Walton TDC Presents New Branding

If I could change the thread topic I would to remove the amount. Not really my reason for posting.

People too dumb to know where they are - this is our target demographic? :idontno:

No wonder people keep driving cars and golf carts down the bike path and their kids keep starting fires. :roll:

It isn't 6% who don't know where they are. It is more than 50% who don't know where they are staying.

$1.3 million sounds expensive to me, but that doesn't sound like the basis of this thread.

Opinions are great, but why not voice them during the process rather than after the determination has been made? They rolled out this To Each, Their Beach many months ago at TDC workshops and at BCC meetings. This isn't new information.

Branding in South Walton is difficult. As LKM pointed out, there are three directions listed in the current branding -- Northwest Florida's Beaches of South Walton. That alone is enough for it to be very confusing. Santa Rosa Beach does indeed have a nice ring, but for all the beach developments located in South Walton, only one is truly in Santa Rosa Beach, and that is Santa Rosa Beach. Having Santa Rosa Beach as the mailing address for the city makes things very confusing. Add to that the mail going to people in South Walton located east of Camp Creek with the city mailing address as Panama City Beach, and you make it even more confusing. If they were to call Sandestin, Miramar Beach, and Seascape as being Santa Rosa Beach, that would even further present problems. As I said, there is not an easy fix. There are many facets to branding, some unseen by most. The real difficulty comes in trying to brand 15 beach communities as one place. It is really difficult to cover such diversity between Alys Beach and Sandestin. That doesn't even take into consideration the off-beach, non-TDC places like Pt Washington or north Santa Rosa Beach.

I agree that branding is difficult...and many people may want to attend the meetings, but many are not able to for a variety of reasons.

It seems to me a company such as this would have a presentation that could be linked to a message board such as Sowal...focus groups could be done online. There are many ways to disseminate information and receive feedback on an idea w/out people having to attend a workshop or board meeting.

Frankly, I do not recall seeing these workshops announced, and I am sure I am not the only person who knew nothing about them.

Surely, the TDC would want feedback from more people than just the small group that typically attends a workshop or board meeting...especially about something as important as this.

And, the people that would have the most vital feedback are probably those people who "don't know where they are", and they would never be at a workshop or board meeting. How this slogan would help with directions, is beyond me. But :idontno:

I find it difficult to believe this company would use this grammar, but that may just be my bias...

we must not have all the information...for surely something is missing.

I always thought The Beaches of South Walton was a good brand...geez,, I even liked the umbrellas...:idontno:

Somehow, these people, who don't know where they are, got here. I have a feeling they liked it here. And, I have a feeling, they will find out how to get back here. This whole concept of branding is very strange to me, but we had a recognizable brand called The Beaches of South Walton, we had a recognizable logo, the three red umbrellas. Why go to something different? This is going to help people know where they are? Why not call it MyBeach, or YourBeach, or FaceBeach, or, I got it!: The Beach. (cue the sound of a lead balloon going down in flames...)

Somehow, these people, who don't know where they are, got here. I have a feeling they liked it here. And, I have a feeling, they will find out how to get back here. This whole concept of branding is very strange to me, but we had a recognizable brand called The Beaches of South Walton, we had a recognizable logo, the three red umbrellas. Why go to something different? This is going to help people know where they are? Why not call it MyBeach, or YourBeach, or FaceBeach, or, I got it!: [U]The[/U] Beach. (cue the sound of a lead balloon going down in flames...)

:lolabove:

I think we should continue talking about how people should get involved in the process that is in the past. I'd like to know where we sign up for the time machine to go back to those meetings and presentations. :sarc:

I'd also like to ask, if people are so confused, why are we changing things on them?

During my last five years before retiring I flew over 4 million miles sometimes visiting four different cities and states in one week. On more than on occasion I woke up and had to look at my ticket to remember where I was.

:lolabove:

I think we should continue talking about how people should get involved in the process that is in the past. I'd like to know where we sign up for the time machine to go back to those meetings and presentations. :sarc:

The process of many things is on-going. Get involved today so that you have a voice in the future.

