The Branding of Tulsa

Presented in video format by David Littlefield, President of David Littlefield, Inc.

Jim Dunn, President of Mill Creek, Chairman of the Metro Tulsa Chamber of Commerce, introduced a 6-minute video presentation that addressed the need for “branding” of Tulsa’s image.

“Two years ago,” Dunn said, “the Chamber reshaped its strategic goals and business plan. As part of that work, we identified the need to conduct an image-branding program.”

The Chamber engaged Littlefield, a local marketing and communication firm to conduct research on “What do people outside of this community think of Tulsa.” Conducted in Denver and Kansas City, the survey found a gap between what summit participants thought of Tulsa and the opinions shared by those outside the city.

 “The City of Tulsa is a brand,” Littlefield said, adding that the aim of this process was “to better understand how the Tulsa brand connects or doesn’t connect with the high tech workers who live throughout the central part of the United States.”

We tend to discount outlandish perceptions of people on either coast who wonder where all the teepees are, or ask about local cowboys, he said, “because we believe they are out of touch and maybe just engaged in their own narrow views of the world. Sure, there are flat and unattractive parts of our state, and yes, we do have a wonderful Western heritage, but this is Tulsa in the year 2002.

“We are a very cosmopolitan city. We have rolling hills, lots of trees and beautiful lakes. Tulsa is a great place to live and work, and we enjoy an incredibly high quality of life. Everyone knows that, especially people from the central part of the United States. Right?

“Well, that isn’t always the case.

Participants then viewed film clips of interviews in which focus group members from neighboring states talked about their impressions of Tulsa. Examples included

• Oil, dustbowl, cowboys.
• Tulsa’s not a bad town. Not a whole bunch of traffic.
• Farmer Joe working his cornfield, with his kids, plenty of them.
• Working the land. The wife is dead; she’s been worked to death.
• Desolate, ugly, dirt roads going nowhere, but of course, we have our trailer parks.
• Oil bust, oil bust, oil bust, all I could think of.

Putting the challenge to summit attendees, Littlefield said “we have a unique opportunity to map out the course for our great city for the next 20 years. Do we want to be known as a dynamic city with a great future or will we always be known as a once great city that lost its way after the oil bust of the 1980s. Through your participation in this vision summit, and the new leadership we have with a new mayor and city counselors, coupled with the traditionally strong leadership from our business community, we have a unique opportunity to chart an exciting course for Tulsa. We get to decide who we want to be. We have a unique opportunity to reposition the brand we know is Tulsa. This is a very exciting time.”

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Contents

Introduction

The Mayor’s Objectives

Small Group Discussions & Questions

Glen Heimstra
The Shape of Things to Come

William Hudnut III
A Vision for Urban America

Q&A: Hudnut and Heimstra

Clayton Vaughn
You Said We Couldn’t Do It, But...

Rodger Randle
The Demographics of Today’s Tulsa

The Branding of Tulsa «

Robert LaFortune
Investing in the future generations of our city

Mollie Williford
Volunteerism and the Arts

James Goodwin
Leaving No One Behind

Kathy LaFortune
Continuing the Vision

Credits