla Matzer Rose

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

HOT ISSUE:  Click here: http://dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2008/02/20/hotissue_experience.html?sid=101

What should Columbus do to improve its image nationally?

 

Columbus needs to distill what makes it special before it can effectively sell itself to the outside world, an expert told those attending the annual meeting yesterday of Experience Columbus, the city's convention and visitors bureau.  Carol Coletta, president and chief executive of the nonprofit advocacy group CEOs for Cities, said city promoters should look to compete globally, not just regionally, in defining an image.

 

Coletta said, "It's really not enough to gloat about the fact that Columbus is better than Cleveland. That's just a parochial game."  Instead, she said, Columbus must focus on what makes it unique in the world, and get specific about it.  "You can't just say, 'We've got great, diverse neighborhoods.' It's about specificity. Name a couple of neighborhoods, not all of them."

 

FULL ARTICLE: http://dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2008/02/20/experience_columbus.ART_ART_02-20-08_C7_599DGAQ.html?sid=101

 

Lets pull the Austin card!

Coletta said, "It's really not enough to gloat about the fact that Columbus is better than Cleveland. That's just a parochial game."

 

Hey now!  Them's fighting words!

""You can't just say, 'We've got great, diverse neighborhoods.' It's about specificity. Name a couple of neighborhoods, not all of them.""

 

And having a few specific great diverse neighborhoods is something different from Cleveland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh,... need I go on? :roll:

Oh, come on folks.  Don't even let me get started on the PD's negative press towards Columbus (i.e. the "Five Ohio Graphic").  One little "dig," oy.

No, it's not at all about any dig - it's that she comes off as yet one more "marketing specialist" who rehashes the same spin on "make your city seem unique; just like every other place!". I would say that if she were talking about Cleveland, Youngstown, wherever.

Oh, I agree with that which I believe is Columbus' problem to find its own niche.  I again say go with the independent art scene here and blow it up (like Austin did with local live music).

 

Coletta said, "It's really not enough to gloat about the fact that Columbus is better than Cleveland.

 

Anyways, that would be dishonest.

Lets pull the Austin card!

 

what does that mean?

^The "Live Music Capital college crowd" card.

Why don't they just piggy-back off her quote to help better define Columbus....

 

Columbus, OH: "Better than Cleveland"

 

Oh wait, she's right, that is waaaaayy too easy to say.  They need to think of sometihng more challenging.

Alright folks, let's stay constructive in this thread please.

Oh boy, now Columbus is having a branding issue.  Welcome to the club.  Just know the "Get Midwest" is spoken for by the Dayton crowd.

 

 

Alright I apologize....I was in a very Pro-Cleveland mood today.

 

Seriously though, what it wrong with a sports town or young professional area or college town or even great shopping.  Does this too only help with the regional??

I again say go with the independent art scene

 

Seems like every city does that, but what about design?  I think what makes Columbus special in the Midwest is the concentration of industries dealing with fashion, store design, retailing...etc.  Not just clothing designers or buyers, but graphic designers, furniture (store fixture) designers, interior (retail space planning) designers, marketing professionals, etc....

 

I am surprised that Columbus isn't known more as a "design" or "Fashion" center of the midwest.  Before you all laugh....think about it, what city in the midwest is somewhat known for design/high design standards right now??  Minneapolis is what comes to mind for me....but why?  Who knows, but they have that rep.  I am not familiar, but OSU must have programs geared toward that industry more than most schools.

I'm sure it does and I totally agree. When I said independent art scene, that could easily spill over into fashion and design.  I'm not just talking about bums painting the Mona Lisa sideways on a garage.

Get Les Wexner and other industry leaders to open many many concept test stores exclusively in downtown Columbus. That's my crazy thought for the day.

Could even have potential for huge growth.  Pick up a copy of FRAME magazine, and all the innovative designs and new products are coming from Europe...the Dutch and Italians for the most part.  Distributors in the US won't rep a lot of the products anymore because of the weak dollar.  These things are expensive anyway, but add that to the cost of importing and the exchange rate, and it becomes cost prohibitive. 

 

Retail store design and merchandise design in the US has become so super boring, watered down and formulative, a wave of change must be coming for the next generation of specialty stores. 

 

The city could encourage radical store design through grants and loans.  Like cities that subsidize artists... subsidize local businesses to push the envelope of design and materials use.  Imagine the short north would be a showcase of new ideas, exciting designs and hip stores.  Design professionals from around the country would visit to get ideas....similar to places like Melrose Ave or Williamsburg Brooklyn.....but in the Midwest.

"Get Midwest"  Oh, wait...that's already been taken.

^The "Live Music Capital college crowd" card.

