Through a tourist's eyes: City to launch a branding campaign

By Dan Daly, Journal staff | Tuesday, September 25, 2007

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Roger Brooks is coming back to Rapid City next month. The tourism marketing expert was here a year ago to assess the sometimes confusing image that Rapid City projects to outside visitors.

This time, he will help Rapid City focus that image into a marketable identity, a brand name to draw visitors and set Rapid City apart from other scenic towns, said Michelle Lintz of the Rapid City Convention & Visitors Bureau.

That’s no small task. Rapid City has a lot to see and do, perhaps too many things. One of the points of Brooks’ presentation last year was that a community needs to pick its strongest attraction and promote it first.

“Too often communities promote the list of diversions that nearly every community has. The primary lure is the activity that a visitor can’t find closer to home,� Brooks wrote in his report. “Do not try to be all things to all people. Have you ever gone anywhere because they had ‘something for everybody’? Of course not — you go there because they have something specific for you. Find your niche and promote it like crazy.�

(You can see the entire 77-page report on the CVB Web site, www.visitrapidcity.com. Look for Rapid City Community Assessment under the “Home� button.)

Brooks is president of Destination Development, a tourism consulting firm. In the past, he has helped Jackson, Wyo., promote itself as a mecca for Western art. He’s also working with Moses Lake, Wash., in its quest to become a destination for water sports.

Last year, Brooks’ two-hour presentation in Rapid City made a few people uncomfortable. His plan was to view Rapid City through the eyes of a first-time tourist. And he was blunt about what he found — and didn’t find.

He looked at storefronts, billboards, advertising, highway signs and promotional signs, 

First, he couldn’t find the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center. He thought he was at the corporate headquarters of Prairie Wave Communications. (It is one of the civic center sponsors.)

Brooks also couldn’t find the Geology Museum at South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. He was confused by the Interstate 90 billboards directing visitors to Exit 61, Exit 60, Exit 59, Exit 58 and Exit 57 — simultaneously, on some signs. Signs directing folks to attractions such as Dinosaur Park were too small, he said.

Once people got over the discomfort of seeing their creative efforts put under a microscope, they became enthusiastic about the ideas he presented, Lintz said. That’s why she has invited him back.

“People who were there created a buzz throughout the community,� she said. “That fire has smoldered; we want to reignite it.�

Brooks also took a long look at downtown Rapid City. He liked what he saw, and he made several suggestions about how retailers could present more attractive storefronts. He also talked about how other downtowns such as Oklahoma City’s Bricktown, San Diego’s Gaslamp District, Seattle’s Pioneer Square and Baltimore’s Inner Harbor have created an image that goes beyond the bland and generic City Center seen on many highway signs.

That is part of the task at hand for Rapid City, said Lintz. Local business people and city officials will meet with Brooks to hash out ideas for a community identity that can be promoted on the interstate, on brochures and throughout the city. More meetings will follow as the community refines its ideas, she said.

The City of Presidents sculpture project in downtown Rapid City is a natural draw, but Lintz warned that a brand should be based on experiences, like seeing and learning about the lives of presidents, not objects. “Roger wants to make sure the brand is based on an experience that evokes an emotion,� she said.

Bob Fuchs of the Firehouse Brewing Co. was among those who attended Brooks’ presentation last year. And he is among the sponsors this time around.

“If we could follow through with the ideas he had, I think we could really promote our downtown,� Fuchs said.

Fuchs said he really likes the recent reconstruction of Kansas City street, with its historic lighting and pedestrian-friendly street corners. He’d like to see some of those ideas expanded to Main and St. Joseph streets.

“I think we need to keep taking it further — that’s where Roger Brooks comes in. We can promote this as a downtown destination,� he said.

He said downtown Rapid City has made a lot of progress in the past 20 years. Back then, downtown was quiet and dark at night. Large, empty buildings were the dominant view. Now, people go to movies, listen to music, dine and drink wine at sidewalk cafes. More retailers are staying open past 5:30 p.m.

“I’d like to see us in the next decade sweeten that and really make it happen here,� Fuchs said.

Contact Daly at 394-8421 or at dan.daly@rapidcityjournal.com