This post was inspired by Patrick Schaber at the Lonely Marketer in his post Can you actually Market a State? Iowa Is. He seemed surprised that Iowa would market to try to bring people into the state, however Ohio has been trying to do it for years.
Actually they’ve been working 3 fold: Ohio’s been trying to hang onto people, bring new people in and bring people back after they left.
Part of Ohio’s problem in providing a solid campaign is the state is fragmented by three major cities: Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati, each with their own unique positioning. Cleveland cityscape courtesy FusionPanda on Flickr.
Being a boom-a-rang Ohioian, (I lived in Rhode Island for 11 years and Atlanta GA the year before that), I realized when I moved back that Northeast Ohio has a self-identity issue and a self-esteem problem. I think part of it is Cleveland has a perpetuating reputation with so many bad Cleveland jokes on TV… and part of it is not realizing that 1) Ohio has a great work ethic 2) Ohio is very affordable 3) Ohio’s midwest values makes it a much more wholesome place to raise a family than many other places.
But do we market Ohio that way? A quick look at all the slogans for the states in Wikipedia shows the strong positioning that Iowa has and the problem of insecurity that Ohio has:
Iowa Life Changing; Fields of OpportunityOhio So Much to Discover; Birthplace of Aviation (on its license plate); Birthplace of Aviation Pioneers (on its 50 state quarter);[4] (formerly) The Heart of It All
Ohio best claim to fame is the Wright Brothers?! Because they were born in Ohio?! That’s sad. (Kitty Hawk sticks out in everyone’s mind as where the first plane flew.) To me this slogan just reinforces the idea that all the people with the good ideas leave Ohio. It’s like the kid who’s trying to think of a good retort to say to the bully and all he can think of is, “So what, at least they were born here!”
The heart of it all isn’t bad, but elicits a “so what” from many people. Ohio is the 7th most populated state with 4% of the population living here, but you’d be surprised how difficult it is to get any “team spirit” going for Ohio.
There is a strong campaign to build Northeast Ohio’s reputation, but as any marketer knows, it is far harder to change someone’s strong bad perception than it is to establish a good new one to begin with, so this will be an uphill climb. Akron even hired a “next generation” consultant to stop the brain drain.
Recently, the Ohio State football results gave Ohio a shot in the arm. Applications to the university are up about 50% over last year. Down further south, the Cincinnati Reds and the Tourism department partnered to market Cincinnati and bring baseball fans to the city.
How about your state, province or region? What is it doing to promote and retain it’s residents, workers, tourism, schools and young people? How is it branded? What is the one word answer/visual image that people come up with when your state is mentioned?
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Chris, I came thisclose to moving to Akron seven years ago. While I was impressed with many things – when I asked folks what they thought of their economic future…many were concerned about it. Maybe I was asking the wrong people, but I got a lot of “Look what happened to Youngstown.”
I did love Akron while I was there (stayed about a week) and think it would be a great place to live.
As a group, I would characterize the people of Northeast Ohio as “realists”, not exactly pessimists, but certainly not overly optimistic.
They’d rather be right than over shoot the mark. They hesitate to exaggerate in case they come up short. Conservative.
I find that the mentality of the folks from Youngstown is different from Akron. The atmospher in Akron feels to me like “roll up your sleeves and let’s get going.”
The atmosphere in Youngstown feels more like a victim “they/he did this to us/me.”
It’s hard for me to compare the two cities. Very, very different mentality.
Chris, great post – I enjoyed the viewpoint. I guess I’ve been a little oblivious to state marketing as I haven’t been in the market to consider a different region.
I think the Iowa campaign caught my attention because it promoted the same aspects of life I value in Minnesota
I’ll have to keep my eyes open for other campaigns for comparison!
You obviously hit a nerve with me because I think as part of the marketing community in NEOhio this is a top of mind issue for us.
Thanks for your post and your comments.
Chris
Chris, I love this post (hello by the way!) and it has some really good points especially about the people in Northeast Ohio. I am amazed at the talented people that are here in this area but don’t stand up for themselves. More energy has to be spent on getting people to realize how great this area is and how great the people are! Thanks again I loved it!