Walton TDC Presents New Branding

Welcome to SoWal? ;-)

I would vote for that one too.

Or as Mama Scooterbug knows it geographically during hurricane season "to the left of the bump in the armpit of Florida."

Or less politely, the taint of America's wang.

Or less politely, the taint of America's wang.

I can happily say she would not understand that phrase!

I know it ain't politically correct but I still like Redneck Riveria.

Coming from a long line of North FL rednecks it doesn't bother me a bit.

Of course, mama fell for a brown-eyed handsome man from Georgia...it happens.

Ok, so let us compare and take a vote:

Old Branding: Beaches of South Walton - Northwest Florida's Gulf Coast

New Branding: SOUTH WALTON - TO EACH, YOUR BEACH.

Which do you vote for?

I keep reading this as "to eat your beach", which seems vaguely sexually perverted.

I say we go ahead and "rebrand" all our TDC media properties as "South Walton", keep all the useful things the TDC does (like public beach access projects), dump 90% of the other advertising crap they do (do we really need a phone app and a twitter feed?), and drop the tax rate down using any savings.

Didn't we recently replace the head of the TDC with someone who was supposed to know what the heck they were doing?

I keep reading this as "to eat your beach", which seems vaguely sexually perverted.

I say we go ahead and "rebrand" all our TDC media properties as "South Walton", keep all the useful things the TDC does (like public beach access projects), dump 90% of the other advertising crap they do (do we really need a phone app and a twitter feed?), and drop the tax rate down using any savings.

Didn't we recently replace the head of the TDC with someone who was supposed to know what the heck they were doing?

that was my exact thought, and my exact words on the subject! I didn't want to say it out loud here, but since you did, I will.

that was my exact thought, and my exact words on the subject! I didn't want to say it out loud here, but since you did, I will.

My exact words on the subject was it's a dumb slogan. It still is.

The problem is variety and diversity of towns and resorts. But the problem is a good one to have - very strong resorts and towns that are well known and marketed - i.e. Seaside, Sandestin, Rosemary, etc.

Any marketer worth a darn will play to our strengths, promote what makes us really unique. It's not hard to make SoWal stand out from all the other destinations.

I agree the TDC should be for infrastructure, taking care of beaches, education and safety, accesses, trash removal, funding events during off season, and promoting programs like ecotourism and weddings.

There is plenty to do. Leave advertising and branding up to the people who are always ahead of them. No offense to the fine people who work at the TDC but they are in a governmental bureaucracy - they have one hand tied behind their backs so no need to criticize people caught in the system.

The problem is variety and diversity of towns and resorts. But the problem is a good one to have - very strong resorts and towns that are well known and marketed - i.e. Seaside, Sandestin, Rosemary, etc.

Any marketer worth a darn will play to our strengths, promote what makes us really unique. It's not hard to make SoWal stand out from all the other destinations.

I agree the TDC should be for infrastructure, taking care of beaches, education and safety, accesses, trash removal, funding events during off season, and promoting programs like ecotourism and weddings.

There is plenty to do. Leave advertising and branding up to the people who are always ahead of them. No offense to the fine people who work at the TDC but they are in a governmental bureaucracy - they have one hand tied behind their backs so no need to criticize people caught in the system.

Amen! The TDC should be working to make this place a great place to visit, not advertising it's a great place to visit. There are plenty of large private businesses taking on the role of advertising the area.

Sly as a Fox, I commend you on your observations. But they did hire a non local marketing firm to come up with a new slogan that really doesn't fit. They are spending 1.3 million dollars for someone to say: "To Each Your Beach". I went to a few meetings heard the presentation, didn't like it didn't say anything didn't know that I should. I haven't taken a survey on this topic. I did for the Arts Complex Feasibility Survey and my opinion did not matter there, nor would it here.

