When you think about Burlington, what comes to mind? Maybe it’s the stunning sunsets on Lake Champlain, people-watching on Church Street or the so-called World’s Tallest Filing Cabinet on Flynn Avenue, a true claim to fame. Maybe you think of Ben & Jerry’s, the vibrant arts scene or that unmistakable vibe that seems to separate Burlington from the rest of Vermont. You know: the left-leaning, buy-local, keep-it-weird, college-town feeling that makes Burlington, well, special.
A group of hotel owners and the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce want to capture that sense of place for a new tourism campaign. Burlington needs a “brand,” they say, not simply a logo or tagline. They want to distill the city’s people, places and perceptions into a story, one that compels visitors to open their hearts and wallets to the Queen City and surrounding area.
The initiative is called Hello Burlington, and residents can help out. On August 7, Hello Burlington will post a survey link on its Facebook and Instagram pages to ask how residents feel about their city, said Jeff Lawson, the group’s executive director and the chamber’s vice president for tourism.
“Vermont has a really strong brand … Burlington’s is a lot less clear,” Lawson said, noting that Burlington is behind cities such as Portland, Maine; Portsmouth, N.H.; and Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
“[They’ve] been doing this for a while and reaping the benefits,” Lawson added.
It’s hard to measure the return on investments in municipal rebranding. While there are plenty of tourism-attracting success stories — with “I Love New York” as the reigning champ for 42 years — many more civic rebranding efforts fall flat. In 2016, Rhode Island ditched its “Cooler and Warmer” tagline after residents agreed that the slogan just plain sucked. Ten years earlier, Washington State abandoned its “Say WA” slogan for the same reason, according to Forbes.
Such failures have not deterred Vermont communities. Just last week, two groups in Brattleboro issued a call for proposals to rebrand the southern Vermont town. And work continues on South Burlington’s 2014 identity project. With community input and the help of a South Carolina firm, the city adopted the nickname “SoBu,” a moniker some residents recently derided in letters to the editor of the Other Paper, the community’s weekly newspaper.
Like South Burlington, Hello Burlington has hired an out-of-state outfit, MMGY, a travel and tourism branding agency based in Kansas City, Mo. The company will collect data and research target markets, while a Vermont firm will be chosen to develop any “creative assets” such as a logo or slogan, Lawson said.
Unlike its southern neighbor, the City of Burlington isn’t paying for the branding campaign, nor has it ever run its own, according to Olivia LaVecchia, the city’s communications and special projects coordinator.
Lawson said that’s unusual for a city of Burlington’s size. He suggested that city hall may have thought Burlington’s reputation didn’t need selling, but LaVecchia said the real reason is that there are only so many tax dollars to go around.
“It seems to make sense that a group of people invested in the tourism aspect of our local economy would come together to look for ways to strengthen that,” she said.
Indeed, the effort is funded by a dozen area hotels — or, rather, by their guests. For the last couple of years, visitors have been asked to chip in a nightly $1-per-room “marketing and assessment fee,” which is turned over to the chamber every month. About 60 percent of guests have paid the fee at Westport Hospitality hotels, which include Hotel Vermont and the Courtyard Burlington Harbor Marriott downtown and TownePlace Suites in Williston, according to Joe Carton, the company’s chief operating officer.
All told, participating hotels in Burlington, South Burlington, Williston, Colchester and Essex have banked more than $300,000 to develop the brand and market it going forward.
“It’s a good way to continue to seed it and have it strong rather than have a bake sale every year,” Carton said. “In a world of advertising, that’s still not much money, but it’s more than we’ve ever had.”
He’s right: The chamber and the Burlington Business Association had just $35,000 when they hired a Massachusetts-based firm to develop a brand more than a decade ago.
That 2007 rebranding adventure ended with a rebooted slogan from the 1980s which dubbed Burlington “The West Coast of New England.” The motto beat out “Vermont’s Crown Jewel,” “Relax, You’re in Burlington,” and “What Happens in Burlington Stays With You,” Seven Days reported at the time.
Needless to say, the brand didn’t exactly stick and wasn’t universally loved. Vermont comedian Rusty “The Logger” DeWees used it as fodder for a newspaper column in which he lambasted the chamber for hiring an out-of-state firm and mocked the motto for comparing Burlington to someplace else.
