October 2011 - By Jeff Nixon

Your True Place Resides In People's Hearts and Minds

I recall a story told at a sales seminar about an old man in a worn out suit walking into a Cadillac dealership. Thinking he was just there to kick tires, the entire sales team instantly started to fight over who had to help him. Short story, he wound up buying three new cars for his family, and the salesman with the shortest straw walked out with the thickest wallet. Point is, they judged the “old book” by his “cover” and were lucky he didn’t read them the riot act, let alone stay to do business. Then again, the old man could have dressed for success if he expected better treatment. And so it goes, round and round, the cycle of perceptions (and judgments) we deal with everyday.

Managing brand is about managing perceptions based on people’s expectations — expectations created (in part) by branding and met (or denied) with each brand experience. Of course, true brand experience goes far deeper and wider than any logo, brochure or ad campaign. (“I sure like their logo, think I’ll move there!” If only it were this easy!) Slapping a new logo on your community without changing the essence of your brand experience (from the inside out) is like putting a cowboy hat on Ozzy Osbourne and calling him a country musician.

How often organizations say, “We have no funds for branding now, but maybe in next year’s budget. What does it cost anyway? We can set some money aside for marketing.” Branding isn’t something you schedule — it’s something you do every day, whether you know it or not. For consumers, experiencing new advertising (assuming they’re even paying attention) can never be a substitute for experiencing new and more relevant value from your brand. How many places have launched new logos and campaigns only to fade away over time, resulting in little or no impact!

What are you actively doing to meet or change perceived expectations? Where are you today, and where do you want to be tomorrow? What’s truly important to your publics when making branding decisions? What must you change organically to create a greater experience of value that your publics will truly care about? You can’t change outside perceptions without achieving internal clarity and consensus regarding your place brand’s value proposition and why (and how) it should matter to people. In short, if your place disappeared tomorrow, why should people care? Have the courage to take a good, long and hard look into the “reality mirror” and deal with the short-term pain to make long-term gains.

The most successful places build high expectations using a variety of tools, tactics and mediums that work to create (and reinforce) a new reality of perceived experience. Only by coming to grips with how everyone (from council members and business owners to residents and tourists) truly sees your community can you measure gaps between reality and perceptions and start developing a strategic plan of action to correct, strengthen or moderate perceptions.

Then and only then can you start implementing campaigns and communicating directly to your target audiences. This means everything you do is completed with a purpose. Speak in a certain way, write in certain way, dress in a certain way, and even choose what events to host so you can develop your place brand strategically. Start making decisions with a purpose so people will perceive you as you intend. Creating the frameworks to enhance people's expectations and perceptions through everything from events and education to, yes, that snazzy logo and campaign, based on a bottom-up and inside-out branding strategy that truly resonates with audiences and achieves a brave new brand reality for all!

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P.S.

Have you heard the one about the German Shepherd that went into a telegram office, took out a blank form and wrote: “Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof?” The clerk examined the paper and politely told the dog: “There are only nine words here. You could send another Woof for the same price.” “But,” the dog replied, “that would make no sense at all.”

"The mice think they are right, but my cat eats them anyways." "This is the point, reality is nothing, perception is everything." - Terry Goodkind

September 2011 - by Jeff Nixon

Welcome Home Jets!

The good people of Winnipeg have been bursting with pride since welcoming back their beloved Jets. Web and social media sites are buzzing, and on every street corner, in every café and around every office, everyone’s in on the conversation — dads, sons, moms, sisters, neighbours, co-workers are all excited about having a hockey team back  — more than just a team, an identity to call their own!

Funny thing is, this Jets team is largely the same Atlanta Thrashers team that finished 25th in the league last year, five points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs and just ahead of the Ottawa Senators. No major off-season trades, acquisitions or really any other big changes other than the launch of the new team jerseys. Despite these less than stellar stats, the townsfolk are pumped, ready to live and die behind their team’s success.

