What is Enid's Brand?

Now I'm not saying that is a bad thing. Along with these shiny new stores and renewed growth I also saw slower traffic, congestion, longer lines and slow service, lack of close parking and other things we do not deal with in Enid.
I think Enid needs to find it's brand. Who are we and who do we want to attract? Where are we going and what will we find when we get there? If a visitor asked you what Enid was all about what would you say? What is Enid known for today? If we don't define who we are, we let others define who we are and we might not like what they are saying.
Guthrie is a historic town, Edmond is an upscale golfing community, Stillwater is a fun college town, Tulsa is comfortably cosmopolitan. Brands define a city and help attract industries, culture and families.
Is Enid a retirement community, an agricultural city, maybe an art and music community about to explode, a military hub, the best place to raise a family, a religious mecca or do we even have a brand to market? I think we do, we just need to find it, define it and get out there and market it. Businesses and families are looking for communities that will fill their needs. Maybe it's our easy going ways and wide open plains. Let's find a need and fill it.
Our brand will not be what we say we are, it will be what others are saying we are. Let's tell everyone what we want to be and make them believe it. Only then will we know where we're going and how to get there. Our brand can be something new, a high tech community, a multi-cultural city, a sports recreation center or something out of left field. With the right brand we will be able to attract the right businesses and families for our great city.
If you don't know what Enid's logo is, what our slogan is, who we are marketing to or what direction we are headed, I would guess we do not have a brand. Let's push the envelope and create a city brand that will blow the rest of the state away! Why not have everyone in the state talking about Enid and where Enid is heading.
What is Enid's brand? Leave your comments below and let Enid know what you think it's brand is or should be.








Park Avenue Thrift




4 Comments:
I think maybe it ought to be "the Educational hub of NW Oklahoma and a great place to raise a family" after all we have two colleges, a vocational and technical training center, and a pilot training base. We also have churches, great public and private schools, state-of-the-art medical facilities, lots of parks, community theatre, and lots of fun things for kids. We have great sports facilities and teams. You are definitely right about Enid needing a brand.
Great blog - you are very right. Enid is an undiscovered gem. What other city of our size has a thriving community theater, a great symphony, the Tri-State Music Festival and the wonderful Leonardo's/AdventureQuest? This is truly a great place to raise a family. My current concern is how we appear to outsiders. All routes leading into Enid have some pretty shabby sights. Once you get into the heart of town, we have a beautiful downtown area and there are many incredible residential areas. We just need to figure out how to put our best foot forward.
In regards to Jolenes response, Enid can improve its "appearence" by enforcing all of the available "property standard" codes already on the books with the state. I have checked this blog out for a few weeks, and I have seen where the city has FINALLY started to enforce basic standards, i.e. High Grass, Junk Cars, Open Storage,etc. That is the best way to not only imporve the apprearence of the city, but also help raise property values, promote pride in ownership, and help fill the coffers of the city with fines/fees generated by those that think they do not have to do anything but eat and sleep there. I have spoken to the city government for over 2 years to get these things enforced....I do not even live there anymore. I have pushed for this from afar,because even though I live in Dallas now, I will always be an "Enidite". Good people, Good schools, Good value.
I was born in Enid and graduated in 1965. I recall one of the best courses offered at EHS during the 80's. It was called readin, writting, and Route 35 to Texas to get a good job. It was true then, and it is true now.
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