Branding, Corporate Welfare or Payloa?

On Monday night Greensboro Mayor Nancy Barakat Vaughan and 8 other members of the Greensboro City Council voted to give WFMY TV2 $35,000 to brand Greensboro as a place where aviation thrives. Apparently this is supposed to bring more aviation jobs to Greensboro but despite the fact that this is the second year in a row the Greensboro City Council has paid WFMY for this scam no one has told us how this works or if it worked last year.

Roch Smith jr called it public relations bullshit. Well, not in so many words but you'll get his drift.

Today our Dear Mayor is in Nashville, Tennissee at an event called CEOs for Cities where branding cities is one of the things they teach. From Page 21 of Branding Your City by CEOs for Cities:

"Credibility Is Key

 

It is easy to have high aspirations for a place, but they must be grounded in reality. Use  research  to validate  that  the  positioning is credible, relevant and motivating. Additionally, it is important to confirm the credibility of the aspirational brand identity. While brand identity does have license to be more aspirational given its long-term horizon, the positioning needs to be credible in the short-term to be effective"

Advertising Greensboro as a great place for aviation on a local television station in Greensboro will never bring more aviation jobs to Greensboro. Remember: these TV commercials aren't running nation wide, they're only airing in the Greensboro market and only on WFMY 2. Our entire City Council knows that to be true. Aviation executives at Boeing in Seattle, Washington are not watching  Julie Luck and Frank Mickens on their televisions. 

These payments can only be payments to WFMY to show the Greensboro City Council in a good light when they "report" the news.

As CEOs for Cities says, "Credibility Is Key" and this time the Greensboro City Council and Gannett Broadcasting have lost their credibility over a mere $35,000 a year.