BILLINGS - Creating a brand for Billings is one of the goals the Billings Chamber of Commerce hopes to achieve in the next year. The chamber says it's trying to focus on generating more tourism and relocation to Billings and using the term Magic City just isn't enough.
Move over Magic City, the Billings Chamber of Commerce wants a new brand to represent Montana's largest city. That announcement came at the annual chamber of commerce meeting Tuesday. One of the meetings keynote speakers says the current brand, as the magic city, isn't working.
"It isn't an inspiring compelling thing that drives you there," said Scott Lillie. So what is the chamber looking for? "We want something that is going to take and something this community is going to rally around and it is beyond words but it is behavioral."
One example the chamber points to is our neighbors to the west Spokane, Washington. Its brand, 'Near Nature Near Perfect,' took off, raising Spokane's daily commerce and tourism dramatically. It also gave the city a sense of identity.
So what kind of things can Billings brand? Scott Lillie says just about anything.
"It is limitless and it is really the spirit of how you operate." But he says there is one place to start, Cobb Field. "Why wouldn't we have a sign there that would say 'Cobb Field, home of the Billings Mustangs, coming 2008!' a resident coming down and sees that goes, wow!"
The Chamber of Commerce stresses you won't see a full marketing campaign on every street corner starting tomorrow.
Tuesday's announcement is just the baby steps to this new campaign.