The City of Paris, the Lamar County Chamber of Commerce, and the Paris Economic Development Corporation (PEDC), and the neither fish nor fowl Visitors and Convention Council paid a Florida firm $85,000 to come up with a “brand” they could use to “market Paris”.After a year, they and the firm came up with this:
Where Texans reach higher? How much smoking is that in grams? Ounces? Pounds?
Are implants from China, India, Pakistan, Germany, Italy, Scotland, Japan, Mexico, Philippine, or even Oklahoma, Mississippi, New York, Ohio, California, Arkansas, Iowa, Georgia, New Mexico, and other nations and other states allowed to smoke a few grams, too – or just Texans?
The Paris Texas Chamber of Commerce put it in writing, over a year ago, that the Florida firm would “not have a workable idea when they collect the rest of their money.”
For over a decade, the Paris Chamber has known, and repeatedly put in writing, that “Paris needs a vision, a theme, and the protocols to make it a highly desired destination for a large, identified segment of the market.”
So the above four organizations that allowed 30-years-or more of in-city population loss, increased decay in too many neighborhoods, and wasted millions of development dollars, conspired to show us that they could develop a perception that they do great things for Paris.
As we warned, it was wasting money on a wasted effort.
And the results are … something that can be used inside and outside the community to poke fun at Paris Texas – Where (pick one): Crooks, Rapscallions, Termites, Arguments, Maniacs, Temperatures, Cheats, Fires, Thieves, Ticks, Lies, Taxes, Fees, Prices, etc. – Reach Higher.
To be effective, a brand, a logo or a marketing campaign must be a truthful depiction of the product that is being presented to an identified potential market, regardless of the scope or size of the market, in a consistent, coherent and transparent manner.
The first thing you should want is a brand that cannot be used against you !
You build the brand the market you want wants you to be . . . .
Out of the 30-million people in Texas, half or a large percentage are native Texans. Millions live in Dallas and the state’s other Metro areas, and rural communities like Bonham, Sulphur Springs, Mount Pleasant, Reno (a community that Paris built), and hundreds of other growing places … and our organizations claim that Texans in Paris reach higher?
For what? Falsehoods?
What are the vision and theme “for this brand”? What are the necessary protocols to hold them together – if they exist – now and in the future?
Sadly, they’ve achieved a dangerous product that competitors can use (where scoundrels reach higher), etc.
Can’t you see it now (change colors as wanted):
Where dummies reach higher!
Or even, “What does a Burkett Pecan and a native Paris Texan have in common?”
“They’re both nuts!”
There’s no vision here. No theme. No protocols. Little to nothing of lasting value.
Just another waste of money.