An NHL team moving to another city is nothing new. We have watched Hartford move to Carolina, Minnesota move to Dallas, and Shane Doan and the original Winnipeg Jets head off to Phoenix — all successes, save for the last. This spring, rumors ran rampant of Phoenix moving back to Winnipeg, but in the last hour True North Sports and Entertainment made the deal with Atlanta. Would it have made much difference which team made it to Winnipeg? More than likely not.

Why is this relevant to place branding?

I always pose a leading question during stakeholder sessions in place branding programs: What is truly unique about your community? The typical off-the-cuff responses? “Oh, I don’t know… ample parking… proximity to work… you know, the usual.” Not exactly the gut-level responses for which I’m trolling — then again, in my participants’ defense, true, poignant differences aren’t easy to identify. What I’m hoping to draw out during the exercises are self-expressive benefits that go beyond the work-and-live-a-day functional. How do residents, business owners and civic leaders express their community brands in personal, passionate terms that precisely and dynamically depict the vitality of the lifestyles they truly value, even love?

It all starts with expressing who they are and what they value most as people. Really??? I agree it might not be as apparent as a pastor blasting down the highway showing his “free spirit” on his Harley Davidson or the high-priced lawyer showing just how “successful” he is driving downtown in his Bentley. But it is there. What makes a community unique may be “assumed” and oft left unspoken, but transplant a resident to another place and out it flows. Try dissing Edmonton to a former Edmontonian living in Vancouver. Trash Vancouver to a student from Coquitlam studying at the University of Toronto. While arguments may often turn to functional benefits, the heated discussion that pursues when the gloves are off and words are thrown like cross-checks truly proves there are emotional chords to communities that individuals connect with and are much more powerful than any functional benefit could ever be.

Why should elected officials and community leaders take notice?

Boosting civic pride is a major challenge for city leaders. Dismissing self-expressive benefits as irrelevant to place branding can be a costly mistake that results in same-old, lackluster marketing. Sports teams connect people with places, creating a strong sense of pride — an intangible but extremely valuable civic asset. Positive, emotional attitudes improve productivity, encourage local engagement, and attract new talent and investment. Civic pride is a critical branding tool used to build higher profile images and garner far-reaching publicity.

Team rosters and standings change over time but home-grown loyalty rarely does! Is the battle of Alberta between Calgary and Edmonton all about rosters? The point is so many communities are not tapping into self-expressive benefits that keenly express their desired brand images. Trying to compete by bragging about blah functional benefits is a tough hill to climb and a battle field to die on — ample parking just don’t cut it! Self-expressive and empowering benefits are what keep residents residing, businesses flourishing, and visitors engaged and interested. Capture what is truly unique and worth loving about your community, embed it in the living, breathing DNA and scream it from the roof tops. Be truthful, memorable, different and passionate! 

You don’t have to be a hockey fan to appreciate the connection between team and place loyalty. Winnipeg is back in the NHL! The Jets might make the playoffs this year or five years from now. What truly matters is Winnipeg is rejuvenated, and its citizens are seizing the opportunity to show the world just how much they love their city! Now that’s brand spirit at its resounding best!

June 2011 - by Jeff Nixon

How Does the Stanley Cup Riot Impact Vancouver’s Brand?

Wednesday June 15^th will go down as one of the most disappointing days in Vancouver’s history. But even the game seven loss to the Boston Bruins has become an afterthought due to the mayhem that occurred in the downtown core. Beyond the millions of dollars in property damage and costs of clean up and repair the city’s biggest concern should be the event’s impact on the Vancouver brand.

Brand is all about reputation, people’s attitudes and the gut feelings they have when they think of a place. The media and social media coverage of the June 15^th riot is obviously affecting how people perceive Vancouver worldwide. Even within Canada there are comments being made about how disgraceful Vancouver is and how embarrassing this is for Canadians. It is truly a sad time but as Mayor Gregor Robinson said, “rioters don’t define the city”. And lets be real, after viewing the countless pictures online and the hours of video footage it would be hard for anyone to dispute this point.

