Tribune/Nathan Orme - Consultant Roger Brooks spoke with Sparks city officials Thursday about ideas for branding the city’s image.
City and business leaders gathered on Thursday to discuss the results of an assessment designed to highlight the city's unique activities, strengths and weaknesses when it comes to the city's identity and its self-promotion efforts.
The effort is underway to promote and strengthen the Sparks economy in the midst of troubled economic times.
The assessment was presented by Destination Development, Inc., which has already conducted branding/marketing assessments on 49 other communities in Nevada. Four independent "mystery shoppers" approached the city like tourists to learn more about things to do outside of Reno, said Roger Brooks of Destination Development Inc.
Could the city's main draw be the many family-oriented activities? Are the Sparks Marina and Wild Island water slides and adventure park being adequately promoted? Is the main draw the potential for more sports facilities? Or the special events?
Some tourism branding suggestions included "The family capital of Nevada" or a brand focused on sports opportunities such as hiking biking, rafting and golf, and the Scheels All-Sports store after it opens on Sept. 27.
Ideas included posting many more informative and prominent signs that follow the theme and make a statement. The city was encouraged to work with the Nevada Department of Transportation and local business owners to create better signage. Large and attractive "wayfinder" signs such as the ones promoting residential developments and the Resort at Red Hawk along Vista Boulevard, and the landscaped and themed "gateway" sign at Wingfield Springs were praised as the examples to follow.
Brooks said adding "welcome" to signs and cutting down on all of the signs denoting endless rules would help, in addition to adding large, attractive "gateway" signs and light pole banners promoting the city's attractions and special events.
Brooks suggested that Victorian Square could be promoted and expanded as an entertainment district a la Bourbon Street in New Orleans, or a funky artists district with class, such as
Maybe Victorian Square can feature a more permanent market season, becoming like Pike Place Market in Seattle, and run open-air markets with many themes on four days a week for six months of the year.
He said the 10x10x10 rule was helpful for an area like Victorian Square. Brooks explained that within a 3-block area, there should be 10 places that sell food, 10 places that are specialized, destination-type retail stores and 10 places that offer entertainment and are open after 6 p.m.
Victorian Square, Sparks' downtown, historic district must also offer tourists information about upcoming events and ongoing attractions through colorful brochures that are available to tourists 24 hours a day, seven days a week. He also said visible maps and signs denoting restaurants, bars and stores needed to be built along Victorian Avenue.
To support downtown businesses solely by special events, Brooks said, there would need to be at least 200 days of special events. While Sparks hosts more than 30 days of special events a year, Brooks suggested that schools, clubs and community groups should be invited to bring their special events into Victorian Square.
Brooks also suggested promoting the Sparks Marina more, and even changing its name to reflect its many activities that do not include boats, such as "Sparks Lagoon Park and Beach."
The possibilities are endless, but the message was clear: the city's new brand needs to create some Sparks.
These mystery shoppers found that few people knew much about Sparks attractions, and some of the city's outstanding features were hidden from the typical tourist's Interstate-80 view and were difficult to find.
The surveyors came across only one out of five people working for the Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority had positive and helpful information to share about the city of Sparks, Brooks said.
Brooks emphasized that creating and promoting a new city brand is much more than crafting a new logo or slogan. He said a successful brand like Las Vegas as "Sin City," and its slogan of "What happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas" needs the full support of the local business community and tourism promotion agencies, such as the RSCVA and the Sparks Chamber of Commerce.
However, even good ideas need funds to move forward. City spokesman Adam Mayberry asked Brooks how to successfully market a new city brand without spending a lot of money.
Brooks suggested the city and NDOT provide funds for better signs, and that the city could cover other expenses through local business sponsorships, redevelopment funds and community development block grants.
The next step in the process is to identify a successful brand and get local business and community leaders on board.
Make no mistake, he's a master at how he does it. Here's Roger Brooks's tried-and-true formula for easily taking thousands of dollars from financially struggling small to medium-sized cities who are desperate for someone, anyone, to help bring tourists and investment to their area:
1). Travel to the client city, 2). Spend a few days in town, walk around and write down names of key attractions, shopping areas and recreational locations to be used in his final presentation, 3). Schedule and host one or more community assessment meetings over several months, 4). And then invite city leaders, local media and towns folk to a "boilerplate" final presentation at which he purposefully goes overboard glowing about all the great things for which they should be proud in their city (who could dislike a flatterer?).
After 30 years of dropping names and the numbers of his past clients (this is repeated numerous times during his presentations), his speech predictably includes the need for that city to have better signage and a logo while stressing the importance of being specific about the reason shoppers and visitors should spend their money there.
His "plans" are typically both ridiculously simplistic (taxpayers can always be expected to loudly voice their displeasure once they found out from local media how much money was spent on his "ideas") and so far-fetched and unrealistic to be laughable.
Finally, after telling them what they already know, Roger Brooks of Destination Development International will then take his huge check (anywhere from $7,000 to $165,000 depending on the city size and budget) and will fly back to Seattle, never to be heard from again....just like the "report" he leaves behind, full of blank pages to look more substantial.
Here's a video showing one of his stereotypical phony dog-and-pony shows (look at his body language; the language of a con artist playing up to his audience before he asks them to open their wallets):
http://www.kalprod.com/webtest/
He just ripped off the City of Oxnard for $125,000 with his garbage! Here's a link to articles on that fiasco:
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/jul/22/oxnard-shores-put-forth-for-citys-brand/
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/jul/23/some-residents-reject-idea-of-renaming-oxnard/
Please, small city staffs, stop thinking there's a magic solution to getting commerce and visitors to your downtowns and regions. Throwing money at pie-in-the-sky "consultants" will just put you further behind, not ahead!
It would seem to me the advertising campaign to draw tourists to the Legends at the Marina project belongs to RED Development, but then like everything else having to do with this project -- they are expected to take no risk - make no investment -- and take the profits back to Kansas City. I wonder if our City Councilmen have retirement vilas in Kansas City so they can watch Sparks implode from a distance