by Rob White
I had to stay home the last few days with my sick daughter. Though I did do some work, it’s difficult to “entertain” a bored teenager, especially when she is sick! So I made her watch several History and Science Channel shows with me. That will teach her to stay home sick!
What was interesting is that there seemed to be a theme in the shows we watched. Namely, each show dealt with some sort of branding at different times in history. I use the word branding loosely… maybe symbols or signs would be more accurate, but bear with me for a few.
The first show was about the Roman Empire and how they used architecture, public venues and statues to impress upon visitors and dignitaries the magnitude of their empire. The show specifically focused on the ancient port of Portus, just south of Rome, along the mouth of the River Tiber. It described the magnitude of the warehouses, the size of the port basin, and possibly the most prominent feature, the Claudian Lighthouse. The History Channel made a very strong point to discuss that each of these elements was meant to impress upon the ancient world an overwhelming sense of domination and imperialism.
The second show that we watched was about the building of the Sphinx in Egypt. Though there seems to be still some debate about who really built the largest statue of the ancient times (Khafre or Khufu seem to be the choices for the most widely agreed upon builder), the interesting part was that again the theme of symbols portraying ideas was discussed. The Sphinx is commonly regarded as having been constructed as a way to instill awe and portray the godlike attributes of the Pharaoh.
Though I could continue with describing the shows, I think you get the point and can extrapolate about the content of the rest of each show.
What got me thinking was that throughout history, humans have used icons, symbols, and signs to portray information. Sometimes this was in architecture, sometimes in art, or perhaps in modifying landforms. And in most cases, these efforts seem to have been with the intention of showing off the grandeur of the kingdom or empire, sending strong and overwhelming signals of domination to the population and visitors alike.
Even now, we see this same kind of messaging in the building of skyscrapers, in creation of popular sporting venues, or even in city planning. We can easily think of cities and travel destinations, historic and current alike, that instill that sense of grandeur. We see it is the architecture of the Vatican, in the building of the new Freedom Tower in New York City, and in master-planned cities like Dubai.
If ancient and modern peoples alike used place-making to send messages, I wonder what message we want to send in Davis. We have a world class research university, a quaint and lively downtown, an abundance of parks and bikeways, and symbols throughout the community… in the form of art, architecture, businesses, signs and public venues (like the Farmers Market).
And if we think forward into the future 10 or 20 years, or even 100 years, what messages are we sending now? What is the “brand” of Davis that will be represented in our community far in to the future. What will people think of when they hear the name of our city? Do they think of agriculture, or genomics, or medicine, or veterinarian science? Or do they think of sustainability and leadership in the greening of popular culture? Or something else?
Though I am interested in your responses, I am also confident that each of you will take a few minutes to reflect back 10, 20 or perhaps 30 years and see what has changed in Davis. What turned out well and sent the right brand message versus what was happenstance.
As we work on the collective vision of what Davis has been and what we will become, it appears it is time to take stock of our collective brand and see what symbols, signs, and icons we are creating to forward the brand of Davis. And then we need to get busy in reinforcing that brand. As the business scholar Peter Drucker is often quoted as saying, “the best way to predict the future is to create it.”
Your thoughts and comments are always welcome. And you can email me at rwhite@cityofdavis.org if you want to provide directed comments.
Yolo County has a tradition of handing out “tractor pins” at special occasions. Each time I have observed that interchange it has made me smile. Don Saylor always looks like he is having the best time of his life when he gets to be the pin presenter. I find that to be a very effective branding for Yolo County.
Davis is a bit more complex. Clearly the agriculture that the tractor represents is part of Davis. Something to do with UCD is another logical symbol. And, as the graphic in this article displays, the unicycle is a symbol that has resonated for quite a while.
So my brand symbol for Davis would be a triangle with a tractor at one point, a unicycle at a second point and the UCD logo at the third point. That would celebrate the key elements of our community, and just as importantly it would celebrate collaboration between the City, the University and the County.
hasn’t davis already been branded, hence the photo at the top? or are we talking about a re-brand?
The City of Davis had small highwheel (“penny farthing”) lapel pins that they would hand out to honored folks at city council meetings and other events. They had “Davis, California” imprinted under the bike. The Soroptomists used to sell (at Davis Ace and maybe elsewhere) the same pin except that under “Davis, California”, it said “City of Bicycles”. I have both pins, but prefer the latter.
Matt: it’s not a “unicycle”. The highwheel bike, also known as a “penny farthing” or “ordinary” has two wheels.
Point well taken odd man out. My bad.
My outside the box thinking above was a recognition that Davis is a lot more than a City of Bicycles. It was also not an attempt to diminish our bicycle commitment and history, but rather an attempt to ask a few questions that seem logical to ask. e.g. Do we not have a strong identification with agriculture? Are we not a university town?
