The Dispatch wrote
‘Cool’ factor seems like a Catch-22 for city
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
BY JOE BLUNDO
How do we get people to participate in the idea of Columbus? Brain chemistry. The anticipation of buying stuff causes our brains to release dopamine, a pleasure chemical. To lure visitors, Columbus must become a perceived source of surprising pleasure. Because most of the nation doesn’t perceive Columbus at all, the challenge is significant.
I say we target the young by following the Pabst Blue Ribbon model. You already know how: It’s cheap. The ultimate attraction of beer isn’t taste; it’s mood alteration. Pabst, at $1.25 a glass, gets that done just as effectively as a $7 brew.
I think Columbus has to become a sort of metropolitan Pabst Blue Ribbon: low-priced, unpretentious and favored by the young. We shouldn’t advertise the town as cool, though, because that wouldn’t be cool. Walker says the new rage in marketing is to stage poorly publicized events that build a sort of underground buzz.
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