FROM THE EDITOR

Disney knows my name. Disney knows my wife's name, my son's name. Disney knows where we live, that we need to stay away from such asthma triggers as smoked-in hotel rooms or wood burning fireplaces. In August, I half expect Buzz Lightyear to send my son a birthday card. He'll be five, as I'm sure somebody, or some computer, deep in the Magic Kingdom knows. That's Disney. I'm OK with that.

But my Alfred E. Neuman nonchalance evaporates when the toenail fungus people start sending me brochures and postcards featuring a cartoon character patch of onychomycosis named Digger, because that's creepy.

Hmmm: same marketing techniques; different reactions from the consumer. Why?

The articles in this issue of Illinois Parks & Recreation help answer that question.

No doubt, good marketing requires good execution. The seasonal brochure is one of your agency's primary marketing tools. As Kimberly Smith's article on page 20 points out, if your brochure doesn't evolve with the times, then you invite your community to perceive your agency in the same-old same-old way, whether that perception is true or not.

And speaking of perceptions, Christine Esposito (page 28) reminds agencies that their brands are built and reside in their customers' minds. Agencies don't own their brands. Their customers do. Her article is among the best I've seen on the often misconstrued and overly abused notion of branding.

Because branding is about the feelings a person has about an entire organization (as opposed to a reaction a person has to a marketing campaign), it's a powerful and scary concept. But an organization that manages its brand well - one that makes customers identify with the organization - will find its marketing efforts well received.

Our agencies have a natural advantage over most others in the marketplace. We are in the business of fun. I hope that this issue gives you insights and ideas to help get that message firmly inside your clients' minds.

RODD WHELPLEY

Editor

www.ILparks.org July/August 2006 4