It's already been done:

 

http://www.indieartcapital.com

 

FYI, Columbus City Council adopted a resolution on Dec 10th declaring Columbus as the Independent Art Capital of the World.

 

http://www.columbusunderground.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=10938

 

Get Les Wexner and other industry leaders to open many many concept test stores exclusively in downtown Columbus. That's my crazy thought for the day.

That's a good idea!  Think of the advertising for all the cool concepts on the cutting edge...only in Columbus.  I also think OSU should be better capitalized on in a global sense...

FYI, Columbus City Council adopted a resolution on Dec 10th declaring Columbus as the Independent Art Capital of the World.

 

http://www.columbusunderground.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=10938

 

 

Well, we better start getting that memo out to the rest of America!

I agree...Columbus needs some type of branding to give it an edge. Something to really capitalize on...besides OSU.

 

Coletta said, "It's really not enough to gloat about the fact that Columbus is better than Cleveland. That's just a parochial game."

 

Hey now!  Them's fighting words!

 

Haha, this woman obviously needs to focus on branding her city instead of shooting others down...I'm just saying.

Columbus doesnt need to focus on branding, they need to focus on their problems, like a dead downtown and a downtown mall that not even an independant hairstylist or Walgreens would move into.

Columbus doesnt need to focus on branding, they need to focus on their problems, like a dead downtown and a downtown mall that not even an independant hairstylist or Walgreens would move into.

Downtown is historically a business district, and between 8am and 5pm downtown is pretty booming. After hours and weekends the activity drops off a lot, but that's how things go in business districts in most every city.

 

As for the City Center, I don't think any new businesses are even allowed to move into it. The City is running out the leases of the last few tenants and making plans to revamp the mall now that they've finally wrestled control away from the rotating landlords who ran the thing into the ground.

 

So yeah, those problems are being worked on.

 

And branding is important on a national level. But I think actions will speak louder than any marketing campaign can hope to for lifting a city's image.

Thanks for the info. Every time I read an article about City Center I don't hear of any actual solutions but maybe I just skim through them too much. I agree that if Columbus continues to improve their city, it will speak much louder than any marketing campaign.

That because most of the planning is still going on behind closed doors at this point. NRI is developing a plan for the City Center, and the mayor is pushing hard for at least the first phase of redevelopment on the property to be complete by 2012 in time for the bicentennial celebration.

 

I'm sure we're going to hear more details soon. The State of the City address is coming up in just a few weeks. Might have some City Center tidbits in that.

i dont know, dt cbus even during the day feels dead.  Even if theres all these people on the street, you have a way of feeling isolated when youre surrounded by huge surface lots and wide as well streets.  C-Bus really needs to continue to pour efforts downtown, maybe take some money away from putting up jumbo trons at every corne...

C-Bus really needs to continue to pour efforts downtown, maybe take some money away from putting up jumbo trons at every corne...

 

Who are you talking about when you say "C-Bus"? The city itself? Because the major and council have poured a lot of time and money into downtown in the last few years. But they're not the ones spending money on jumbotrons. The Broad & High development is a private development. So it's not like that money is going to be spent on something else.

 

We're still in the early phases of revitalization but have taken a trend of decades of decline and showed the first signs of actual progress in the past 8 years. And with the way the economy is going right now, I'd take slow and steady growth over boom-n-bust growth any day.

 

It's very easy to say "we should get rid of those parking lots" but it's much harder and much slower for it to actually happen. But there has been progress.

It's very easy to say "we should get rid of those parking lots" but it's much harder and much slower for it to actually happen. But there has been progress.

 

Bingo, and to further go along with that, Columbus has atleast been proactive as well to define strategies for certain "parking lot areas" such as the CCAD "campus" and expansion of RiverSouth.

Great post WalkerEvans.  I'm always surprised (well, maybe not) how many people don't get the distinctions you just made.

Ok peeps,

 

I am restarting the Columbus re-branding thread after a couple of days for everyone to cool off. I'd like to remind everyone that this forum is for civil discourse and discussion of the issues at hand.  Because of the history of this thread, it will be watched very closely and if discussion veers off topic or it turns into a Columbus bashing session. appropriate action will be taken. 

 

Thanks!

 

With that I would like to reference an article posted today by the Urbanophile on Columbus's re-branding effort.  This is a good place to start the conversation:

 

Rebranding Columbus

 

It’s no secret I’m a fan of Columbus, Ohio, one of those under the radar cities that’s a whole lot better than its external brand image would suggest.

