a newbie question... THE Beach?

Enjoy the journey.
[ame="http://www.sowal.com/bb/showthread.php?t=19999"]New marketing plan dubs this area "The Beach" - SoWal Beaches Forum[/ame]

New advertising campaign proposes to refer to our beautiful area as THE BEACH.

Sorry.... I guess I don't get it.

I'll read the previous thread -- thanks for pointing me to it Minnie!

Alright. I read the backstory to The Beach....

I'm still, like, ??

They had to put together a committee to come up with THAT?

I have some experience with advertising and branding, and I just don't think that "The Beach" comes anywhere CLOSE to my perception of 30A and the surrounding areas. It's nondescript (why, exactly, is this THE beach?) as well as hinting of a pretentiousness that I've always been delighted 30A lacks. Well-heeled vacationers could choose other, more 'it' places to go; I've always felt they choose SoWal because it is an 'it' place, but is modest enough not to scream it.

That's my two cents, anyway. :roll:

Alright. I read the backstory to The Beach....

I'm still, like, ??

They had to put together a committee to come up with THAT?

I have some experience with advertising and branding, and I just don't think that "The Beach" comes anywhere CLOSE to my perception of 30A and the surrounding areas. It's nondescript (why, exactly, is this THE beach?) as well as hinting of a pretentiousness that I've always been delighted 30A lacks. Well-heeled vacationers could choose other, more 'it' places to go; I've always felt they choose SoWal because it is an 'it' place, but is modest enough not to scream it.

That's my two cents, anyway. :roll:

Well said!!!!

Alright. I read the backstory to The Beach....

I'm still, like, ??

They had to put together a committee to come up with THAT?

I have some experience with advertising and branding, and I just don't think that "The Beach" comes anywhere CLOSE to my perception of 30A and the surrounding areas. It's nondescript (why, exactly, is this THE beach?) as well as hinting of a pretentiousness that I've always been delighted 30A lacks. Well-heeled vacationers could choose other, more 'it' places to go; I've always felt they choose SoWal because it is an 'it' place, but is modest enough not to scream it.

That's my two cents, anyway. :roll:

Now officially known as "THE tm Two Pennies".

Alright. I read the backstory to The Beach....

I'm still, like, ??

They had to put together a committee to come up with THAT?

I have some experience with advertising and branding, and I just don't think that "The Beach" comes anywhere CLOSE to my perception of 30A and the surrounding areas. It's nondescript (why, exactly, is this THE beach?) as well as hinting of a pretentiousness that I've always been delighted 30A lacks. Well-heeled vacationers could choose other, more 'it' places to go; I've always felt they choose SoWal because it is an 'it' place, but is modest enough not to scream it.

That's my two cents, anyway. :roll:

... Thanks for a view from the outside in. Good post!

.

I attended a luncheon last week in your neck of the woods, and saw a presentation on the new brand. Here's what I learned:

THE Beach was created in an effort to brand the area including the 6 beachfront counties in the panhandle (is that word still allowed? ) - Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Bay and Gulf (I think). The brand was created as a regional identity in anticipation of new markets opening as the result of the new Panama City airport. It is NOT intended to replace The Beaches of South Walton or The Emerald Coast or any other brand already in place, but to be used as an umbrella under which each individual brand can be used. Most of us would agree that Pensacola, Fort Walton, Destin, South Walton and Panama City draw very different demographics, yet the airlines can justify more flights to the area if it offers a cohesive regional brand.

The orange was chosen to represent the color of the sunrise on the water, and for it's ability to stand out against the blues and greens most often used in beach photos. I agree that, taken out of context, the logo looks, well - harsh. But I saw a couple of ads that looked pretty good to me. And I personally like the tagline - "A Way of Life That Will Change Yours." Anyone on this board can appreciate that, right? Most of us were drawn to the area from somewhere else.

How it will work in conjunction with existing logos remains to be seen. But one thing worth remembering is that the rest of the STATE barely knows anything about this area, much less other parts of the country. The beach is what will get people to the area; the shopping, dining and other amenities will keep them coming back.

Logo aside, to me the greater issue will be to maintain the character of the area in response to what will certainly be exponential growth. Those of us who remember the Destin of 10 years ago, or even 5, know what I'm talking about.

Hope that helped a little.

Thanks for the insight.

I still think it is a lame approach, given all they have to work with....we'll see how it works.

It seems to violate all the rules of marketing that I learned...it appears to diminish rather than enhance what is already out there.

The attempt at a regional approach doesn't always work even though the concept is good for many issues. Great post, Miss Critter. You explained the idea to the rest of us very well.

