City As a Product
St. Louis’ airport is blue.
A little kid is kicking the back of my seat. I can’t really fault his hyperactivity, I’m sure I annoyed quite a few people on planes as a kid. But, being from Montana, I didn’t have the chance to fly all that much. Times have changed.
STL is interesting. Seems to be deteriorating since the last time I was there. Sad in a way, as the architecture and history are fairly rich. The new mayor has taken an interest in changing this, and seems to be marketing/advertising the revitalization of a once “great city.” Billboards, ads on TV.
I can’t help but wonder how much just marketing this idea is costing the city. Why not put that money into actually changing the city? Re-vamping neighborhoods, cleaning the streets, concentrating on developing a fun urban community downtown. Attract youth. Seems this would be a more effective use of the city’s capital.
Running a city is just like running a company. Quality of life is your product. Why not change the product, innovate its design, revitalize why it was so great in the beginning? You have to engage with the customers on a level that makes a difference in their everyday lives. Don’t waste capital marketing changes you want to make. Make the changes, innovate the product. Your customers will love you, and you can spend less money marketing your revitalized product. People will talk about it, remember why they loved it in the first place. Then, they will tell their friends.
You’ll win.
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