 

That frustrates local civic leaders, who’ve undertaken a major re-branding effort, as discussed in a recent NYT piece, “There May Be ‘No Better Place,’ but There Is a Better Slogan:”

 

    Quick, what do you think about when you hear the words “Columbus, Ohio”? Still waiting…. And that’s the problem that civic leaders here hope to solve. This capital city in the middle of a state better known, fairly or not, for cornfields and rusting factories has a low cost of living, easy traffic and a comparatively robust economy….What Columbus does not have, to the despair of its leaders, is an image. As home to major research centers, it has long outgrown its 1960s self-concept as a cow town, and its distinction as the birthplace of the Wendy’s hamburger chain does not quite do the trick these days. The city lacks a shorthand way to sell itself — a signature like the Big Apple or an intriguing tagline like Austin’s “Live Music Capital of the World.” As a result, those working to attract new companies, top professors, conventions and tourists have a hard time explaining how Columbus differs from dozens of other cities that likewise claim to be livable, progressive and fun.

 

As I’ve said many times, branding isn’t marketing. It isn’t about tag lines, messaging, or talking points. Yes, there’s an element of that and getting your message out. But branding starts with what’s on the inside not messages to the outside. It’s about who you are, what your values are, what you stand for, what you aspire to be when you grow up. The marketing part just helps communicate that.

 

Read the rest of the story here: http://www.urbanophile.com/2010/08/15/rebranding-columbus/

Although I am not a big fan of Renn's*, I agree with his conclusion:

Columbus has most of the blocking and tackling nailed. It’s a city that gets it. But to break through at the national level, Columbus is going to have to do a lot more than get it. Columbus is going to have to start playing offense, start dictating an ambitious – and let’s face it, risky – agenda around items that are so compelling the world won’t have any choice but to sit up and pay attention.

 

What is it that Columbus can be risky about? Is it the GLBT scene? Can it push itself as a place that supports entrepreneurism?  What are the potentially big and distinct things that are in the nascent stages in C-bus?

 

*I find that although he casts himself as a dispassionate observer and critic of urban life, his relentless advocacy for a city as bland (in my opinion) as Indianapolis puts me off.

It's a great discussion.

 

But I will preface saying if you are going to cricitize Columbus, make it constructive, not negative for the sake of negativity (re: "Columbus is boring...blah!").  Folks like that will be handed suspensions with the QUICKNESS. 

 

As your mom told you when you were young, if you don't have anything nice (or constructive) to say...

It seems to me that Columbus is doing quite well.  I don't understand the need to kick up the sizzle when the steak is selling just fine.

Yeah but what kind of Steak?  When I think of Columbus all that comes to my mind is OSU and that its the state capital.  Maybe they want to be known as a big college town and if so then they probably dont need to change much.  But if they want to highlight something else then there does need to be a re-branding effort.

Renn is a top notch thinker and this article is a great example of it.  I particularly liked:

 

"Columbusites can be proud of Ohio and their role in it. But if they want America to pay attention to them, they need a message and reality to match that ambition.

 

That’s what Portland did. Portland didn’t get to be Portland through superior marketing and talking points about having the lowest costs and quality of life on the west coast with all those natural amenities to boot. They went out and did nothing less than define a new vision of what a small city in America could be. And they delivered on it through relentless hard work and actual execution over the course of decades."

 

and

 

"Maybe the painful truth is that Columbus today just isn’t very different from the other places with which it competes – and that’s what this re-branding should really address."

If Columbus was just the original city, containing neighborhoods like the Short North, German Village, campus, it would be Austin, an awesome urban city.  But Columbus is all of that, plus its Easton, its Crossroads, its Polaris.  All good things individually, but when you add up the parts they don't work as a cohesive narrative, in my opinion.

 

If I were re-branding the city, I would focus on the city core.  Consider the far flung attractions like Easton to be regional attractions, but focus on the city.

The problem of Columbus is it's location.  Austin isn't as walkable or as "urban" as the old city of Columbus but since it has some walkable areas for Texas, it receives national praise much like other isolated, semi-walkable cities such as Denver, Seattle, and Minneapolis.  Columbus' location near just as old urban environments such as Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, let alone the entire Northeast is what is tough to sell since folks can say "Well, I can get old neighborhoods in Cincinnati, why should I move to Columbus?"  So the trick is to sell Columbus as some sort of youthful, "new yet old" city with bike lanes or some shit.  Columbus certainly has better advantages than, say, Indianapolis but since Indy is a primate city with a functional, vibrant downtown which tourists see, it's going to leave a better impression even with in-state Hoosiers.

 

If you put Columbus in Oklahoma, it'd be Shangri-La on these Forbes lists.

Seriously Columbus, go with the gay thing.  It's gold.

 

I didn't think much of the urbanophile post.  Maybe polling data would prove me wrong, but Indiana, including Indianapolis, is one of the few states that seems to have a reputation (cultural rep, at least) worse than Ohio.  Certainly on the East Coast, anyway. 

