Grassroots of Tarboro

I've been thinking a lot about Tarboro and how it can be "branded" to aid in self-promotion.  Currently the phase "A Front Porch Kind of Town" has been used but, to tell you the truth, I'm not thrilled by that representation. It sounds like a great place to retire to, but what about the young people? What about tourists looking for a fun place to visit?  The front porch reference makes me think of Tarboro as a town known for lazy afternoons with nothing to do but sit and rock.  Oh YAWN!!!  Tarboro is a quiet, beautiful, laid-back sort of town but it is also so much more!

I read recently about Milton-Freewater, a small town in Oregon with a population of 6500.  Desiring to attract more attention and more visitors to their town,  they branded the town with frogs.  Milton-Freewater is now "Muddy Frogwater Country" and a "Toadly Awesome Place to Live".    The town doesn't have any more frogs than neighboring towns but they "claimed the fame" for frogs and now will have frog festivals, frog merchandise and frog-based advertising. When you think of frogs in Oregon, you'll think of Milton-Freewater.

With that story in mind, I've been pondering Tarboro's potential branding themes.   Some important factors to keep in mind are 1) who are we trying to attract? 2) does the brand exhibit town pride?   3) will this brand withstand long-term use? 4) what good things may be associated with the brand? 5) what bad things may be associated with the brand? 6) is the brand "welcoming"?

In another article I recently read, it was discussed as to how to get a group consensus for branding the town.  I'm going to give some serious thought as to how to get the whole town involved.  After all,  the people ARE the town, so Tarboro's brand needs to represent Tarboro and its people.