Some Ideas For ‘Branding’ La Grange

A few weeks ago we reported that the city of La Grange has hired a firm and was conducting focus groups to help in branding the city for tourism purposes. The last time the city did this a decade ago, there were disastrous consequences when an out of town firm charged $24,000 and then suggested a marketing plan based on calling this area “The Bohemian Hills of Texas.”

The outcry from locals was quick and fiery to remind officials that “Bohemian” is still seen by many as a derogatory term for folks of Czech descent. It was a public relations nightmare and the plan was dropped.

Anyway, here’s my suggestion for some new branding ideas for La Grange:

• La Grange – We have an HEB and a Walmart

• La Grange – Where our kolaches contain fruit

• La Grange – Where we have a beautiful courthouse that almost nobody uses anymore (I feel like this needs some more explanation on my part. In the past few years the two offices that drew the most people to the courthouse, the elections office and the tax assessors office have been moved elsewhere, so now the fewest number of people at any point in history actually use the courthouse).

• La Grange – Where half of the folks want to forget about the Chicken Ranch and the other half want to find a way to capitalize on it.

• La Grange – At least we’re not Giddings

• La Grange – Where the only traffic jam you’ll find is at the resale shop

• La Grange – Home of the least-utilized river in Texas (seriously we have this great Colorado River that flows right through the heart of town and it’s not embraced like it should be)

• La Grange – The drive-through benefit dinner capital of Texas

• La Grange – The Hamptons of Houston (see Andy Behlen’s front page story for more on this) And finally ...

• La Grange – Where they’ll let you say (almost) anything in the opinion section.

Jeff Wick is the editor of The Fayette County Record. He is a firm believer that if you have to try hard to brand yourself, it’s probably not a good idea to do so. He can be reached at jeff@fayettecountyrecord.com.