Letter writer: Let’s talk about the City of Antioch’s brand

Dear Editor:

Let’s talk about the really poor marketing of the marketing campaign to listen to the citizens of Antioch. I love this city, and I am happy to give input as to why Antioch is great, why folks should move here, etc. What I’m not happy about is the embarrassing debacle that surrounds this effort by the company hired to survey residents: evvivabrands.com.

I read about this series of events on Facebook Thursday morning. The first event shown was Friday 10-6 at the Somersville mall. I was surprised to be the first person in a city of over 100,000 people to register for the “listenting session” (the typo is theirs, not mine).

I showed up at 10 am and found no signage, no indication of anything happening in the main courtyard where the session was to take place. After asking around, I was directed to a storefront lined with black curtains where three people were standing around with rolling bags. I asked if they were associated with the brand event, and, hallelujah, they said they were.

I understand why they may have been defensive when I asked why it was so difficult to find them. But if you are a professional listener, I would recommend less arguing and more acknowledgement of the problem. Furthermore, this event that I signed up for was not an all-day meeting or session. They were simply there to pull shoppers in to ask the questions that, I assume, are the same ones on the electronic survey.

Come on, Antioch. If you hire a “professional” company to help with brand for the city, at least make sure that they know what they’re doing.

Jacquelyn Higgins

Antioch


2 Comments to “Letter writer: Let’s talk about the City of Antioch’s brand”

  1. BB says:

    Maybe they can drive around the beautiful Antioch and see all the dead landscapes and garbage on our main thoroughfares. And the mall or do you mean the hangout. Why do we try to improve our brand when we never think outside the box, only to shop outside.

  2. Martha Goralka says:

    I’m sorry Jacquelyn had such a disappointing time with the branding people. I read about the meetings in the City Manager’s report with reminders from neighbors; so attended the Nick Rodriquez meeting. I thought it was well done – but after I left realized I hadn’t talked about all the things I love about living in Antioch. Especially the tradition of volunteering… focusing on our youth, our churches, our seniors. I live in Rivertown where old fashioned friendliness walks the streets. People say “hi” to each other – even to strangers. I feel safe and walk everywhere. But I also enjoy southeast Antioch where my grandchildren live with their parents – and I can be involved in their school experience. I am amazed at the generosity of our community – donating untold dollars and hours to the betterment of all. And I’m proud of our diversity. Everyone is welcome in Antioch and everyone lives everywhere.
    I’m also proud of our police department and our public works department. Of course, we’re not perfect and never will be perfect – but I’m delighted to be a resident of Antioch.

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