Thanks for the insight.

I still think it is a lame approach, given all they have to work with....we'll see how it works.

It seems to violate all the rules of marketing that I learned...it appears to diminish rather than enhance what is already out there.

Goodwitch, maybe they will market NoWal as The Country

Thanks for the insight, Miss Critter -- that helps me a lot. At least, it helps me understand what they are trying to do. I'm sort of with goodwitch on this one, not sure they've hit the mark at all.

So, is THE Beach going to replace the 'Emerald Coast'?

So, is THE Beach going to replace the 'Emerald Coast'?

My take is no, the Emerald Coast will remain, as it should. I'm not sure how it will play either, but I'm from New Orleans and lived in SoWal (and soon will again, yay!) so my perspective is different. I think they're trying to reach an audience they've never marketed to before.

Which brings up an interesting question for everyone. How did you first learn of the "Emerald Coast?" My parents weren't "beach" people. Family vacations were Gatlinburg, TN and DisneyWorld. But a college friend had an old cinderblock beach house somewhere on 30A, and going there in the '80's I remember thinking I was in the middle of nowhere. Boy, how times change!

Goodwitch, maybe they will market NoWal as The Country

Good one. Thanks for the laugh.

I grew up in NoWal, but not in the city limits; we had one set of cousins who lived "in town", and when they were coming out to Grandma's house, they would always say they were going to The Country...all the rest of us would :roll: them.

I had not thought of that for years--thanks for triggering a funny memory for me.

I grew up making yearly trips to Ft. Walton Beach with my family. Destin was nothing but a bump on the road back then! Had friends who partied in PCB but had never been to 30A, until I decided to get married on the beach four years ago... the wedding planner we hired suggested Inlet Beach for the ceremony and thankfully, we went with her suggestion.

And now it's nothing but 30A dreams for me!!

My take is no, the Emerald Coast will remain, as it should. I'm not sure how it will play either, but I'm from New Orleans and lived in SoWal (and soon will again, yay!) so my perspective is different. I think they're trying to reach an audience they've never marketed to before.

Which brings up an interesting question for everyone. How did you first learn of the "Emerald Coast?" My parents weren't "beach" people. Family vacations were Gatlinburg, TN and DisneyWorld. But a college friend had an old cinderblock beach house somewhere on 30A, and going there in the '80's I remember thinking I was in the middle of nowhere. Boy, how times change!

I never even knew any of this was here. I had a friend that was down here for a few years. It was time for me to leave, so I packed up a U-Haul and drove 1200 miles. It's been three years now.

Maybe if they want to reach a new audience the name should be "La Beach" or "Ze Beach" for our international visitors. THE BEACH remains awful and a waste of money.

The unique historical and environmentally superior areas draw visitors to the Emerald Coast and Miracle Strip. Recent stories in the New York Daily News and Wall Street Journal show "they" know who we are, how to get here, and understand how fabulous we are. All of THE COUNTIES in Northwest Florida will benefit from the new airport without any bad new branding. THE BEACH cuts out some of the smaller inland counties that deserve a chance to be part of the action. Okaloosa, which has the most people on the select group, also probably has the most to lose from the new airport in Bay County.

By the way, South Walton or anything in Walton County is NOT Destin. In the last decade or two, some have referred to parts of South Walton as Destin, but this was geographically inaccurate. Probably started by a business owner who lived in Destin and started a business in Walton County. No business in South Walton should have a Destin address. For those who are new to the area, if you visited Sandestin for instance, you were in South Walton and not Destin. Destin is an incorporated city in Okaloosa County which has quite a few problems now with traffic, a cracked bridge, and ruined, disappearing beaches. They would probably love to be associated with the better beaches, parks, great resorts, restaurants and people of South Walton.

newbies and thanks poster for information on meeting. Will be interesting how they spin story to try to keep it going. But, they should stop loss now.

...and the pepto-bismal colored homes probably originated from the color of the sunsets, but they are still not so appealing to me. Most colors found in nature, do not stand on their own as a solid color. What makes them so nice in nature is the many colors which are blended together. You don't take an accent color and make it the main color, unless you have zero taste in color, or you are color blind.

...and the pepto-bismal colored homes probably originated from the color of the sunsets, but they are still not so appealing to me. Most colors found in nature, do not stand on their own as a solid color. What makes them so nice in nature is the many colors which are blended together. You don't take an accent color and make it the main color, unless you have zero taste in color, or you are color blind.

So, not only are they violating marketing rules, but artistic/color ones as well....