“It’s funny to think of some West Coast sun-and-sand worshippers hearing about Burlington being West Coast-like, then coming here to tan on North Beach in their thong swimsuits,” DeWees wrote. “Maybe a better motto would be, ‘Burlington, 2.8 Miles of Beach – Come Stand on It.'”
DeWees told Seven Days this week that the chamber should recruit him to dream up a slogan this time around.
“Simple is best, and that’s why they should hire me: I’m simple,” he quipped.
Tim Shea, the chamber’s vice president from 2000 to 2012, admitted the West Coast label has fallen out of use — though it still appears on a Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation website and, of all places, on the web page for the surf-themed restaurant the Spot. Shea thinks the Burlington brand could use a fresh look.
“The message to the market is constantly changing,” Shea said. “What’s the story you’re telling? Is it the right story? I think that’s what brings these discussions.”
Jim Lockridge, executive director of local music promoter Big Heavy World, wondered if an out-of-state firm could truly capture an authentic Burlington feel. He supports the branding exercise but encouraged the chamber and hotel owners to reach out to people “outside of their industry.”
“I’m always hopeful that somebody will be savvy enough to identify an encompassing identity rather than a simple one,” Lockridge said. “There’s a really good chance that it’s exclusive when it doesn’t need to be.”
BTV Ignite project manager Adam Roof said it’s great that hotels have stepped up to run this project. And Vermonters need to “get over ourselves” when it comes to contracting firms run by flatlanders, he added. Roof is an independent Burlington city councilor from Ward 8.
The city needs something “to just kind of let people know that we’re here,” said Kelly Devine, executive director of the Burlington Business Association. “We’re not cows and country — we’re a very different kind of place than you see in the rest of the state.”
Devine suggested that Hello Burlington model its campaign after Portland, Maine’s, which developed a website for its downtown. The site features a map with color-coded districts, points of interest, parking garages, public restrooms and ATMs. She thinks something similar could work in Burlington, even if a firm from Missouri, a place with its own successful nickname, “The Show Me State,” comes up with it.
“Now we want them to show us,” Devine said.
Burlingtonians can take the survey until the last week of August, after which MMGY will compile that data and other market research into a “brand bible” this fall. In the meantime, Hello Burlington will seek a local agency to start shaping the campaign. But unlike 12 years ago, the focus won’t be on making a marketing tool kit or designing a flashy pamphlet that quickly is forgotten. It’s writing that story, Lawson said.
If it’s a good one, it will convince tourists that Burlington is not just a drive-by city between Montréal and Boston but a place to put down roots, Devine said.
In the end, Lawson said, messages aimed at attracting tourists and new residents are pretty much the same. “They’re all different paths up the same mountain,” he said — “just presenting Burlington as a really great place to be.”
The original print version of this article was headlined “Rebranding Burlington | Hotels, chamber of commerce plan to boost visitor economy”
This article appears in Jul 31 – Aug 6, 2019.
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Burlington…….so close to Vermont that you can see it from here
Just a little curious what message this sends to all the marketing professionals here in BTVLAND, many who are members of the Chamber…What message does this sends to them?
‘Sorry, we went out of state to find world class brand expertise.
“Burlingtonland”
Burlington… See ya later, Miro!
We really need to change the name from “Burlington” to something more appropriate . . like “Apex”, or “Zenith” because we are so much more enlightened and vibrant than any other place, and things will be so much better once Miro and the Chamber of Commerce run all those dirty, rude poor folks out of town so that the true inhabitants of “Apex” can enjoy the arts and endless fine dining, and a modern concrete City Hall park, or that big hole in the ground, or the closed beaches, or the drinking water with the PFOAs in it, or the ever increasing traffic problems.
Ah, yes . . .”Burlington . . . For the Beautiful Only”.
Visit Burlington: because you’re too uppity to drink tap water anyway.
Visit Burlington: because you can’t afford to live here.
Visit Burlington: because you lost your passport on the way to Montreal.
Visit Burlington: because the roads destroyed your car and there’s no place better in a 250 mile AAA tow radius.
Visit Burlington: view the famous pit
Visit Burlington: view all of the homeless people and their camps
Visit Burlington: swim in the sewage filled lake
Visit Burlington: the cyanobacteria is 100% organic, man!
