Our Personal Savior The last time the advertising issue came up on Eureka People, Bill Freeland said "we need a marketing director" and Charles Goodwin replied, "there are lots of people with marketing experience we can call on--a marketing director isn't necessarily the answer." OK. Either way, however you stand on this issue, the same question remains: What is our goal here? What is it that we want to be when we grow up? And how willing are we to follow through on whatever choice we--or the ad agency--or the CAPC--or a marketing director makes? Until that decision is made, all we can do is transfer our anger from target to target. Let's say we decide that the major marketing goal of Eureka Springs should be to promote the Passion Play. Then we ought to take opportunities like the latest Promise Keepers' convention in Little Rock to invite a huge, captive audience of Christian fundamentalists to visit our little religious Mecca. Or shall we promote music, theatre, arts and elegance? You know what kind of people that attracts, don't you? Better be ready with that non-judgemental Christian attitude as you accept THEIR gold cards. Are you among the people who think that Christian Eureka and Offbeat Eureka have equal validity? Then steel yourself for the vision of an earnest missionary witnessing to a boombox-toting visitor in an obscene t-shirt and cheek- and eyebrow-rings. But decide. Something. Then stick to it, follow through and be willing to accept the consequences of the decision - including criticism from people who don't agree with whatever you decide. Give someone responsibility and authority for administering the plan and decide, in advance, on guidelines for evaluating success. Let the responsible party make decisions and spend budgeted sums without constant interference. Set goals with reasonable deadlines; schedule regular evaluations. Provide the tools necessary to do the job. Create a reward system to motivate people to stellar performance. Decide what you're going to do if someone fails their evaluation - BEFORE the event occurs. Panic breeds bad decisions. I don't know what Eureka's marketing plan is, or even if one exists, but I do know how such plans are derived and at least one important step is missing here: What is the Next Big Thing that we're shooting for? Where is the world going? What are they going to want and what kind of people and places will they ask to fulfill their dreams? This part comes first-before naming your product or identifying your market or selecting the artist to draw your logo: identify the direction of the world at large, then let that overall decision guide every bit of marketing and publicity that you do. It's not difficult at all to identify these trends. There are companies that do such things for a living and those companies direct the world's biggest ad budgets because they have tremendous success in identifying the Next Big Thing. Coming up with an overall goal requires looking at one's connection with 10++ major trends-a large task and too complicated to describe in detail here, but here is a short example of the process: One current buzzword is called "Icon Toppling," the process of questioning (usually rejecting) the bastions of society. If the bastion has a dirty little secret, all the better. Society chases proof of a flawed nature with glee all out of proportion to the crime. Notice our obsession with the sex life of the President? Our recent obsession with OJ Simpson and Jon Benet Ramsey? What is the most famous thing about the Disney Corporation? (Hint: I'm not talking about Mickey Mouse). Looking for reasons to mistrust whatever we perceive as the Establishment is a Thing, a trend, and if you pay attention to commercials on TV, you won't see many old, large companies talking about how old and large they are-you'll see them doing everything to appear small, folksy and accessible. Is AT&T the largest network on Earth? No, it's what you use so the kids can talk to Grandma every day. Prudential is "The Rock," right? No, it's that friendly looking guy in the headphones telling the frazzeled and flooded homeowner, "We'll send someone right over." We the People have gotten pretty cynical and we expect the worst to be true. Is Bill Gates the leader of a brilliant, inventive company? No, he's a money-hungry power monger who plans to take over the world. Shall we tell the world that our local religious theater is the most-attended? The most Biblically accurate? The largest tourist attraction in Arkansas? Uh oh. Don't go saying things like that or you're bound to find someone who will prove that this bastion is just as incompetent and corrupt and foolish as every other icon you'd care to name. Take all the trends, look at every angle, define our place among the fads, then answer some basic questions: Who do we want to invite to our little town? Are there people who should be kept away? What will our visitors do when they get here? Will everyone do the same things? Where are our visitors now, and how will they get to us? Who will pay for the services we provide? Who will benefit - everybody in town? CAPC tax collectors only? CAPC tax collectors plus some others who meet certain criteria? What effect will these visitors have on our town and its citizens? What are the things that will enhance or limit our support from each other? From the world? What is already being done that doesn't need to be re-done? The list of questions could go on and on, but even if every one is answered, who is in charge of setting the direction? Plenty of people are interested in hiring a marketing director. . . and then what? I asked the same question of all the people who asked for my support a few years ago in the quest to run Bob Purvis and CJRW out of town-"and then what?" Hang Rick Murphy and Joe Murfin from a trolley and send it over the Mexican border. . . and then what? Hire a marketing director and give them the direction to "administer our marketing," and then what? How do you expect anyone to succeed when the rules of the game are ill-defined and ever-changing? Who does a marketing director report to? The Chamber of Commerce? No, they get their money from the CAPC. OK. It must be the CAPC. No, they're not an administrative agency. They gave the contract to KWG and the ad agency is in charge. Hello, KWG? Are you the ones? No, the ad agency works at the discretion of the CAPC and everything happens according to the vote of the commission. None of these statements are made in bad faith-the confusion about who is in charge creates a situation where "Responsibility" is nothing more than a word printed on the badminton birdie we swat from place to place. Someone has to be the end of the responsibility line, and that person/group needs clear instruction about what will be expected of them. Until those basic decisions are made, we may as well select a citizen at random, pronounce "You're our leader now," and paint the requisite target on their back. Who are you willing to allow to be the boss? Does allowing anyone to be in charge qualify as something you're unwilling to do in order to succeed? <-- Back       More -- >