Branding Again

A while back I wrote about Marshall grabbing onto something from their local heritage to focus efforts around. In their case it was Jim, the Wonder Dog; they came up with a slogan "Smart Dog, Fine Folks" as a basis for marketing their town. Previously, Marceline has promoted itself as the home of Walt Disney. Now, I see another Missouri town has latched onto something from its heritage - "Chillicothe, Home of Sliced Bread." An article in the electric co-op magazine, "Rural Missouri" ends with the quote from the local visitor center director, "we hope people will think of us as the greatest town since sliced bread."

Chillicothe came up with a slogan relevant to their history, one that also relates to an old saying about something really good. And they did it on their own. Marshall, I believe, came up with their slogan on their own. But we can't do that here in Warrensburg; we have to bring in someone from outside to tell us what to think. Then, we have to deny our heritage and refuse to use anything related to it. That $60,000 spent on the consultant for a "brand" that has to be explained even to residents could have been better used for promotion of something understandable that we could all buy into enthusiastically.

For some reason, Warrensburg sneers at anything locally invented. We give tax incentives to out-of-town developers who will compete with locally-owned businesses. Instead of pride in the town, its history and local creativity, Warrensburg has a municipal inferiority complex. Despite that, I still think Warrensburg is a dog-gone good town.

BW