This is the official video for the project, id like to know your thoughts on it. 

Last three sources

My third source I found is an article from The Denver Egotist, and I thought it was very useful because of the charts and statistics it outlines in it. I came across this article when searching for the earlier steps in the process, such as different logos they were testing, and how they finally decided on the one they are using. I found out that this project was actually initially launched over a year ago, so many tests and surveys have been undergone in this time. This article also shows the three different colors they were deciding upon of the final logo, which is green. The other two variations were grey and black, and seemed very plain for our state. Something very interesting that is noted in this article is that rather than hiring outside sources to design a logo for something they knew little about, they reached out to our own residents for help with this project. This also means that not only does this brand supposedly represent Colorado, but it was built by Coloradans which makes it somewhat more genuine. With all the good hype it doesn't fail to mention the 1.1 million already spent, and the other half of a million tax dollars expected to be put towards the project this year.

"Colorado Unveils Official State Brand and Slogan." RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2013.

My fourth source is another article from the Denver Post written in October explaining how the new symbol is not meant to interfere with the wildly successful "come to life" campaign that boosts in tourism to Colorado. This already existing campaign made 2012 one of Colorado's best years for tourism, and studies found it even had a return of 17 dollars to every 1 tax dollar that was put in. This is good for our state, and for many they believe that this new logo and slogan, "it’s in our nature", may interfere and clash with that. The leader of the branding Colorado campaign has been traveling around doing conferences and he assures that this is not going to happen, and that they recognize the success of the previous plan, and has adapted that to fit with theirs. Although some saw his vision and understood what he was saying, there are still many skeptics that need to be convinced.

"Tourism Experts Worried Colorado Branding Effort Might Derail Campaign." - The Denver Post. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2013.

The fifth and final source I am drawing information from is an article that outlines how students are actually helping to create the Colorado brand. They are all from different counties, 64 students in all, and they were asked to create blogs about their county, and describe in one word each day why it’s so great and unique. When Hickenlooper unveiled his blueprint for Colorado he also released these, as a look deeper into our state. Something notable was these were all high school students, doing this by choice, after they were picked from some by the governor and his board.  Many of these blogs included photographs and such that showed what Colorado had to offer, and often hearing it from the youth can make you believe in something. Another great part of this strategy is high school kids know social media best, and that is where they were asked to reach about their personal experiences and counties, and the Colorado brand. This also helps reach other young people, and is important as they are the future of our state. An interactive plan to help spread the brand seems to be effective as though not all talk is positive; there is a lot of people talking about it. Reaching out to different areas of the state also helps to make sure that no one is left out, and so I think this is one of the better parts of the Colorado brand so far.

"Students Part of State Re-branding." Our Colorado News. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2013

Summary of first 2 sources

My first source for information is the official website for the operation, called brandColorado.gov, and this website has tons of information on the operation and its goals. As this is the states website promoting and explaining this new idea, it was one of the first things I came upon when searching google on this topic. It came up on the first page and i considered it a useful site as it had .gov at the end of its domain name. It is easily identifiable as the official page as soon as you are on it, so I trusted all information was credible.This website has a full explanation of the goals of this so called Colorado brand, including how they believe its going to stimulate Colorado's economy. One of the focuses of this website is to help people understand why this new symbol is being created(refer to image 1), and why it is more effective than the Colorado flag. As most of you know Colorado has many opportunities to exploit tourism throughout the state, and so this is one way to draw people in, and as earlier stated help boost the economy. They also support their claim that this symbol more effectively portrays Colorado as they did a survey as to how many people recognized our state flag, and more people thought it was for Chicago,and other places. This is one of their main points for promoting Colorado through this new symbol, as it is much more recognizable at just a single glance. 

