More than one person who has moved here from the West has observed that the term “Pioneer Valley” for them conjures up images of Laura Ingalls Wilder, leather chaps and 19th-century settlers in Conestoga wagon trains.
Many local tourism leaders have acknowledged for years that “Pioneer Valley” works for marketing ourselves regionally but doesn’t get much traction outside the state.
So it should have come as no surprise that marketing consultants from Oklahoma would want to ditch the current nickname for the Connecticut River Valley of western Massachusetts with something, ah, more evocative of the region that would attract tourists or job creators.
But “West Mass?” Anyone who thinks that does the job is probably fooling themselves and should ask for their $80,000 back.
The Greater Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau and Economic Development Council of Western Massachusetts believe the Pioneer Valley needs rebranding and paid Tulsa consultants to conduct a months-long marketing effort to come up with a new, modern brand for the region including not only Hampden, but also Hampshire and Franklin counties.
“Pioneer Valley” doesn’t work outside the region as it might have in the 1930s when it was adopted, they argue.
Convention and Visitors Bureau officials note that “West Mass” can be seen as an umbrella brand that businesses and organizations within the region can adopt and blend with other “sub-brands,” like Pioneer Valley or Berkshires.
The bureau’s president, Mary Kay Wydra, said the marketing concept also anticipates using the word “maverick” rather than “pioneer” because “‘pioneers’ kind of lends itself to the past; mavericks go forward and blaze trails.”
One local marketing consultant complained this is all about Springfield because the new brand strongly resembles the Springfield area-based Economic Development Council’s business and industrial park affiliate, Westmass Development Corp.
“It’s not about Franklin County or Hampshire County,” contends Darby O’Brien, who runs a South Hadley advertising agency. “‘Pioneer’ is great; it’s authentic. Steve Jobs was a pioneer.”
If you accept the premise that we need a brand that better communicates that our region is home to top-rated prep schools and colleges, innovators in agriculture and sustainability, exhilarating outdoor recreation, world-class cultural attractions and a wonderful quality of life, you have to ask: Does “West Mass” do the job any better than “Pioneer Valley?”
Nope.
It does tell people from outside the state where we are geographically, but that’s about it. Beyond the concept’s fundamentally flat quality, local marketing experts and critics have noted that the new logo lacks visual sophistication and punch. One reader got it right, saying the logo “looks like something that anyone could have made on their home computer in 1990.”
The valley is known for its abundance of creative types, so couldn’t we have found people who live here and understand the region to develop something more effective?
Is it too late to go back to the drawing board? And if people in the Springfield region want to promote the “West Mass” brand, do we in the northern and western reaches need to ally ourselves so closely with the lower valley?
If all we are accomplishing is “placing a stake in the ground” so people know where we are, as one Springfield chamber leader suggested, then why not simply use “Pioneer Valley of Western Mass.” in our promotion? It’s no more poetic than the $80,000 version but at least it doesn’t unceremoniously throw a familiar moniker in a trash bin stamped “Blah.”
Linda Lowry, an associate professor in the department of hospitality and tourism management at the University of Massachusetts, says the challenge in coming up with a new brand is to reflect both the attributes that make the region special, and at the same time indicate where the region is located for those unfamiliar with it.
Not everyone shares our discontent. “If a business is trying to attract people to Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin counties, and even Berkshire County, I think West Mass is a home run,” Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce President Tim O’Brien has said.
While everyone involved in promoting our region would like to hit a home run, simply snipping “-ern” off “Western Mass.” and calling ourselves mavericks seems more like a pop fly bending toward the foul line. It’s time for some marketing pioneers to identify a fresher frontier.