Your View: City Rebranding Falls Short

Vol. III, No. 143 - A Guest Editorial on Piqua's Rebranding Effort

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One of the core principles of this publication is to be a forum for public discussion and gauarantee access of all voices, without the shackles of work counts or paywalls. This publication is open to anyone with thoughtful ideas and the ability to articulate those ideas through the written word.

This publication received a guest editorial from Damon Wilson. Mr. Wilson is currently a candidate for City Commission in Piqua and wanted to share this thoughts on the city’s latest brand identity project. Here is Mr. Wilson, in his own words:

They have disappointed me again as only they can.” —Unknown

Once again, the City of Piqua has made itself and those of us who live here a laughing stock.

Last Tuesday I attended the great unveiling of Piqua’s new Logo. I don’t call it “branding” because this atrocity follows none of the conventional laws of marketing. I attended more out of curiosity than great expectations or excitement.

The atmosphere on Tuesday was like watching small children at a birthday party.

We were told that the “branding” effort had been one and a half years in the making. We were told they had received a lot of public input. We were told “Stakeholders” were consulted. We were told an “expert” in “branding” was leading the charge. We were told City employees had a major hand in the development. It turned out really bad.

I didn’t know at the time it was $50,000, but I kinda suspected that. That is probably just the fee paid to the “expert”, that would not include the uncounted hours our city employees spent in meetings or group chats, or maybe even conducting some of the secret meetings to gather input from the chosen few who know more and of course, whose opinion is much more valuable and insightful than yours or mine. So, I think I would feel more comfortable with a figure of $100,000 spent to deliver this disappointment.

The reason I put the word “Expert” in quotes is because of what Mark Twain said an expert is: “an ordinary fellow from another town.” This could not be more true in our case. (My time in Chicago leads me to suspect that this particular expert had previous ties to a city employee.)

So, let’s get to the meat of this discussion. Part of the big “branding” effort is to promote Local Business. Let’s talk about marketing: A native son from right here in Piqua, who really is a marketing expert, never got the call. This is my friend, Fond Kiser III. He is the guy that taught me “branding” is not a verb. Branding is a noun. The City of Piqua can’t brand anything, let alone themselves. People create the brand. It is really very simple. Take Harley Davidson— they build the motorcycles, the people who purchase them create the brand. They self-select, joining the club of their own free will. Harley as a brand exists because the people who buy the clothes, the accessories, and attend bike-oriented events make the Brand. Harley Davidson just builds motorcycles.

Apple did not create a brand. They just built computers in the early days, and because their graphic interface was spot on, graphic designers adopted it. They loved it. If you talk to a true Apple person, they will sing the praises of Apple as long as you will listen. Beware of getting two Apple disciples in the room at the same time, they will never shut up. Those are the folks who shaped and created the brand. Apple just built computers.

It is a shame that our City employees did not put out any feelers about expertise before running to an “expert”.

Ok, Kiser has lived in Florida for about the last 20 years, so people might not know him. So then, explain to me why a local business (remember the city is giving lip service to Buy from a Local Business) didn’t get the call either. Brian Quinter is an award-winning Graphic Designer. Hell, he has a high-profile business on the Square. Certainly, the City employees know how to find him. But alas, he is not an “expert”. I actually prefer to view it this way; Brian and Kiser are way overqualified to do a project like this. My dealings with both of them tell me they are not “yes” men. If you have a client who is hell bent on doing what they want, no matter how great you are, sometimes you have to pass up the work.

I will further state, I have not spoken with either of them about this, but I bet they would have done a fantastic job for a lot less money.

Attention! City of Piqua Officials, it is not too late, you might be able to get one or both of them on board before the ship sinks. Please talk to them.

Right now, We the People have invested by my estimate $100,000+, so don’t spend any more on your folly until you fix it. No new stationery, no new shirts, no new truck signs and definitely no water tower painting. Do not further embarrass us.

One of the issues I’m running for city commission on is Accountability. If an embarrassing debacle such as this had taken place in corporate America, all the people that touched it would be fired. But this was done by our own City employees. Will there be any accountability? Will anyone lose their job? Maybe some low-level people will be sacrificed, but that is not where the fault lies, the fault lies at the top level. How can we continue to employ people who are dangerously out of touch with us as citizens (and possibly reality itself)?

It saddens me to think that this kind of phantasmagorical thinking will continue to go on and in fact be encouraged by various quasi-civic groups who are really just looking for something new to chat about over cocktails.

Clearly, the Community was not included in the process. If it had been, it would not have turned out so God Awful Bad, and that’s putting it politely. The work-a-day people of Piqua (notice I used a capital P?), who pay their bills and eke out a living in this town, who you, the City Commissioners and Administration, look down upon, have more wisdom and are smarter than you. You have shown us once again you suffer from Dunning-Kruger syndrome.

To close I will appeal to the Piqua voter. If you feel the way I do, please cast your vote for me on Nov. 4.

My opponents in this race for Piqua City Commission (3^rd Ward) seem to be “go along to get along” type guys. I am not. If the people of Piqua want more of the same vote for the other guy. If you want real critical thinking and leadership, vote for me.

My parting shot (free of charge too, I might add):

“Piqua…We have jumped the shark” My suggestion for a new tag line.

Mr. Damon Wilson

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