image 1

My second source from which I am currently drawing information from is an article in the Denver Post talking about the new brand that governor Hickenlooper has started around our state. This article was the first i had read on this subject, and was what initially sparked my interest in the topic. I read it a while back, and when asked to write this paper i went back to it and found i wanted to know more. This article gives a view from someone who is not involved in the project, and tells of how this is the largest branding effort of its kind by a state. Of course they also talk about the reason this is all happening as part of an "economic blueprint" for our state as John Hickenlooper calls it. This symbol does not merely have one purpose, and will be used throughout the state government, and on almost everything they have to do with such as vehicles. On the contrary to the official site, they do admit that not all residents were opposed to using the Colorado flag as our symbol, as some actually preferred it. Not all response was positive to this new slogan and symbol, but for the majority of people they believe it will be more efficient. This article also outlines how the green and white mountain are a noticeable symbol for many, and often people relate it with Colorado, as our license plates have a similar resemblance. Other companies and brands in Colorado will be able to use this symbol as well to show they are a Colorado made, or friendly product, and each of the twenty two state government sections will use this as well. 

Works Cited

"Colorado Rolls out New Logo and Slogan for State Brand Campaign." - The Denver Post. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Nov. 2013.

"Home | Brand Colorado." Home | Brand Colorado. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Nov. 2013.

Image Analysis

               VS                      

The image on the right is the new symbol Colorado is using to represent state friendly business, and are own state government.On the left is the traditional Colorado flag which they decided against using because they claimed it was easily confused with other states. A survey that was taken suggested that not enough people outside of the state were familiar with the simple C on the traditional flag, and confused it with California, or Chicago. As you can see the red C in the center of the flag is rather vague in describing anything in particular, and the same withe the stripes in the background. However the blue and white stripes are on key with the states beautiful blue mountains, and skies, which is very familiar to you if you live in the state. The yellow circle in the middle of the red C also suggest the colors of the awe inspiring sunsets, and sunrises Colorado is well known for. If you look into the flag, and are familiar with Colorado, it may be clear how the flag represents our state, but on a wide scale it may not be so easily recognizable. On the other hand the simple image on the left conveys much of the same messages about our state, in an again simple, but possibly more effective way. As you can see it says Colorado under the triangle, and the CO are in the middle if it as well. This way the first thing you think about when you see that image is our state. It also brings in familiar features of our landscape with the mountain that has a snow capped peak, and it centrally locates that as the focus of the image as well. The green color also shows the forward thinking that can be associated with our state, and reflects our overall environment friendly attitude. As simple as both these images are they convey messages about Colorado and what lies within.

Research Question

My research question is going to be is this new symbol and brand going to promote Colorado's state government, and state friendly brands more effectively than the Colorado flag. My gut feeling would tell me yes it does because it shows a mountain, along with the letter CO, and says Colorado under it. The flag only conveys a simple C in the middle so it is hard to decipher where that represents if you are not familiar with the flag, or the state.  The mountain is also one symbol that is associated with Colorado, especially for people within the state we know how much the mountains mean. I am interested to find out if this is more recognizable for others, and if it will more easily promote Colorado. The motto that goes along with this is " Its in out nature", and that seems to be an aspect of what their promoting too, along with their green symbol. I think some people would look at this as a waste of time and resources because the flag is already widely used, and at least some people already recognize it opposed to the brand new symbol.I could also see many agreeing with it though because it does more accurately portray our state, and what we stand for. I would like to find out why the state government and the governor put this plan into action, and what kind of research suggests that it will actually work. I am also interested to see what the residents of Colorado think about this, and whether its positive or negative.

Introduction

Hello everyone, I am Jackson and this is my blog about Colorado's new brand and symbol, and the effectiveness of it. A little bit of background on me is that i have lived in Colorado my whole life, and i absolutely love it as well. I graduated from Poudre High School last year, and am now pursuing a college degree in business. I enjoy most outdoor activities you can think of, but my favorites would have to be skiing for the winter, and wake boarding in the summer. I have lived in Fort Collins for the past three years now and i really enjoy the culture of the town. In general i enjoy writing, some genres more than others, but i am always trying to improve and better myself, and constructive feedback is always very useful to me. Thanks, and i look forward to meeting all of you.