Sunday, September 07, 2014

"The Brand Is Strong" - Really? Explain!

CONTEMPLATING THE MANTRA
A friend and I were chatting today about the inane mantra, "The Brand Is Strong",  chanted by a few of the Riganista sycophants - Mesa Water District President Jim Fisler is the most prominent of the bunch.  He barfs up that phrase like one of those dolls where you pull the string in his neck and he just rattles it off - The Brand Is Strong.... The Brand Is Strong...  He's beginning to sound like a parrot - GAWK!  The Brand Is Strong... GAWK!

ABOUT "THE BRAND"...
So, that got us thinking about "The Brand", which we must presume is the "Costa Mesa" brand, right?  And we wondered how one measures the strength of "The Brand"?  Certainly, it must include how frequently the name is included in major locations, businesses, public buildings and the like, right?  That got us beginning to list major destinations in our fair city, trying to identify those which actually carry the name of our city, Costa Mesa - The Brand - in their names.

SHOPPING CENTERS?
Let's see.. how about starting with shopping centers.  The only one I could find with the name "Costa Mesa" in it is the "Costa Mesa Shopping Center", a recently-refurbished center at 175 East 17th Street, at the corner of Orange Avenue and 17th Street.  It contains a Von's market and a CVS Pharmacy and not much else.  I'm betting that very few people knew that was the name of the center.  Other major shopping venues in the city include:
South Coast Plaza
MetroPoint
Harbor Center
The Triangle
The Lab
The Camp
South Coast Collection

NO PARKS WITH "THE BRAND"!
How about public parks?  Well, NONE of our thirty public parks include the name "Costa Mesa".  We do have the Costa Mesa Golf Course - a city-owned, privately-operated facility in our city.

PUBLIC BUILDINGS
What about public buildings?  Well, we have the Costa Mesa City Hall, the Costa Mesa Police Headquarters and the Costa Mesa Neighborhood Community Center, but that's going to be replaced by a library.

LIBRARIES?
Speaking of libraries, we have three  All are county facilities and are called Costa Mesa - Donald Dungan Library, Costa Mesa - Mesa Verde Library and the Costa Mesa Technology Library.  Only the Technology Library includes the city in the proper name.  The Donald Dungan Library is scheduled to be converted into a meeting facility.

ENTERTAINMENT?
What about entertainment venues?  Let's see... I find these:
Segerstrom Center For The Arts
South Coast Repertory
Orange County Fair and Events Center

SCHOOLS?
What about schools?  Well, we have Costa Mesa High School, period.  As far as higher education, we have:
Orange Coast College
Coast Community College District
Vanguard University of Southern California
Whittier Law School
WestMed College
National University
Coastline Community College
Pacific College
University Of Phoenix
Usa Bartenders School
American Career College
Small World Schools
Ridgecrest College
Wall Street University
Centaur College

CHURCHES?
How about churches?  I looked at a couple lists of churches in Costa Mesa and only two have the name of the city in the title - The Costa Mesa Seventh Day Adventist Church and Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa - which is actually in Santa Ana!