I haven't spoken to anyone who likes this slogan, which is snippy.
They didn't intend it to be, it just comes off that way. I don't have a better slogan for our Scenic 30A area I failed at Marketing. We do need a brand it is part of the future of South Walton no matter what we call it. I am sticking to SoWal!

In fact, the whole set of "statistics" presented by the ad firm should have been called into question. At a BCC meeting, it is easy to skip over such "business" details.

I would have posed these questions at the meeting, but before I knew it, the vote was being taken without any public comment on the matter being requested.

Seriously; but the hired advertising consultant firm knew that with mountains of graphs, pie charts, aggregate data, opinion poll and survey results, Powerpoint presentations, and the nifty little visual aids like the one comparing the umbrellas to nuclear fallout warnings, they could make an indisputable pitch to the governing authorities with no need to be bogged down or delayed by public input.

Atlanta - to each, eat a peach.

I'm going to fire off an e-mail to the local Visitors & Convention Bureau the following suggestion for re-branding the Magic City:

Birmingham - to you, some bar-b-q.

In fairness to LKM they did not make the visual comparison graphics - those were my effort.

The presenter made the verbal statement.

Also in fairness to LKM, LKM presented many example ads which nicely tied the tag-line together and made perfect sense. I haven't seen anyone post anything about that on this thread.

Also in fairness to LKM, LKM presented many example ads which nicely tied the tag-line together and made perfect sense. I haven't seen anyone post anything about that on this thread.

Here is what I have.

These were the two print ads they showed on Tuesday morning. If they wind your watch OK.

I found them less than spectacular, but I guess they are just mock ups.

Pardon the quality but they are cellphone photos taken from the screen as they were projected. If I remember correctly there were 28 panels in the PowerPoint presentation.

I didn't photograph all of the panels.

View attachment 19261

View attachment 19262

Lets keep in mind here that the money the TDC spends comes from bed tax revenue and not the county coffers.

That said it doesn't make it not taxpayer money, but it's not actually coming from the locals, it's coming from the tourists.

As far as the slogan I can't post some of the things we came up with last night that will probably be misheard resulting in some serious embarrassment. The one thing about the slogan I've noticed is how vague it is, doesn't include anything unique about our area and can be changed to suit many different areas:

Atlanta - to each, eat a peach.

As far as THE beach, I thought that had to lie dormant for at least another year so the statute of limitations could run out.

You guys are making me laugh like firecrackers gone wild
All of you are so entertaining...
TO EACH, EAT A PEACH

Here is what I have.

These were the two print ads they showed on Tuesday morning. If they wind your watch OK.

I found them less than spectacular, but I guess they are just mock ups.

Pardon the quality but they are cellphone photos taken from the screen as they were projected. If I remember correctly there were 28 panels in the PowerPoint presentation.

I didn't photograph all of the panels.

View attachment 19261

View attachment 19262

I find these very unappealing and unrepresentative of the beauty of SoWal. How very disappointing....MAYBE some of the other pics are better?

I like the discussion - keep it going. Be assured that all the people involved are reading this.

My comments turned out to be too long so I wrote a column:
Re-branding the World's Most Beautiful Beaches | SoWal.com - Guide For The Beaches Of South Walton & Scenic 30A

Whereas the first picture posted in this thread looked like marketing for funeral services, Ad3 makes me wonder if they're offering chiropractic services on the beach...

I like the discussion - keep it going. Be assured that all the people involved are reading this.

My comments turned out to be too long so I wrote a column:
Re-branding the World's Most Beautiful Beaches | SoWal.com - Guide For The Beaches Of South Walton & Scenic 30A

Kurt, thanks for more detail. Just as you stated in your column, "to each, his own..." makes my point about the grammar.

Whoever is reading this from the TDC, I hope you will not use incorrect grammar in any slogan.

Why not something like: South Walton: A Beach for Everyone."

We truly do have such a variety that almost everyone can find what they are looking for here and a tagline like that would lend itself to lots of spin-offs.

BTW, Kurt, how does one write a column? I must have missed something on the do-over of the site, or is that just something you are able to do?