The process of many things is on-going. Get involved today so that you have a voice in the future.

My experience with the TDC is that the "process" isn't very open. The big blue signs would be a pretty good example. After several very heated meetings on the topic they were removed, partially, and reworked into what we have today.

The only reason to rebrand is if you have been stealing livestock.

Has the TDC been cattle rustling?

Not everyone has the time to invest in the ongoing process Smiling JOe. Judging from how poor the new branding is, I would have to say that those who do seem have some lousy taste.

My thoughts: People think/say they are in Destin for the same reason I say I'm from Chicago when I'm really from a suburb called Lombard. Most don't immediately recognize "Lombard" or "Beaches of South Walton" but they know "Chicago" and "Destin." It has nothing to do with branding or logos and everything to do with size.

It is a common understanding that we (meaning the residents & guests of S. Walton) don't want to be like Destin, we don't want the high-rises, over-development, traffic and congestion, etc... but guess what - you take the bad with the good. We don't have Destin's traffic, congestion or high-rises, and we don't have their name recognition either, because we don't (and can't) have the same number of visitors here. A new logo, slogan, whatever, is not going to change that. The money would have been much better invested in advertising and enhancing the uniqueness of our communities.

FWIW, I think the new logo & slogan looks gimmicky and over-manipulative. The umbrellas were fine. A healthy level of brand recognition can take years, and now we have to start all over.

Also, not everyone can attend meetings. Why didn't anyone post this here when it was initially proposed? Or on facebook? Or send a postcard to residents? Or any number of other ways to spread information in the 21st century? I can tell you the music line-up of every bar/restaurant along 30A for the next week, the spring break schedules of every college within driving distance, and every local fundraising event planned for the next 3 months. Why am I just now hearing about a decision that will have a great impact on the lives and livelihoods of my friends and neighbors, and that was initially proposed over a year ago? Why can't anyone who represents this community think even a little bit outside of the box? There are so many better ways to get feedback from residents (if it is actually desired) besides just expecting them to read a notice or attend a one-time meeting. It is disappointing and discouraging and leads me to think that those who represent us don't really care what we want.

It seems so many people, who I know love and care about this community, spend far too much time fighting over scraps, while the meat of every matter sits untouched and unnoticed.

<rant off>

My thoughts: People think/say they are in Destin for the same reason I say I'm from Chicago when I'm really from a suburb called Lombard. Most don't immediately recognize "Lombard" or "Beaches of South Walton" but they know "Chicago" and "Destin." It has nothing to do with branding or logos and everything to do with size.

It is a common understanding that we (meaning the residents & guests of S. Walton) don't want to be like Destin, we don't want the high-rises, over-development, traffic and congestion, etc... but guess what - you take the bad with the good. We don't have Destin's traffic, congestion or high-rises, and we don't have their brand recognition either, because we don't (and can't) have the same number of visitors here. A new logo, slogan, whatever, is not going to change that. The money would have been much better invested in advertising and enhancing the uniqueness of our communities.

FWIW, I think the new logo & slogan looks gimmicky and over-manipulative. The umbrellas were fine. A healthy level of brand recognition can take years, and now we have to start all over.

Also, not everyone can attend meetings. Why didn't anyone post this here when it was initially proposed? Or on facebook? Or send a postcard to residents? Or any number of other ways to spread information in the 21st century? I can tell you the music line-up of every bar/restaurant along 30A for the next week, the spring break schedules of every college within driving distance, and every local fundraising event planned for the next 3 months. Why am I just now hearing about a decision that will have a great impact on the lives and livelihoods of my friends and neighbors, and that was initially proposed over a year ago? Why can't anyone who represents this community think even a little bit outside of the box? There are so many better ways to get feedback from residents (if it is actually desired) besides just expecting them to read a notice or attend a one-time meeting. It is disappointing and discouraging and leads me to think that those who represent us don't really care what we want.

It seems so many people, who I know love and care about this community, spend far too much time fighting over scraps, while the meat of every matter sits untouched and unnoticed.

<rant off>

That was really well said. The people in the TDC live in a bubble of their own importance.