More scrutiny of sloppy Fort Collins branding by North Star Destination Strategies
Posted by 3Dsound at Tuesday, March 25, 2008 8:05 AM and is filed under North Star Destination Strategies,Colorado,North Star,Marketing,Beer,Fort Collins,Criticism 
Colorado (updated below)
Not understanding Fort Collins: William C. Zalewski (24-Mar-08), Branding report needs critical look [article available for sale online], The Coloradoan [Fort Collins, Colorado], page A4 (accessed online 24-
The city of Fort Collins wanted to market itself better by establishing a stronger "brand identity" – which is a fancy way of saying that the city wanted to put its best foot forward – when it encouraged you to hold your convention here, locate your company here and, maybe, retire here.
So the city hired North Star Destination Strategies, a Tennessee-based consultancy that has extensive experience in branding cities.
Earlier this month, Fort Collins unveiled the new logo and tagline that North Star developed for the city (reproduced to the left, along with the city's current logo; and discussed in my blog article posted here). North Star's efforts received widespread derision from city residents. The strong negative reaction forced the city to reject North Star's logo and sponsor a new logo competition.
Of course, the logo represented just a minor component of North Star's comprehensive strategy for branding the city. The meat of North Star's recommendations is available in an online summary report, which the city posted here.
William Zalewski, a Fort Collins resident, read the summary report and says he cannot recognize Fort Collins in the report's descriptions and findings. Zalewski outlined his reservations in a commentary published by the Coloradoan (reproduced below, with highlighting mine).
Having also read North Star's summary report, I think it was carelessly prepared and uninformative on how North Star used its marketing research on Fort Collins to develop its branding strategy and messaging. Based on the information in the summary – or the lack thereof – I agree with Zalewski's observations and criticisms. Simply put, the North Star report is superficial and unpersuasive – sloppy – in its characterization of what makes Fort Collins distinct.
Take, for example, North Star's emphasis on beer, which North Star promotes as being a key feature of Fort Collins' identity. If you read the report, doesn't the North Star emphasis on beer strike you as collegiate, rather than strategic? It's certainly wrong in its facts, as well as in its focus. North Star claims there are 50 "microbrewers" located in Fort Collins. I don't know how North Star does its research, but North Star appears to be confused by the difference between microbreweries and brew pubs (commercial enterprises) and homebrewers (hobbyists). Hobbyists are numerous and everywhere (I imagine most cities support 50 homebrewers). What makes Fort Collins special is its five microbreweries and brewpubs:
• C.B. & Potts Restaurant & Brewery, located on Elizabeth, behind the university (I don't think I've ever been there)
• CooperSmiths Pub & Brewing, home of Sigda's Green Chili beer (which works for me on a Friday afternoon)
• Fort Collins Brewery, creators of Major Tom's Pomegranate Wheat (which receives good reviews)
• New Belgium Brewery, home of Sunshine Wheat (my second favorite Fort Collins brew)
• Odell Brewing Company, home of 90 Shilling (my favorite Fort Collins brew)
Those five breweries, along with the huge Anheuser Busch macrobrewery that's located north of the city, deserve the city's marketing attention and national promotion. They're the reason Fort Collins is famous among beer drinkers around the country, who see the city as a Mecca for fine beer. It sure isn't because the city also hosts a bunch of hobbyists. Understanding that differance couldn't be more crucial for branding Fort Collins.
What else sets Fort Collins apart, which North Star overlooked? Our western heritage, for one thing. How could North Star have overlooked that? Didn't North Star visit the Fort Collins Museum; or comprehend the cultural significance of Old Town's thoroughly western, Italianate limestone buildings (which you don't see in nearby towns, like Greeley and Loveland); or notice the horses and chickens, which you can still find within city limits? I bet tourists, those planning conventions, those thinking of moving here, and anyone who values opportunity and independence would want to know about that. Western history and metaphors still go a long way to understanding and experiencing Fort Collins.
Here's a few other defining characteristics of Fort Collins that North Star missed:
• How about Fort Collins' world-class innovation and level of patent submission? Not to mention the many entrepreneurs, such as myself, who find the city to be a favorable place to establish a business.
• How about the reality that, despite doubling in size over the last ten years, Fort Collins remains a small city. North Star noticed the bicyclists. They reflect the city's love of the outdoors; respect for green values; and the maintenance of a city-wide trail system. But the bicyclists are numerous for another reason: The city remains compact enough, so that someone can live in a subdivision south of Harmony and bike to work at one of the office buildings on Automation. It's the small scale of Fort Collins – in of itself – that deserves the applause and promotion. It's Fort Collins scale that makes the bicyclists possible – in addition to enabling a host of other benefits for families, businesses and the community overall.
• And then there's the Fort Collins weather. It's nearly Mediterranean in its agreeability. That's a well kept secret that escaped North Star's attention.
There's one more thing North Star missed. When you drive around the older neighborhoods of Fort Collins, what eventually strikes you is the absence of an historically affluent neighborhood. There are some isolated prominent homes; half a block here and there, where you can find better homes clustered; but there's no place in the older part of the city where wealthier families concentrated. That reflects a major difference between Fort Collins and, say, Boulder: Fortunes weren't made here. Up until recently, Fort Collins was always a Front Range farming town that hosted a land-grant university. That description brings to mind humble, rube-ish images, which probably contained an element of truth about the city at one time and which persist in the minds of people throughout the state – and which North Star successfully captures – and repeats – in its report.
