Walton TDC Presents New Branding

[Bob Hudson]

Looks Like Were Going To Have an "App" for it as well.

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[Lake View Too]

BRAND STORY

Everyone needs to have their own beach.

Sounds simple enough. Start with the purest white quartz sand filtered down from the Appalachians eons ago and washed westward along the blue-green Gulf.

Form it into wave-like dunes topped with sea grasses. Frame the dunes with pines, spreading broad swathes of green against the perfect blue of the sky. Scoop out freshwater lakes to reflect all that blue. And back it all with a huge inland estuary teeming with all forms of life.

People have been drawn to this restorative beauty ever since they've been drawn to the South. The culture that has grown up here from residents and visitors alike has ever been peaceful, respectful of the natural uniqueness and well spiced with the flavors of Southern and gulf coast character.

The result is a necklace of individual beach neighborhoods, each with its distinct emotional hue,
its own cultural traditions and feel, its own visual style. All linked not only to each other, but also to the bountiful natural gifts they are committed to preserve and perpetuate.

This is our promise: somewhere along this strand, you will find your perfect place, your partner's beach ideal, your family's epitome of what the word beach was meant to be.

That's South Walton. To each, your beach.

You just spent six paragraphs trying to explain a rather vague idea and , frankly, a dumb-sounding slogan. No disrespect, but it sounds dumb.

 

[Bob Hudson]

And A Pandora Beach Music Channel



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[Bob Hudson]

You just spent six paragraphs trying to explain a rather vague idea and , frankly, a dumb-sounding slogan. No disrespect, but it sounds dumb.

These are from LKM's presentation. I take no credit other than sharing for those that are interested.

 

[Beach Bimmer]

LKM is an ad agency based in Charlotte North Carolina. Among other clients they are the agency for North Carolina Tourism, which includes their promoting the Beaches of NC. Here's info copied directly from their "About LKM" page:

LKM is a group of bright and bold individuals who work for open communications, effective ideas for our clients and deep connections with customers. Let's begin. Communication is difficult.

You can read more about them at LKM Ideas - Home

 

[Smiling JOe]

So changing the existing name to some very stupid slogan (for $1.3 million) is going to help that 6% know where they are?

Less than half of visitors who have visited the area in the past know where they are

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.

 

[Bob Hudson]

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

 

[scooterbug44]

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

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

 

[GoodWitch58]

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

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...

 

[Lake View Too]

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...)