New ads, same grouches
This ad illustrates Buena Vista's new campaign. Courtesy of city of
Buena Vista.
Buena Vista’s new advertising campaign highlights the city’s mountains, the Maury River, its scenic view — and its three old grouches.
In downtown Buena Vista, a large, disconcerting sign has for years described the population as “6002 happy citizens and three old grouches.”
Now, the city has an “old grouches” ad campaign.
“We decided to use that and to turn something that a lot of folks could look at as a negative into a very positive thing for the city,” said Tim Reamer, director of economic development.
On Oct. 10-12, Buena Vista joined with Arnett Muldrow & Associates, a Greenville, S.C., town planning and economic development firm, to develop a new logo and marketing strategy for the city. The new logo, which features the mountains, river, and layout of the city, includes the tagline “Good Views Reveal Great Vision.”
Reamer doesn’t consider the effort to be an attempt to develop a whole new identity for the city.
“We’ve polished and enhanced what Buena Vista already is and what we hope to become,” he said. “I think we’re being very genuine.”
The idea for the campaign came out of a three-day branding “charrette,” a French word meaning an intensive process that involves community input to solve design problems.
During the charrette, groups of citizens and representatives from Arnett Muldrow met to brainstorm ideas about exceptional qualities of Buena Vista. Reamer attended the meetings of all eight focus groups, which included representatives from local businesses, City Council, and Southern Virginia University.
He said that each of the groups mentioned the Blue Ridge Mountains and Maury River, but he encouraged the group members to think past these obvious characteristics.
“We really wanted to drive down to what made Buena Vista unique,” said Reamer. “All [groups] kept coming back the same way — it’s the people.”
The campaign, which is designed for online, magazine and newspaper advertisements, plays off the idea of the unique people who make up the community — specifically, the three old grouches.
In one of the print advertisements, an old woman is complaining about kids riding their bikes in the street, the state-of-the-art golf course, and a growing university. These advertisements highlight positive aspects of Buena Vista, but make light of the idea of an “old grouch.”
Tripp Muldrow, a certified urban planner and one of the three owners of Arnett Muldrow, helped design 14 of the advertisements. He thinks the “grouch” theme is a central part of the community. In fact, Buena Vista is one of the top listings that appear when using the key word “old grouches” in Google’s Web and images search.
“The power of that is really strong,” said Muldrow.
Each of the 14 advertisements was created to appeal to a local, regional or statewide audience. But Reamer hopes that the logo and tagline not only generate interest from outsiders, but also bring focus and uniformity to the community. Muldrow agreed that this branding effort was ultimately for locals.
“What we hope comes out of this is that citizens say that this is how we are and we’re proud of that. Then the visitors can see that,” said Muldrow. “The community has to believe in it before you can sell it to someone from the outside.”
Buena Vista has experienced some bad luck since it was founded by one entrepreneur and granted a charter to become a city in 1892. In 1995, the Maury River flooded twice in one week, destroying many of the city’s industries that were intentionally built along the river. But the city has not become disheartened by its natural disasters and economic downturns.
Reamer expects that the advertisements and tagline will separate Buena Vista from other communities in the minds of visitors and give them a taste of the city’s character. He hopes that Buena Vista comes across as a genuine community, but also as a community that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
“We tried to incorporate what you like in a person [in the campaign]. And you don’t want a person that’s so terribly pretentious that you can’t stand to be around them,” said Reamer.
Arnett Muldrow specializes in revitalization projects for downtowns and historic communities. The firm has worked on similar projects with 50 communities in nine states, said Reamer. But according to Muldrow, Buena Vista was one of the most enjoyable projects they have worked on.
“We were there for three days and already we’re waving at everybody,” said Muldrow.
“But they think we just tell everybody that.”
While the new logo has yet to be approved by City Council, it is already being used for smaller projects around the city. It was used on promotion activities for Mountain Day, a community event that focuses on the city’s heritage and traditions, as well as in a new community guide that will be given to every resident. If approved by City Council, the new logo will be used on signs around the community.
At the end of the branding charrette, Arnett Muldrow presented the new logo, tagline, and advertising campaign to those who participated and other city residents. Reamer said the reaction from citizens and businesses has been great.
“People look at the logo and think it’s cool,” he said. “I think it fits the city very well.”
Businesses are already trying to incorporate the new marketing strategy into their advertising, said Reamer. He said some are thinking about calling their business the “grouch-approved business” and having ad campaigns with three old grouches on the radio.
Reamer thinks that the new marketing strategy captures Buena Vista’s character.
“We’re not historic like Lexington or Staunton. We’re a fun place that was founded by one person,” he said. “That’s what we are, and I think that comes through.”
City of Buena Vista Site
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