Marketing firm uses new slogan to rebrand state as ‘techno-savvy’

What do people think of when they hear the word "Idaho"?

"Potatoes," "white supremacy," and "I don’t know" are three common responses from out-of-staters. That’s according to polling information from the Pocatello marketing firm that will promote Idaho’s technology industry with a new slogan and advertising campaign.

Julie Howard
The Idaho Statesman

http://www.idahostatesman.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040914/NEWS02/409140314/1029

The slogan? "The Power of Idaho."

"Power evokes a feeling; it taps into an emotional connection of Idaho’s economic and recreational resources," said Rick Magnuson, president of Steele & Associates.

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The Pocatello firm was hired by the Idaho Economic Development Council, a group made up of 44 economic development organizations around the state.

Jan Rogers, president of IEDA and executive director of the Southern Idaho Economic Development Organization in Twin Falls, said the group sought a cohesive marketing message because its members often find it difficult to sell Idaho as a place to do business. "We need to rebrand our state as a techno-savvy state," Rogers said. "We want people to walk away thinking there are smart people in Idaho."

Magnuson said the slogan works because it is broad enough to also be used by Idaho’s other industries, such as agriculture and manufacturing, and even tourism.

"It allows for interpretation," said Magnuson, who showed sample advertisements that include pictures of both recreation and business activities.

One ad features a mountain biker coming down a hill with the title reading, "From clean room to mud room in a heartbeat." Another shows women executives doing everything from fly-fishing to horseback riding to hiking.

There are still some concerns about the message, said Karl Tueller, director of Idaho’s Office of Science and Technology and assistant director of the Department of Commerce and Labor. "One of the worries we had was the interpretation of it, that people might think white power," Tueller said. "Testing didn’t bring that response, but we’re still evaluating it."

Tueller added that funding a statewide campaign is another issue.

"The Office of Science and Technology was part of the team that helped IEDA with this idea, but whether there will be resources available to properly fund it is still an issue," he said.

The slogan is just one part of an overall campaign to elicit a different response from out-of-staters when asked about Idaho, Rogers said. She expects IEDA to spend up to $150,000 over the next two years on the campaign, using advertising and public relations to spread the word. "Hopefully everything we do will reinforce the rebranding of the state so people think of us as a techno-savvy state," she said.

The campaign will be unveiled — with the use of a large exhibit — at an economic development conference in San Antonio in November, Rogers said. Aside from taking that exhibit to a medical design and manufacturing show in California at the beginning of 2005, no other specific parts of the campaign have been set.