So with the devastation, the blow to civic pride and our international reputation is there anything good that can come out of this?

Any Publicity is Good Publicity?

As any place brand strategist knows the statement above is false. Branding a community is all about managing audience perceptions, attitudes and beliefs. This negative publicity has serious implications on how potential residents, visitors, tourists, and business owners perceive Vancouver. Unfortunately the damage is done.

The Silver Lining….

Within minutes of the riot the citizens who truly define Vancouver and are an accurate representation of the residents and business owners of the area were working online to develop tools to help prosecute those who were destroying their own city. By sunrise there were countless volunteers downtown cleaning the streets and starting to repair the damage. The shamed public of Vancouver is not hiding, they are standing out loud and proud, apologizing for the embarrassing antics of the few, and working towards restoring both downtown Vancouver and its reputation.

As the lingering hangover from Wednesday night fades, what remains is a loud voice from an engaged Greater Vancouver public that is speaking out against what has happened. A proud community that has stood together to show Canada and the rest of the world Vancouver’s true colours. Yes, it is true a few bad choices or single event can undo years of brand building and management. And unfortunately this riot has definitely diminished much of the good will built during the 2010 Olympics but maybe we needed a wakeup call. You can’t ride the wave forever and a place brand must be managed every day. Brand must be considered before making every decision, developing any program, or planning any event.

There has been an outstanding response from all of Vancouver and the Lower Mainland after this unfortunate incident. The support and efforts of many in the last couple days are enough to make every Canadian proud. Great work Vancouver, as we recover and move on lets take this blip as a reminder to never take our reputation for granted again.

May 2011 - by Jeff Nixon

In sports it takes the efforts of an entire team to win the game and the championship. So it goes with re-branding a community. No single player, even a star, can execute the winning brand strategy. Success takes buy-in from all stakeholders, and that takes vision and leadership from brand champions, who more than just giving “rah-rah” support, actively work and play well together to plan and promote the program from its inception. Executing a decisive brand strategy means answering a lot of tough questions pertaining to the community’s values, what it stands for, and how it can strive honestly and practically to reshape public perceptions. Just as it took many people to construct the past, so it takes many to rebuild for the future.

The ideal brand team committee is composed of community brand champions who represent a dynamic cross-section of stakeholders, including residents, visitors, business owners, municipal staff, senior management, and even members of council. Each brand champion has a core responsibility to help shape the shared vision and to ensure its unique and exciting brand story is expressed loudly, clearly and consistently.

Despite the best of intentions, too many branding programs fail during implementation — not unlike certain sports teams that start seasons with a bang but don’t make the playoffs. Over time, the program starts to fizzle due to individual agendas resulting in lack of cohesion and consistency. True brand champions keep to the game plan and stay actively engaged in the community, working to ensure new groups, and even new councils, don’t hinder progress and momentum. Remember, it takes years to develop a strong brand, and only months to destroy it.

And what if brand champions don’t agree or they lose focus and start to drift? Enter your Brand Coach or Chief Branding Officer, a respected leader in your community who is carefully selected to give objective guidance. Your brand coach sits on the branding committee and oversees the branding program and its execution, providing direction when the committee is divided or unsure during the strategy and concept development stages of the re-brand. Like the coach of a sports team bent on taking the league championship, the brand coach is there to remind even the star players that they need to stick to the winning system and strategy. No short cuts, no individual agendas, and no star showboating!

So who makes the best brand coach? Always the Mayor or CAO? The answer is simple! Anyone can be a great brand coach, as long as they are a respected member of the community and committee, who has a strong voice, is one-hundred percent committed, and is able and willing to make the tough calls that keep your brand team on track, not only to secure the win today but also ensure a legacy of champions.