Dirty Scottsdale makes pointless statement

By on August 29th, 2007 In Hype!, Social Media

If you’ve not seen the dirtyscottsdale.com blog you’ve probably not missed much, but if you live or work in Scottsdale you would be concerned. It’s all about the folks who talk up their Ferraris, tatts and hangovers; even the commentary on, say, the photo radar goes nowhere.

Yesterday’s editorial in the State Press, the student newspaper of ASU, takes a shot of analyzing it, and why the city begets such an image. It calls Scottsdale the “small scale imitation of Beverly Hills, only without actual celebrities,” and “the epitome of mindless self-fellation.” Ouch!

Does dirtyscottsdale have a point? Even if it doesn’t, the folks at the Chamber, and the City have to wonder about the long term fallout considering that they promote a business environment, hospitality and culture that doesn’t need an adjective like ‘dirty’ anywhere next to it.

But one way of responding to may be to not respond at all. The Scottsdale name in the url is more to get attention than to comment on it. As Rachel Pearson, handling corporate communications at the Scottsdale Convention and Visitors Bureau noted, the blog “focuses on a very narrow experience” that doesn’t even reflect the diversity of the city. In fact, it’s all about the people –probably not even locals– and not even about the clubs, she said. She’s spot on. The link to a Myspace page says it’s about the four C’s –cars, cash, clothes and crystal.

Comments

Amanda Vega Says:
August 30th, 2007 at 8:38 am

The number one rule in branding: be honest about your brand. Sorry guys, but Scottsdale, specifically, does deserve the sort of reputation that you hear out there, at least insofar as being a mini-Beverly Hills wannabe city. And really, is that such a bad thing? What’s wrong with being a city full of pretty rich people that love the arts and do a lot of charity work? Think about it.

And Rachel should realize that even though that site “focuses on a very narrow experience” that doesn’t even reflect the diversity of the city” it is sometime those “very narrow experiences” that indeed shape a brand of a city and speak a truth. Think about the lasting effects of the “dog days of Harlem” in NYC – it still haunts the brand of that small/narrow part of NYC and has an impact oveall. Also, sorry, it IS about the clubs, and those people ARE locals, indeed. Which brings me to this point, which reinforces how they are showcasing a true part of Scottsdale-specific brand: where else in the nation do you find 50 year old men chasing 21 year old girls in clubs, and even more – where else do you find 50 year old WOMEN chasing 21 year old boys in clubs? Certainly not in 99% of the other cities out there. So really, dirtyscottsdale is a part of the truth of our brand.

And one funny site.

Oh, and by the way, being business savvy (the way we want to promote Arizona) and being hot/rich “hollywood” isn’t mutually exclusive. Many of those 50-year-olds are millionaires in our clubs. (or at least $30,000 ones!)

Angelo Fernando Says:
August 30th, 2007 at 6:29 pm

I agree with the value of narrowing in on just one salient idea, but I could argue that Scottsdale has multiple personalities, and could very well rebrand itself if it wants to. Speak to the people around the airpark and you’ll see different side –techyscottsdale. There are the resorts and golf courses that would argue it is they give the city it’s brand personality. Scottsdale’s Wikipedia entry has two images from opposite ends of the spectrum –shopping and architecture –apart from the ‘The West’s most Western town’ identity. So my point is, the brand could easily be hijacked. Or repositioned.

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