DP, I don’t know whether Rob was/is thinking rebranding or not when he said, [i]”As we work on the collective vision of what Davis has been and what we will become, it appears it is time to take stock of our collective brand and see what symbols, signs, and icons we are creating to forward the brand of Davis. And then we need to get busy in reinforcing that brand.”[/i] For me [u]as an individual[/u] the brand that is in the photo clearly fits Rob’s words “what Davis has been” and I believe it also is a key part of his words “what we will become.” Does that make sense?
It’s complicated. And, that’s the problem with generating a meaningful symbol.
Matt starts with three. Add a few more important ones to be complete and soon it starts to look like a Helen Thompson campaign sign.
I’m with Davis Progressive. We’ve got one that’s worked for some time. It suggests a healthy, historical and quirky town. It offends no one and makes everybody smile.
Interesting musings, however. I like the idea of uncomplicated logos for projects, initiatives and movements and think we should focus on getting yours underway and branded.
You could have a billboard for our parades–towed by a [s]bicycle[/s] [s]unicycle[/s] high wheel cycle–that might convince all of the need to grow into the future.
Existing Davis Brand…
[img]http://www.cscdc.org/miscfrank/davisbrand.jpg[/img]
There’s always a wiseass in ever crowd.
I think I resemble that remark.
I could not think of a better way to make my point!
I actually think it was colorfully profound and accurate… maybe not how many Davisites see our city, but it is the perspective of the outsider looking in. In fact, you can replace a great many words behind that “stop” image and they all would fairly represent us.
I would like to see a different icon.
Note that I used the Davis bicycle icon on my business’s new iron fence.
Bicycles, big trees, and students are what define Davis. IMO. Of course, conservatives are going to put an overlay of ideology on it: ‘the People’s Republic of Davis’ etc., but my friends who visit comment on the things I mentioned. Plus how cute the downtown is and “how easy it is to get around here.”
A brand is much more than a logo or symbol. Apple’s brand, for example, is much more than its iconic fruit. Its brand is edgy, young, cutting edge, seamless user/machine interface and connectivity of all devices (at least from my perspective). One does not identify with the fruit, one identifies with the full essence of what the company means. Loyalty is to the brand, not the symbol, which is merely a shorthand. The totality of Apple’s “meaning” is the brand.
An image may represent Davis (and the penny farthing may be one such image) but Davis’ brand is about a way of life, a set of experiences, and a way of being in community. I am not sure what the essence of Davis is but it must have elements of student energy, wisdom of years and a sense of place within a solid agricultural region. It’s essence includes the spirit of “be who you are–to the fullest”, “live life actively in the outdoors”, “relish the diversity of the world coming to our doorstep” and “find rootedness in the gifts we give to the world” (most notably food and well-fed young minds).
Some of us live here because we identify deeply with (have a deep loyalty to) this brand.
Beautifully said Robb.
Count me as one of the people who fits your final paragraph.
From Wikipedia…
[quote]A brand is the “name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s product distinct from those of other sellers[/quote]
The term “brand” derived from the cattle ranchers’ practice of burning a unique graphic image into the skin/hides of their livestock.
So, in reality, and icon is closer to a true “brand” than is the more modern nuanced description.
From a marketing perspective, we are branding the consciousness and/or the brain of human constituents, customers or potential customers. Another way of looking at it is a form of brainwashing. We want you to think of us or our product as being defined by certain attributes, so we say things and write things and provide imagery that “brands” that definition into a common perception.
We also need to “walk the talk”.
Then there is negative branding. Think Enron, Obama, and Lance Armstrong.
The problem that Davis has is a big pile of negative perceptions that tarnish our brand. The message to the outside world is “screw you, we are special and your opinions don’t measure up to our elite standards of academic rigor, social justice and political correctness.”
Which may be accurate, but still it does not help our brand.
Negative branding includes:
– Business unfriendly
– Quirky (bad)
– Shoddy infrastructure
– Old buildings (bad)
– No growth
– No good jobs except UCD
– Limited shopping
– Bad parking
– Over-priced real estate
– Family unfriendly
– Extremely white
– Filled with intolerant elite snobs
Of course there are also many positive things to talk about for our brand.
Of course, Lance Armstrong’s mother says the same about him.
Frankly
[quote]The message to the outside world is “screw you, we are special and your opinions don’t measure up to our elite standards of academic rigor, social justice and political correctness.” [/quote]
I am very surprised to hear this description coming from you. From previous writings, this appears to be very much the attitude that you feel that the United States as a country should be projecting to the rest of the world. I am paraphrasing from previous posts of yours to mirror your above statement :
” screw you, we are special ( American exceptionalism), and your opinions don’t measure up to our elite standards of economic excess, cultural superiority, and idealogical correctness.” Since you seem to hold these as exemplary standards for the country, I cannot see why you would object to a similar sense of superiority for our community.