AUTOMOBILE DEALERS?
How about automobile dealers?  Certainly some of the many dealers in our city - along the Harbor Boulevard Of Cars - and elsewhere, include the name of our city in their business name, right?  Here's a list.  You'll recognize some of them.  Others, not so much.  They all have business addresses in Costa Mesa:
Bullet Performance
OC Autosource
Newport Coast Auto
CarMax
California Beemers
Absolut Motor Cars
Precision Motors
SC Car Zone
Lamborghini Newport Beach (it's in Costa Mesa)
SC Motors Inc
AutoNation Honda
Carmart LLC
European Collectibles
Bass Motorsports
Jeepster Auto Sales
Nash Auto
Connell Nissan
South Coast Toyota
South Coast Mitsubishi
Theodore Robins Ford
Connell Chevrolet
Performance Limited
Mangione Motors
Orange Coast Buick GMC Cadillac
Southern California Auto House
Coastline Motors, LLC
South Coast Acura
Ferrari of Newport Beach (it's in Costa Mesa)
Orange County Monster Carts
Star European
Executive Auto Sales
South Coast Subaru
Orange Coast Chrysler Jeep Dodge
Executive Autohaus
OC Motors
House of Luxuries
Classic Auto Appraiser
Sisco Cars
Evan Paul Motorcars
Coastal Custom Automotive
996 Motors
Platinum Auto Sales
Newport Motors (it's in Costa Mesa)
Orange County Autobahn
Ferrari & maserati of Orange County
Strasse Automotive
OC Luxury Imports
Garry Roberts & Company
California Auto
TruSpeed
Harbor Motor Sports
Boanta Cars
Sunny's Buick-Costa Mesa Pontiac GMC
Lotus of Newport Beach - Newport European Motorcars, Ltd (it's in Costa Mesa)
South Coast BPG
California Autos Group
Costa Mesa Auto Sales
Newport European Motorcars
AutoKennel
Rolls-Royce Motor Car Newport Beach Newport European Motorcars (it's in Costa Mesa)
Performance Ltd
BMAC Auto
Orange Coast Fiat
Eurocar

ONE!  Only ONE car business has "Costa Mesa" as part of its name!  ONE!

LODGING?
Next I took a look at hotels and motels, trying to find those that might think "Costa Mesa" is a "Brand" worth including in the name of their place.  I found two:
Costa Mesa Marriott Suites
Costa Mesa Motor Inn (a dump which is about to be demolished and replaced by apartments!)
The rest had names like:
The Westin South Coast Plaza
Hilton Orange County
Ayres Hotel and Suites in Costa Mesa-Newport Beach
Crowne Plaza Costa Mesa Orange County
Avenue of the Arts Wyndham Hotel
Best Western Plus Newport Mesa Inn
and on and on...

SEARCHING FOR "THE BRAND"
I looked at sites that listed things to do in Costa Mesa.  Most included shopping at South Coast Plaza, dining at The Lab and/or The Camp, the Segerstrom Center and driving the Pacific Coast Highway (which is NOT in Costa Mesa).  Other prominently mentioned things are visiting the Orange County Fair and taking in entertainment at the Pacific Amphitheater.  No "Costa Mesa" in those names!

THINGS TO DO...
TripAdvisor has a list of ten "Things to do in Costa Mesa":
Orange County Performing Arts Center
Pacific Symphony
Teatro Zinzanni
Fairview Park
America's Family Pet Expo
California Scenario
TeWinkle Park
South Coast Repertory Theater
Makerel Flat and Goat Hill Junction Railroad
Lions Park

Do you see the name "Costa Mesa" anywhere in there?

HOW ABOUT "FUN" PLACES?
I found a site via our friends at Yelp that listed "Fun Places To Visit On A Day Off!", presuming you are in Costa Mesa.  Well, here's that list of things of fun things you might do or visit:
Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park (Trabuco Canyon)
San Clemente Pier
Dana Point Harbor
Mission Viejo Library
Aliso Viejo Ice Palace
Back Bay Loop Trail
Irvine Regional Park
San Clemente City Beach
Disney California Adventure Park
T Street (San Clemente)
Laguna Beach
Disneyland Resort
The Shark Club
Patsy's Irish Pub (Mission Viejo)
Whiskey Girl (San Diego)
Elvis!? Karaoke Studios (Fountain Valley)
Universal Studios Hollywood
Griffith Observatory
Museum of Tolerance
Page Museum (in Los Angeles)
The Queen Mary
OC Fair and Event Center
Gaslamp Restaurant & Bar (Long Beach)
Aquarium of the Pacific
KQ Ranch (Julian)
Laguna Playhouse
Surf City Comedy Club (Huntington Beach)
California Science Center
Natural History Museum
Taste of Aliso Niguel

Getting the picture?

