Is Indy's product better than its brand?

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Permalink Reply by Duke Snyder on February 24, 2009 at 11:02pm

Certainly the blog sets up a premise for replies and more blogs as well as possibly entertaining discourse within dinner parties and coffeehouse gatherings alongside the everpresent office watercooler snippets from where real knowledge is shared.
Two salient points are gleaned by me; (1) figuring out the "brand" will require time and isn't easy, and, this will require grassroots assimilation tried and proven over a lengthy time period while (2) accepting the process will be neither easy nor short in realizing anything resembling an accepted conclusion.
As for myself "Crossroads of the Nation" holds farreaching imagery, i.e. Middlewest with its instantaneous picture of Bible belt vaues, honesty, hardworking tillers of the land, and friendliness. And who can deny the slogan embraces our vast crosspaths of Interstate highways overshadowing U.S. highways past such as the National Road, U.S. 40 , known locally better as Washington Street.
This topic would serve well as an open forum discussion right here on Smaller Indiana.

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Permalink Reply by Michael J Dukehart, II on February 25, 2009 at 9:08am

Part of the problem with Indy is people like me.

It is not that I don't love the city and try my best to better the areas that I come in contact with. No the problem is that I am not from here. I am a Region Rat. I have been here since 1989 when my parent brought be down kicking and screaming from the burbs of Chicago. Most of my friends are the same.....they are not from here originally.

So while we love the city.....it is not in my blood:

I love the Ice and the Indians. But I am a Chicago fan (Cubs, Blackhawks, Bulls, Bears, Fire and yes, sometimes even the Sox).

I love the local food but still long for a Chicago Dog or a deep dish pizza.

I love the Monon...but it pales in comparison to the Prairie Path.

It could go on and one....no matter how long we live here and love it here we will always compare.

I will try to epand this thought after a meeting.

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Permalink Reply by Michael J Dukehart, II on February 25, 2009 at 1:29pm

The problem is Indy does not brag.

Crown Hill is the 3rd largest Cemetery in the US.

Eagle Creek is one of the largest municipal parks in the US.

We host the largest half marathon that people travle the world to come compete in right beside you or your neighbors.

It is hard to push a brand when most people look at these items as just part of living here.

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Permalink Reply by Amy Stark on February 25, 2009 at 8:34pm

This is the main thing I wanted to accomplish with The Great #Indiana Initiative of Aught Nine. #Indiana is getting noticed in the twittersphere now, because I'm out there bragging about how groovy we are.

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Permalink Reply by Brian J. Pease on February 25, 2009 at 9:00pm

Groovy? really? I would never use the term groovy to refer to Indy. How are we groovy in a memorable way?

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Permalink Reply by PK Koduri on February 25, 2009 at 12:48pm

What Indy is missing is a water body. Cities like Louisville, Cincinnati, St. Louis all have that in common. Heck even Covington,KY is considered hip because of its water front. My favorite small city is Louisville - great architectural history (one of the largest collection of Victorian homes in old Louisville), horse racing tradition, great city wide park system and the place oozes southern hospitality ( Brown Hotel and Seelbach are the best). I think being on a major water way helped it develop a distinct personality.

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Permalink Reply by Brian J. Pease on February 25, 2009 at 2:10pm

I moved to Indy in the mid-80s for Grad school, and at that time we were the 'Amateur Sports Capital' (of America, I guess, or so everyone around here said). I would guess that then Mayor Hudnut conferred that on the city himself. My points being...1. it does take leadership and vision from the top (which we lack in a unified sense) and 2. you can successfully brand yourself if there is a kernal (corn tie-in!) of truth to the branding. It takes a sustained and unified effort to do so. Why don't we just call ourselves the BFC....Big Friendly City!

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Permalink Reply by Chris Tomlinson on February 25, 2009 at 3:08pm

Not being from Indy, I can't relate too many things to that particular city, but I can relate to Ft. Wayne. Even though I don't live in the city, I worked for the city for nearly a decade and found that they too have a bit of an identity crisis.

Are they a large town trying to be a small city or are they a large city trying to be a small town?

Could the same be said for Indy? Maybe?

I think PK mentioned the waterfronts of other cities and how Indy lacks that feature. Again from the Ft Wayne angle I'm not too sure that's even a plus. There isn't a spot on the "3 rivers" in Ft Wayne that I would care to visit. It's muddy, cloggy, dirty and just a mess.

The label themselves as "3 rivers", but to me it's just part of the landscape and not their brand.

I also think what Chris F. touched on about it being more of a crossroad city is exactly what Ft. Wayne experiences. Look at how much closer we are to Detroit & Chi-town. There isn't a single solitary reason to really stop and stay in Ft. Wayne.

All in all, I think others have said it correctly in that if Indy wants to develop a brand or identity it's going to take a LOT of time. Same goes for Ft Wayne...

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Permalink Reply by Amy Stark on February 25, 2009 at 8:40pm

"There isn't a single solitary reason to really stop and stay in Ft. Wayne." Wow... do you really feel that way?

I grew up in the Fort and I know lots of reasons to stop and stay. I'm sorry you never really experienced a Ft Wayne Brand.

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Permalink Reply by Chris Tomlinson on February 26, 2009 at 7:56am

Amy,

Yea, I do. I'm not saying it isn't a place you can stop and stay to get a bite to eat at a gazillion different restaurants or see a Komet Hockey game, but for any sort of "vacation destination", no way.

The 'Fort' is nothing more than a pile of logs anymore, the sports teams are "ok" and the waterfront around the city is nothing but a muddy mess.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Seidle on February 26, 2009 at 9:56am

I'm not sure that the Circle City, the Racing Capital of the World and Crossroads of America has ever had a branding problem. We do have a big inferiority complex - which is what is so funny, and this whole conversation confirms it.

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Permalink Reply by Brian Wolff on February 27, 2009 at 12:10am

KPMG thinks Indianapolis is one of only two cities in the US with potential to become an outsourcing powerhouse http://tinyurl.com/ck83lc so I say we lean in on this opportunity to make it real. I can think of more people than I have fingers and toes off the top of my head that could come together and really make this happen. It ain't necessarily "groovy", but last time I checked with my kids, groovy wasn't gonna happen any way - but they think I can do tech outsourcing, so I say we go with that.

Who's in?

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