Visit Burlington: nobody will book your funky jam band in Connecticut.
Visit Burlington: the state will give you cash incentives to stay!
Visit Burlington: your grades weren’t good enough to get into an Ivy, but your parents will still pay your rent!
Despite, or perhaps because of, all these negative nancys forgetting that everywhere has it’s ups and downs, because they’re not afraid to say what they feel, perhaps it could be –
Be Yourself in Burlington!
Here’s an idea: How about….”The Queen City”. Just a thought.
Are you a wealthy person who just doesnt feel entitled enough? Family wealth got you down? Does riding a bike make you feel like a progressively minded free thinker? Does national brand beer make you wince? Do vegetables grown more than a hundred miles away ruin your day? Are you looking to live in a lifestyle haven for individuals rather than a community? Are you secretly a seething angry conservative under all those tattoos?? Or are you just your average run of the mill blonde power mom in an expensive SUV who needs a lot of yoga and wine to get through the day?
Burlington Vermont…. We put the tension in pretension!
Burlington, where the affluent meet the effluent. (Actually stolen from a 1980s bumper sticker about Killington’s idea of using gray water to make snow, but reasonably appropriate here.)
Burlington doesn’t need a “brand”. It needs affordable housing and a working infrastructure, but neither of them suit Wonder Boy Weinberger’s ego.
Burlington has bigger problems than a rebranding, many of them touched on here. Another issue is the F35 basing. Seen as instrumental for federal “pork” dollars to Burlington Airport, it may simultaneously strike directly into the “Meds and Eds” economy that Burlington area so depends on. As the squadron of twenty F35s begin their routine, twice a day flights, 4 times a week, 288 days per year, it will not be so easy to ignore. Inner core of Chittenden County was forced to confront just how much louder they really are, as compared to F16’s, when guest F35s from Hill Air Force Base took off in late May. St. Michael’s College; parts of UVM; and hospital are all just outside the new “not suitable for residential use” zone. The higher education institutions depend on more populous affluent demographics in southern New England and middle Atlantic. As word gets out, parents may balk over time at paying such insane high tuition for their children to de facto live on an air force base. Ironic the impact this could have on reportedly already troubled St. Mike’s, given it is Leahy’s alma mater. And UVM-Fletcher Allen Hospital can invest millions in triple-paned, laminated sound-proofed windows. May help with decibels but does nothing to stop the lower frequency Herz of F35 and rumbling and vibration of internal organs felt by patients. What one hand giveth, the other taketh away.
Chris…. is there a single article you cant tie to the f35? Utah has 35s, one of the strongest state economies and rapidly growing all arou d the base. Navada has 35s, the strip has not up and died. Come off it man, people are getting tone deff.
@just a human, I would be glad for Vermont to emulate Utah and put the F35’s 30 plus miles away from the largest population density in the state, the distance Hill Air Force Base is from Salt Lake City. Or even 6 or 7 miles away from Winooski, South Burlington, Burlington, etc., as it is from Ogden, Utah (population larger than Burlington). Instead, flight path is smack dab in the middle of Vermont’s largest population.
Per WPTZ just this week: “The jets are expected to significantly increase noise heard in Burlington, Winooski and other nearby communities that are located under flight paths.
According to an estimate by the Federal Aviation Association, at least 2,640 homes will experience increased noise through 2023, something that local governments are expecting to decrease the value of both quality of living and homes.”
So who knows for sure, given Vermont Democrats like Shumlin were terrified of doing net economic impact study & prevented Representative George Cross legislation for same. But, yes, seems entirely viable that there will be lots of negative economic impact, as WPTZ itself reports, mixed with whatever positive. The issue is not going away and people are still going to talk about it. And it may rain on the rebranding parade. Tourists or people considering relocation to Chittenden County may notice also.
Utah and NV have a lot of other things going for them, including bigger populations; different regulatory environment; no income tax in NV, etc.
Chris vermont has a crazy low population density, the area around hill afb is higher population than Burlington air port for sure.
I have often relied on the kindness of strangers
Blanche Dubois; A Streetcar Named Desire
Come visit Burlington! We have a huge hole in downtown and plenty of space for homeless people to defecate in full view of the bus station! Enjoy our graffiti, needle litter and the idea that nothing on Church Street is in reach of those with lower incomes.