My comments turned out to be too long so I wrote a column:
Re-branding the World's Most Beautiful Beaches | SoWal.com - Guide For The Beaches Of South Walton & Scenic 30A

Great column from Kurt, should be a must read for those who care about the branding of our area.

I spent 25 years overseeing research, statistics, programming and marketing for media companies in the United States, including serving as a media consultant. I built brands that achieved #1 market share.

In ad agencies, sometimes the baby gets thrown out with the bath water when trying to freshen a brand. That's what this ad agency just did. We're selling sand here folks, and the TDC understands that. What the TDC is missing is a stronger ad message from their agency.

TDC, go back to the agency and tell them to try again, and don't pay them another dime of that $1.3 million until at least three different concepts are created and tested in research with at least 100 actual SoWal visitors.

Seeing words like "Appalachians" and "strand" in that proposed LKM text posted earlier tells me some ad agency copywriter has a Carolinas slant to their writing, i.e. the "Grand Strand" of Myrtle Beach. If much of the original research was conducted using focus groups in North Carolina, throw it out. Rest assured I recognize the NC lingo because one of our sons lives in Raleigh, our family used to live in Charlotte, and as a youngster I lived in Chapel Hill, NC, just down the road from Dean Smith and up the hill from James Taylor's parents house.

Simply put, TDC, your goal should be a brand evolution...not a revolution.

Whereas the first picture posted in this thread looked like marketing for funeral services, Ad3 makes me wonder if they're offering chiropractic services on the beach...

The sky is taupish grey in this pic and you may get the idea that they are dancing, but what you said is funnier
They should have asked Kurt for some of his pics or some of you other sowal paparazzi's, you guys have some GREAT pics of our area.
One thing about this area is that no one is afraid to speak their mind- go sowallers!

UGH-
Beaches of South Walton finally developed into a cohesive concept in look and feel. And now they are changing it to something ambiguous because recall and awareness was low? Duh-

They needed to more effectively disseminate the concept. Not change it.

As an example-

If an artist like Allison Wickey wants more people to know about her and her fine work, there are many things she can do from a marketing perspective. Changing her name, her good looks or her art- these are the last things she should do.

Another example-

South Beach. I know where it is. I know what it is. I have been there and love it. But my awareness and recall of that name/branding didn't happen overnight. If they would have changed that name every few years I never would have found out about those changes. And I would have ended up concluding that when I am there I am in Miami because nothing else would have been around long enough to stick.

Sure, evolve a brand. Freshen the umbrella, adjust the font. But abandoning the name/concept sets us back, IMHO.

That first picture looks like an erectile dysfunction ad.

I swear I've seen the second one as an ad for another area advertising lakes.

BEACHES! Sparkling sand beaches! Turquoise water!

Per a book I am reading, someone needs to see an ad 6 times before they remember it - so all of these major changes with completely different names, colors, fonts, and graphics are TOTALLY the wrong way to go.

They would also probably like to have the domain name southwalton.com

Robert Nelson probably has more hits on his site, SouthWalton.com from your post above than from any other source. I guess he is hoping to sell the site.

This didn't really register with me the first time through, but I wonder how much he is going to want for it. Maybe he will come on and let us know his thoughts on the branding change since he is likely in line for a nice payout for owning the site. Could be kinda interesting with his perspective on wasteful government spending. I also wonder if any others in the community have any comments on what would be a good selling price.

The photos shown were not the finished product, just concepts. The LKM production crew of 8 people is scheduled to arrive in Sowal on the 15th of April and stay through the 15th of May to shoot photos and videos to be used in the advertising campaign.

The TDC rented a 4 bedroom Gulf front condo (at a cost of $5,723) in Seagrove Beach for their month long efforts.

Here is the invoice.

View attachment 19264

Hopefully they will not be billing the TDC for $400.00 bottles of wine during their stay.

Wonder when the New York models arrive ?