Comments on: Meet Metro Phoenix (Again): Now Opportunity Oasis

By: You can't brand a city | tdhurst

You can't brand a city | tdhurst — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 07:20:59 +0000

[...] Branding is not, but Phoenix would sure like you to think so. [...]

By: hardaway

hardaway — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:11:00 +0000

I’m sorry Carol. I did misunderstand your role. So you were just brought in to bless this. I apologize.nnMetro Phoenix does not, however, have a strong brand platform. I’ve been in brand strategy since 1980, and I’ve watched Phoenix flounder ever since, even though I am supposedly one of the community leaders. I am not, however, a banker or a developer. That’s who runs this town. Even my stint at Intel in the 90s, and the 400 entrepreneurs I help on a daily basis through my foundation and our acceleration services, do not give me credibility. I’m always invited in, because I’m known to be smart; but nothing ever happens. And since I spend summers in the Bay Area, I am aware of how different communities address problems.n

By: hardaway

hardaway — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:07:00 +0000

WHo do you think I drive from one end of the Valley to the other to hang out at Gangplank, and why I have brought the economic developments directors from three municipalities, and the PCA out there to see it. But then they all go give their money to GPEC and we get campaigns from the suits aimed at attracting the creatives.

By: hardaway

hardaway — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 22:11:22 +0000

I'm sorry Carol. I did misunderstand your role. So you were just brought in to bless this. I apologize.

Metro Phoenix does not, however, have a strong brand platform. I've been in brand strategy since 1980, and I've watched Phoenix flounder ever since, even though I am supposedly one of the community leaders. I am not, however, a banker or a developer. That's who runs this town. Even my stint at Intel in the 90s, and the 400 entrepreneurs I help on a daily basis through my foundation and our acceleration services, do not give me credibility. I'm always invited in, because I'm known to be smart; but nothing ever happens. And since I spend summers in the Bay Area, I am aware of how different communities address problems.

By: hardaway

hardaway — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 22:07:03 +0000

By: Carol Coletta

Carol Coletta — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 11:03:52 +0000

You are confused about CEOs for Cities role. We are not “helping” on the brand platform. We have no role whatsoever on brand development or execution. I was asked to comment on the importance of cities having a brand platform. And because I believe that metro Phoenix has an especially strong one, I went one step further to endorse what others have done. As I told you, I need no reminder that most cities, apparently including Phoenix, are littered with adopted then quickly rejected slogans and logos. I said so in my remarks. The pep talk of which you speak was aimed primarily at saying cities ought to have good, strong brand platforms, but it is rare that they actually get them.

It is a false choice to say that we either change the reality of Phoenix or that we develop and execute a good brand platform. You can and should do both.

By: RichWojtczak

RichWojtczak — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 02:25:04 +0000

Francine,

As a general statement, I love your blog and the ability to see your perspective on such a wide variety of topics. I share to some extent your dismay over the number of initiatives underway/competing(/floundering?) with respect to this particular topic. There's just so much time and energy available, and the choices are growing exponentially.

I wish I knew what the silver bullet was....

By: Greg Head

Greg Head — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 20:53:12 +0000

Sounds pretty funny – marketing spin vs. actually doing something useful and communicating that. What would make someone smart and enterprising actually move to Phoenix? (Or stay here?) It's because there is something actually important is going on and people are talking about it- not because of a print ad or a viral campaign.

There are the many “old guard” and several “new guard” groups here in town working on parts of the Phoenix growth problem, but when the new and old groups get in the same room they are not capable of speaking the same language to solve anything. Sounds like our AZ govt or US Congress.

The old timers in business suits are not going to solve the innovation and startup problem in Phoenix. It's the younger crowd creating new and productive enterprises. I would like to see Gangplank and other innovative movements grow beyond a pretty small group of like-minded new thinkers to convert larger groups of new types of people and scale it bigger. I think that's possible, but it isn't appealing to larger groups or scalable yet…

By: hardaway

hardaway — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 18:00:02 +0000

No, my friend, they (we) don't. I have been a member of the Phoenix Community Alliance Executive Committee since day one, and I'm founded many of the tech organizations in town. I've been screaming about entrepreneurship for at least the last decade after coming out of Intel, and the main stream business organizations proceed according to their plans without asking geeks, creatives, or entrepreneurs. For openers, I knew Steve Betts when he was an zoning attorney, and now he's a developer. I actually like him, so this isn't personal, but that says it all.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 14:38:14 +0000

They don't get invited because they are always acting like outsiders.