As for being special as a community, I simply do not see this as a detriment, either to the image or the branding of the community. True, not everyone likes the slower, quieter pace or more intimate feel of a small downtown,
but there are enough of us that do to make me wonder why exactly you seem to feel the need for change to a model such as Folsom. Is not one Folsom, one Vacavillle, one Sacramento, one Woodland enough for you ?
I personally enjoy the unique character of this town and do not want it changed to emulate any of the others.
What we have here is not a case of good guys ( those who want to convert Davis into a rapid growth community) vs the bad guys ( those who prefer a smaller size, slower pace, perhaps less glitzy community ) but rather a basic difference in core values.
There are some things on your list that I see as negatives ( shoddy infrastructure, extremely white ), there are some things on your list with which I simply disagree : old buildings ( can be either good or bad depending on degree of maintenance, no growth ( slow does not equal no), no good jobs except UCD ( excuse me, I didn’t realize that my job and that of many people I know in town was so bad),
and some things which you list as bad, but which I see as either positive or as opportunities : quirky ( unique, good), limited shopping ( fits with the changing times and shopping patterns of younger folks), bad parking ( might just encourage more people to get out of their cars and onto their bikes or feet), family unfriendly ( are we living in the same town – I found the community extremely friendly to my family), intolerant, elite snobs ( again, are we both living in Davis ? It sounds to me as though you might want to expand your group of acquaintances.
medwoman – I was not clear. These are not my perceptions; they are perceptions of outsiders’ on the brand of Davis.
I live here and so of course I know most of these negative traits to not be true. My tone on that post has a lot to do with my anger that Davis is plagued by these negative brand perception… brought to us by a minority of people that we would better off pushing to the back of the leadership bus.
I think the highwheel is a good symbol because of the following:
1. Highwheel is a historical device, to me it symbolizes value of traditions. It symbolizes a respect of the past and humility (that as time passes, we still look at our past for wisdom). This in turn symbolizes patience and intelligence. We are building on the wisdom of the past.
2. Highwheel is a device powered by human effort. To me this symbolizes responsibility and consciousness. It symbolizes pulling one’s own weight, and bottom-up/grassroot democracy. It symbolizes a culture where the people are prefer to deal with issues themselves (as opposed to delegating it to someone else). It is a culture where the people want to be close to the decisions that affect them, instead of having others making the decisions for them.
* * *
Aside:
I think the world is over-populated, the consumption of natural resources is unsustainable, and the way resources are created/harvested to keep up with the demand is irresponsible. Therefore I don’t think “no growth” is bad, instead I think it is a mandate. Every community should be doing its part to get the population back on track. If Davis can maintain this vision and use itself as a statement of that mandate, and use the town itself to teach the students that self-restraint, then it might be worth it when the students leave but adopt the same mandate elsewhere in the world.
I like Frankly’s symbol above; but I would also include an orange/gold leaf to represent fall, with a rake, and a circle/slash over a leafblower (wish we had a movement to ban those abominations; plastic bags are a trifle compared to these grit,dust,and pollen spewing loud-farting idiot contraptions that transport fine particles back and forth thru the air of the neighborhood, until they finally settle into lungs and thru windows into living spaces.)
Or how about a picture of a high-wheel bike on a garden bike path (with frog in garden) under big trees?
Frankly
“I live here and so of course I know most of these negative traits to not be true. My tone on that post has a lot to do with my anger that Davis is plagued by these negative brand perception… brought to us by a minority of people that we would better off pushing to the back of the leadership bus.”
We are in agreement that most of these perceptions are not true for those of us who live here. What we are now talking about is a matter
Of non resident misperception. In this case, I am not sure that we even need a change in branding from our traditional penny farthing.
Those of us who live here can appreciate the symbology, those who do not live here, but aspire to a lower key lifestyle will take the steps necessary to find their way here, and there will always be those who prefer a faster, glitzier, more “exciting” life style, for which Davis will never be a good fit. I think we would do best to keep a brand that emphasizes our unique strengths within this region as beautifully put forth by Rob.
Edgar
“I think the world is over-populated, the consumption of natural resources is unsustainable, and the way resources are created/harvested to keep up with the demand is irresponsible. Therefore I don’t think “no growth” is bad, instead I think it is a mandate. Every community should be doing its part to get the population back on track. If Davis can maintain this vision and use itself as a statement of that mandate, and use the town itself to teach the students that self-restraint, then it might be worth it when the students leave but adopt the same mandate elsewhere in the world.”
Beaufifully spoken. I agree with you that in the future, true leadership will involve the concepts of sustainability, conservation and living with a less materialistic, consumption based ideology. With true leadership, I think Davis has the potential to lead in the maintenance of a community that exemplifies, not merely pays lip service to these values.