REALLY?  IS THAT IT?
Help me out, here.  If "The Brand Is Strong", wouldn't you think we'd find that "brand" plastered all over businesses, public places, etc.?  I find it pretty frustrating when one of the few places in our city to proudly and clearly identify itself with our city is the Costa Mesa Sanitary District!  Is that our brand?  Sewer and trash?!  No offense intended to our friends at the Sanitary district - they do a great job of managing our waste, but c'mon!

EXPLAIN, PLEASE - OR ZIP IT!
I, and many of my friends, really like living in Costa Mesa.  We liked what used to be the eclectic feel of the place before the current dictatorship gutted the city government and tried to convert the city into an infill Irvine.  I hope President Jim will register to post here and explain to us EXACTLY what "The Brand Is Strong" is supposed to mean.  Otherwise, just give it a rest!  We're tired of hearing that mindless rhetoric, thank you very much.

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9 Comments:

Anonymous Ken Nyquist said...

Let's see here...A 6% split commission on a $900,000 home is a nice payday.. Have the good fortune of being named the listing agent for new developments in town is a nice pat on the wallet..Controlling the water works and sitting on LAFCO gets you in any door and more money in the pocket...And you get to be a rude indignant prick in the Daily Pilot...
"The Brand Is Strong"...
I know you did not include a photo of the Sandpiper just to put a burr under my saddle Geoff..

9/08/2014 05:13:00 AM  
Anonymous Squad 51 said...

Hey wait a minute... the fire engines and cop cars all have Costa Mesa on them right there for everybody to see. How many cities do that! That's how they got 500,000 qualified applicants for those positions. See.. the brand IS strong! Gawk!!

9/08/2014 06:22:00 AM  
Anonymous Where's My Coffee? said...

My wife figured that out awhile ago. There are more businesses with the name "Newport" in them than "Costa Mesa". Even one of our favorite BBQ places has Newport prominently in the name but is clearly been in Costa Mesa for years. Frankly, I don't care what they call their businesses, as long as they begin or in some cases, start to prosper. Right now, its a pretty sad scenario. The brand may be strong, but its because this cow smells. Vote No on "O", and for Foley and Humphrey!!!

9/08/2014 07:32:00 AM  
Blogger Mike H. said...

There are such things as brand valuations as an international standard, kind of like how we all agree that US stands for United States.
Pretty heady stuff.

In reality, this is another trick the black hats use. They try to make themselves out to be four times smarter than they really are. Then someone comes along and shows them that they're full of what's in Tim Lewis's pots, and they freak out.

Only 8 more weeks of their tricks to go. Get out and talk to your friends. Make sure they vote, even if it's just in our local races. There's too much at stake.

9/08/2014 08:07:00 AM  
Blogger The Pot Stirrer said...

No Ken, I didn't do that to provoke you. :-) That was the only motel image I had handy. Thanks for participating.

9/08/2014 08:33:00 AM  
Anonymous Arthur Nern said...

The whole "Brand" rap is another lame effort for the locusts to try and convince the good people of CM that the city is "run like a business."

Except that cities are not "businesses." They are places on the map where people live and are entitled to certain rights, privileges, and services.

Our little dictator "businessman" has created plenty of business for his campaign contributors.

9/08/2014 09:03:00 AM  
Blogger kwahlf said...

1. brand noun \ˈbrand\
: a category of products that are all made by a particular company and all have a particular name

: a particular kind or type of something

The "Brand" is not strong.
Those who claim it is believe in running our city like a business.
However if our city was a business, which it isn't, we would be bankrupt by now with the incompetent mayor and mayor pro tem running the show.
Didn't they bankrupt a business ?

9/08/2014 10:33:00 AM  
Anonymous Terry Koken said...

Nah, nah. Youse guys have it all wrong. "Brand" is what you do with a red-hot iron to the posterior of a steer. "Strong" means, as in "strong drink", beer, of which our diet-coke-drinking city councilmen, wimps all, do not partake. So watch your backside, at least from now until election, because they already have the iron hot and are eager to make steers out of all of us...

9/08/2014 04:41:00 PM  
Blogger Joe said...

Too late!
Fisler already has a brand on his posterior that reads "Ranch Riggy"

9/08/2014 09:00:00 PM  

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