I recently responded to comments from a Dallas Morning News reporter about the double-edged nature of Dallas as a brand and what a branding expert would do to remove the negatives and build the positives.
My experience in trying to brand the state of NJ is somewhat akin to the question about Dallas. No matter what the tourism and commerce people in the state try to do in PR, advertising and social media to improve the image of NJ, it will never happen. How can the state's budgets and efforts overcome the power of "Jersey Shore", "The Sopranos", the NJ Turnpike, "Housewives of NJ", and on and on? The only saving grace is that when the brand image gets so bad, some people will think it has to be better than that or why would so many people continue to live there? At least, Dallas has the Cowboys. Our teams play here but they belong to New York!
The only way I can think of on the positive side and to prevent Dallas from sinking to a low brand image level is to link the city into the State of Texas, the great history of the Old West and The Alamo.
Whenever I go abroad and people learn that I am an American, I always get asked if I know any cowboys! Especially the ones from Texas. People (especially over in Europe) love the image of Texas and the big ranches and the gunslingers! So, my answer would be: "Onward with the past!"