What North Star doesn't capture is that Fort Collins has evolved. It's not the place it was in the 1960s and 1970s. It's matured. It's come into its own. The city is now more – much more – than what it used to be. The city is no longer just a farming town cum college town, with a view of the mountains.
Fort Collins hired North Star to develop a new brand for the city, one that reflects the city's remarkable and recently crystalized opportunities for business, individuals and families. Fort Collins hired North Star to align the city's image with the economic, cultural, historic and social realities that define the city now – at the opening of the 21st century. North Star failed to do that, as evidenced by North Star's (a) janky logo, (b) cringe-inducing tagline, and (c) off-note, clumsy messaging. North Star never caught on to what distinguishes Fort Collins today.
Although, having said all of that, some things about Fort Collins are, in fact, the same. As Fort Collins has risen in profile and impact, it has remained – even more than at any other time in its history – the Choice City.
Branding Report Needs Critical Look
An open letter regarding my opinion of the city of Fort Collins branding report:
Most of the fuss was about the $2,500 for the controversial logo, so I obtained a copy of the Brand Report Summary from the city Web site to see how the $73,500 of the $76,000 study was spent.
After reading the entire Brand Report Summary, I found some of its conclusions to be inaccurate and misleading. There are sections that are insulting to the city. For instance, it is my opinion that we have been branded by the report as a bunch of beer-guzzling people who don't get any new ideas unless we're drinking. Have the mayor and City Council read the entire report with a critical eye?
The last section is called "Brand Building Messages." Space requirements limit my description of each branding message. Sixteen of the 18 messages, I believe, are not acceptable. The section starts with the words:
"The following brand building lines were created by North Star for the BrandPrint with the city of Fort Collins. The communications office encourages city departments, community partners and private businesses to use these messages to tell the story of renewal, energy and passion that is in our city and residents."
• "Living near fresh mountain water inspires many dreams. Just ask one of the 50 microbrewers here."
Fifty? Does this imply Fort Collins residents can only dream when drinking beer?
• "Our long history with recycling started with turning mountain water into microbrews."
I thought brewing was an industry and that the major brewery and all the craft breweries were sending their products to many areas of the country.
This is called making money by making better products.
• "The air is thinner here. Maybe that's why people savor every breath."
Does this mean we are suffering from oxygen deprivation? Many of our senior citizens need oxygen supplies for maladies that they obtained at lower altitudes. They're here for the health system. No additional oxygen equipment is necessary for the rest of us.
• "The businesses are independent. The passion is mass-produced."
Passion is an individual emotion. I hope it's not the latest designer drug.
• "Following your passions and pursuing your career don't have to be mutually exclusive."
This message was mentioned twice. Why?
• "When the body has room to move, so does the imagination."
Huh? If I have all the space to move, am I the most imaginative?
• "A town that respects you for your mind as much as your body."
A town? Last I heard, we were a city. For $76,000, they don't know we're a city? We were called a town in five branding lines. Check the report. We became a city of the second class in 1883.
• "This far above sea level, you can't help but have better perspective on things."
Does this mean that people living at higher altitudes have better perspectives than those living at lower altitudes?
• "The art scene has to be pretty good to compete with views like this."
What is "this"? Instead of using the word "this," how about views like the Rocky Mountains or Horsetooth, that represent the views for the city?
This summary is available at: http://fcgov.com/business/pdf/brand_summary_cpio.pdf [PDF file].
Read it, and make your own conclusions.
UPDATE, Saturday, June 7, 2008: The City of La Porte, Texas recently engaged Noth Star's branding services. As a part of the branding process, the city has published an overview of branding, which includes a summary of the benefits that come from destination branding and an introduction to the North Star consultancy. The overview is available online (City of La Porte [Texas] Economic Development Division [30-
According to the overview, seven qualities characterize a successful destination brand (the original wording from the overview is highlighted below, but the order of the seven qualities is my own, as are the explanations):
1. "Stand out to stand apart." The destination brand embodies and promotes the distinguishing and distinctive attributes of the destination city.
2. "Adhere to a set of principles." The destination brand establishes a suite of values and messages to guide the destination city in its marketing, advertising and other activities.
3. "Consistency, consistency, consistency." The destination brand works best when the destination city stays on message.
4. "Front-load total buy-in." The destination brand enjoys the endorsement and support of community leaders and stakeholders.
5. "Brand evangelists are critical." The destination brand is broadcast by individuals and organizations throughout the destination city.
6. "It is NOT about advertising." The destination brand represents a distinctive promise that visitors, businesses and residents can experience in the destination city.
7. "Live the promise." The destination city delivers on its destination brand.
The destination brand that North Star created for Fort Collins does not yet possess all of the qualities of a successful brand. That's in spite of the following "critical insight" that North Star used in formulating the Fort Collins brand: "Stand out by standing up... Research revealed that Fort Collins has a collective community consciousness that provides its key competitive edge." Maybe North Star needed better insight into Fort Collins than a boilerplate that can apply to any city in the country.
Using the La Porte qualities of a successful brand as a guide, we see the Fort Collins brand fails to embody the city's distinctive qualities, which in turn leads to unsatisfactory brand messaging and the absence of community
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Postscript: The La Porte overview lists Texas cities that have worked with North Star: Grapevine, Mesquite, Missouri City, and Plano. Texas cities missing from that list, which North Star has also worked with, include Galveston (located only 35 miles from La Porte) and Longview. The possible explanation for why those cities aren't listed is the subject of another blog article.
Have a look at my coverage of the Fort Collins logo affair.
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