The news today is that Old Navy is becoming Gap, K-Mart is Sears, and Motorola will likely become LG. This isn’t really news as any savvy business watcher knows of these relationships but the re-branding or newly branding of stores and products is a major marketing strategy consideration and one not to be taken lightly. It is always a good study when it happens. A state can be branded too. Not that many years ago Idaho was adorned with branded companies ranging from the very well known such at HP, and Boise Cascade, Ore-Ida, and Albertsons, to the successful but less universally known Jabil, Zilog, Extended Systems, and others. Managing a company’s “brand” as carefully as any other part of the business is a lesson leadership gurus teach constantly. Your brand can become your stock value.
Today we are a state that is un-adorned with Ore-Ida. We watched as Morrison-Knudsen and Albertsons were mismanaged into the ground. Micron rattled its sabers as if it were leaving. I think it is time to ask if this is important to us, and do we care?
If we say “yes,” Idaho’s business “brand” is important, are we just living in the past, either unaware that the world has changed or stubbornly fighting it? My father liked to buy gas from Phillips 66, trying to support a local (Tulsa, Oklahoma) oil company and I know what his answer would be. He took great pride in the Tulsa of the 1950’s being the “Oil Capital of the World.” Then the title went to Houston, and has since moved again.
If we answer “no,” that Idaho’s business branding is not important, that we live in an evolved nano-second global world where things are measured in microns and brands come and go - will we be able to live with that decision over decades of businesses moving in and out?
The question is ours to answer, and we will answer it by the decisions we make in the governance of the State. The next company considering leaving us, or the next Buck Knives looking at moving here should be able to have confidence in how we view the issues critical to them, and their confidence should have more staying power than any one governor, or current legislative session.
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8 Comments
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Idaho's "brand" is in really, really sad shape. Between spud-puckers, white supremacists, Larry Craig, and the documented oldest legislature in America....the 'brand' is in freefall. Comment By Disgusted
Saturday, March 8, 2008 @ 8:00 AM
Uhm Yea... Does a strong economy matter? We need to not only revitalize our legislature but we need a solid marketing & development force behind our state. Or we can sit back and watch it grow and crumble simultaneously. Comment By marz
Saturday, March 8, 2008 @ 9:02 AM
What 'strong economy'? A boatload of low wage jobs, in low value-added industries? coupled with tons of empty houses, repo'd cars, etc? Sorry Dude, I don't think "happy thoughts" for the practice. The trainwreck's just beginning. Comment By Disgusted
Saturday, March 8, 2008 @ 9:14 AM
Bill, why are you posting as "disgusted"? Comment By Bill Sellers
Saturday, March 8, 2008 @ 3:13 PM
It matters, maybe not as much to us who love to live here, but if you are running a business it should. Try recruiting from out of state. The lifestyle quotient will only get you so far, and its no longer so cheap to live here. Then try and convince possible strategic partners or venture capital that you have what it takes to compete against the companies in silicon valley. Perception matters. Comment By Kevin
Monday, March 10, 2008 @ 6:33 AM
Unless you're a monopoly, when in business doesn't it matter? Comment By Steve
Monday, March 10, 2008 @ 12:25 PM
Idaho’s brand had a chance to be something more than potatoes and recreation. Congrats to the past and current bureaucratic “leaders” in our State government that have done everything in their power to maintain the current brand! Now I ask you, “With the $50M shortfall this year in the State coffers and even larger shortfalls to come in the coming years, how are you going to pay the bills in the future?” If you were counting on the rural communities to pay for the rising costs of roads, schools, prisons, and infrastructure within Idaho, I’m afraid you bet on the wrong horse folks. Your focus on helping your rural communities and ignoring the money maker in your state (i.e. the urban areas) will ultimately cause your beloved rural areas to suffer. Your obsession to keep Idaho “the way it was” will happen: jobs will be scarce and low paying, land will be worthless due to lack of demand and/or skilled employees, educational facilities will be pathetic, and the economic engine of your community will based upon subsidies. Just do me one favor my benevolent public leaders and branders of Idaho…please live long enough so you can see how future generations of Idahoans suffer due to your short sided and narrow-minded thinking. When the kids within Idaho’s rural communities don’t have adequate educational facilities and they are unable to compete in the global community, our prisons are at capacity, the roads serving your communities are in horrible condition and social/welfare programs collapse, I want you to be of sound enough mind to see that history will not be kind to you. Comment By Truth Teller
Tuesday, March 11, 2008 @ 3:43 PM
A brand should be evolutionary meaning it should evolve as the product will have to meet changing needs. Yes, Idaho's brand does matter because it shows the people of this state to be more than whatever our last brand named us. By adopting and adhereing to a new image (brand) that is relevant to today's Idaho, we prepare our state for the future. Without a meaningful effort to rebrand Idaho and a government that supports that effort, we will not see much interest, business or otherwise, in our great state. Comment By Tom
Wednesday, March 12, 2008 @ 5:14 PM
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