 

Over all though, what's the goal of raising Columbus' profile?  Some hope of boosting economic growth through some nebulous mechanism of name recognition?  Simple glory?  There's nothing wrong with glory, if that's it, but I'm not sure I understand the motivation here.  Other than Arenn wanting to write a long post.

^From my 7 years to get my 4 year degree in Columbus, I can say it would be nice to say "I am from Columbus", and not have to say "I am from Columbusohio"

 

That is not the whole reson, but I would suspect many locals would love to drop having to say which Columbus they were from. 

I find this urban branding thing questionable, or at very least I find it hard to grasp.

 

One can see it as a marketing thing, for products and services.  Sure.  But for cities and urban regions? 

 

Sure, places have reputations based on history, cultural factors, even economics & technology & food (like the "glass city", the "rubber city", Lubeck and marzipan, Nuremberg and its lebkuchen, Milwaulkee and its beer, Newcastle and its coals, Sheffield and its steel, Detroit and its "fabulous ruins", etc).  But this is somewhat organic, part of the genus loci.  Not really branding as these images or reps evolve over time, both positive and negative.

 

Not every place has this degree of distinction that lends itself to branding.  Yet there are branding campaigns, or marketing campaigns, that seem to do this.  "Virginia is For Lovers" is one that comes to mind.  It is?  Really?  For me Virginia is for Confederates.  Or sailors.  So I guess it's possible to do branding when the concept really has no real connection to the place being branded.  Portland is the "Rose City".  OK.  Dayton is the "Gem City". Whatever. 

 

So the concept of urban branding can be tricky.  Or leaves you scratching your head. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

^From my 7 years to get my 4 year degree in Columbus, I can say it would be nice to say "I am from Columbus", and not have to say "I am from Columbusohio"

 

That is not the whole reson, but I would suspect many locals would love to drop having to say which Columbus they were from.

 

Perhaps the solution is as simple as coming up with a new name for the city.  When I think of Columbus, cleanliness and wide expanses come to mind.

Renn is a top notch thinker and this article is a great example of it. I particularly liked:

 

"Columbusites can be proud of Ohio and their role in it. But if they want America to pay attention to them, they need a message and reality to match that ambition.

 

That’s what Portland did. Portland didn’t get to be Portland through superior marketing and talking points about having the lowest costs and quality of life on the west coast with all those natural amenities to boot. They went out and did nothing less than define a new vision of what a small city in America could be. And they delivered on it through relentless hard work and actual execution over the course of decades."

 

and

 

"Maybe the painful truth is that Columbus today just isn’t very different from the other places with which it competes – and that’s what this re-branding should really address."

+1

That’s what Portland did. Portland didn’t get to be Portland through superior marketing and talking points about having the lowest costs and quality of life on the west coast with all those natural amenities to boot. They went out and did nothing less than define a new vision of what a small city in America could be. And they delivered on it through relentless hard work and actual execution over the course of decades."

 

And it helped becoming a center for IT, particularly for Asian companies wanting a US location, resulting in the Silicon Forest Geographically, Portland (and Seattle) are the closest to Asia, so a locational advantage, which enhanced the Portland economy. 

 

Seattle/Tacoma benefits from this, too (though we don't talk about Sea-Tac that much)

 

 

 

 

That’s what Portland did. Portland didn’t get to be Portland through superior marketing and talking points about having the lowest costs and quality of life on the west coast with all those natural amenities to boot. They went out and did nothing less than define a new vision of what a small city in America could be. And they delivered on it through relentless hard work and actual execution over the course of decades."

 

And it helped becoming a center for IT, particularly for Asian companies wanting a US location, resulting in the Silicon Forest Geographically, Portland (and Seattle) are the closest to Asia, so a locational advantage, which enhanced the Portland economy. 

 

Seattle/Tacoma benefits from this, too (though we don't talk about Sea-Tac that much)

 

 

Both Portland and Seattle are also tourist cities.  Their proximity to mountains, oceans, wineries, etc. gives them a sided advantage.

^

yeah, but it doesn't drive their economies. 

Maybe we need to get more of a chip on our shoulder. Not "We have the Buckeyes so we're awesome" because people in other cities hate that about us already. And not "We have shopping near 270 so we're awesome" because it's not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things especially when it's out there. It should probably be more along the lines of "Don't screw with me for being from Columbus" and "I don't say Columbus Ohio". I remember seeing Iron Maiden at Polaris in '05. One of Bruce Dickinson's crowd-working staples is saying "Scream for me (location)!" That day, it was "Scream for me Columbusohio" I was thinking, "What other Columbuses is Maiden going to play at?" They maybe only ever played another Columbus before 1983 or in the mid-'90s when they weren't big in the States.

Is changing the name of the city an option that at least deserves some discussion?