I. PROPOSAL
Mission Statement
We propose the creation of a new, world-class image for San Diego that will firmly establish our city as a unique destination for centuries to come. This new image will forever end any misconceptions that San Diego is just a nice southern beach-burb of Los Angeles.
Problem
San Diego currently presents itself under the catchphrase "America's Finest City". The problem with this self-glorifying slogan is that it is a weak cliché that does NOT sell outside city limits. It instead preaches to the choir, is immodest at best, and at worst, presents an arrogant and boastful attitude toward our visitors, many of whom naturally and pridefully see their own hometowns as America's finest cities. In sum, this slogan is of no benefit to our city.
When people in New York, Chicago or San Francisco hear the catchphrase "America's Finest City" they do NOT think of San Diego. However, when we hear "Big Apple" or "City That Never Sleeps" we think New York, when we hear "City of Angels" we think Los Angeles, when we hear "City of Brotherly Love" we think Philadelphia, when we hear "City of Lights" we think Paris, etc. In each case, the slogan sparks our imaginations in positive ways and does not leave negative impressions. Our goal is to successfully brand San Diego in a similar fashion with a positive image that sells throughout North America, and eventually the world. The proper catchphrase matched with a powerful series of artistic images can accomplish this.
Proposed Solution (three parts)
A. Proposed Catchphrase - We propose the new image of San Diego be built on the catchphrase America's City of Life, a universally positive theme that describes San Diego better than any other city in America.
The first European expedition to set foot on the west coast of the United States was led by Spanish explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo in 1542, and the location of the first landing was San Diego. As such, San Diego is the birthplace of California. San Diego currently ranks as the second largest city in the state and the seventh largest in the nation, and arguably has the best quality of life of any city in North America: visual beauty, extraordinary year-round weather, spectacular beaches and harbors, mountains and valleys, vast deserts, proximity to beautiful Baja California, an exciting downtown night life, a growing art and cultural presence, an array of universities and museums, Old Town, Balboa Park and the world famous San Diego Zoo, the Wild Animal Park, Sea World, professional and amateur sports, sailing and surfing, world class golf courses, the Olympic training center, Del Mar horse racing, vibrant technology and biotech industries, Navy and Marine Corps bases, a wide spectrum of employment opportunities, a diverse ethnic and cultural make-up, and the list goes on. San Diego is a fabulous City of Life indeed.
B. Proposed Visual Art - In order to successfully brand San Diego as America's City of Life, it is essential to match it with a contemporary, forward looking visual art campaign that speaks the same message and transcends those who view it. We propose the powerful "Celebration of Life" series of paintings as the visual component of the America's City of Life campaign. This will enable the campaign to take on a life of its own, something generally not possible with words alone.
The color scheme of these paintings matched with their captivating and optimistic compositions, are ideally suited to America's City of Life. The blue figures evoke the human spirit teeming with enthusiasm and joie de vivre (joy of living). Frolicking against the warm yellow sunlight they leap, dance and soar above the red and green tones of the earth below. (Pages 5 - 27 display a sample of the "Celebration" series.)
C. Proposed Theme Song- We propose The Beatles song Here Comes The Sun as the theme song for San Diego and the third component of the America's City of Life campaign. This song evokes a rare musical optimism that truly warms the heart, making it a perfect fit for the catchphrase and visual art of this campaign.
The Beatles are widely recognized as the most influential band of the 50 year rock 'n' roll era, and their music has a proven ability to cross age groups and generations. Some may be tempted to use a beach band with surf music instead, but this would be far too cliché for a coastal city. Furthermore, beach bands and their music do not carry anywhere near the widespread respect and popularity of The Beatles.
II. PLAN OF ACTION (Launching America's City of Life Campaign)
A. Embrace a New City Logo - A catchy new city logo should be embraced in the effort to successfully "brand" San Diego as America's City of Life. The logo will be the centerpiece of city advertising campaigns, and the blue "Celebration" figures will quickly become the goodwill ambassadors for our city. (See proposed logo on page 5.)
B. Install Significant Public Art Projects - Arguably the most important component to the successful launch of this campaign. A series of prominently placed thematic public art projects will keep the new campaign constantly in front of our residents and visitors and create the "buzz" necessary for significant staying power. This will solidify America's City of Life images as our goodwill ambassadors.
- Lindbergh Field - Replace the existing painting of Charles Lindbergh holding a toy-sized plane with a powerful City of Life image. The Lindbergh painting evokes "indifference" and "disinterest" in most viewers, the worst reaction possible for art in such a prominent location. This key airport location is an outstanding platform for San Diego to make a powerful statement about itself, and it should be about our city teeming with excitement and enthusiasm for life. (See proposed art on page 6.)
- Highway Overpass Bridges - Display unique City of Life images on the highway overpass bridges of each highway as they enter and depart San Diego city limits: 5, 805, 8, 15, 163, 52, 56, 94, 54. Based on the immense daily traffic on the highways, the unused overpass bridges are an ideal platform for displaying City of Life images. Imagine the power of these images lit up at night as well. (See proposed art on pages 7 - 11.)
- Qualcomm Stadium - Display a unique, large scale City of Life image (to replace the existing mural) on the east side of the stadium visible from highways 15 and 8. This is an important ambassadorial location for the city to make a powerful statement about itself, and the existing mural unfortunately does not fit the bill. (See proposed art on page 12.)
- Petco Park Stadium - Display a unique, large scale City of Life image on the backside of the new scoreboard that faces downtown and the highly trafficked Gaslamp Quarter. Again, this is an ideal location to make a powerful statement about our city. (See proposed art on page 13.)
- City Flags on Broadway - Display City of Life images on the flags, but rotate the images at regular intervals
- Miscellaneous - With a bit of imagination there will be numerous other public art applications for City of Life images.
C. Launch a Linking Sports Campaign - Professional sports teams and outside sporting activity are important facets of daily life in San Diego and should be an important aspect of the new branding campaign. (See the proposed linking campaign, Catch it if U Can!, on pages 14 - 17.)
D. Promotion of the City Theme Song - Promote our new city theme song, Here Comes The Sun, alongside our visual art in all venues possible.
- Areas to Promote - City events, city facilities, the airport and harbor facilities, the border, city parades, Qualcomm Stadium, Petco Park Stadium, local television and radio stations, high schools and universities, travel segments featuring San Diego, city and county websites, etc. The more airplay the better once we tie the song to San Diego.
- Airlines, Cruise Ships, Trains & Buses - Persuade (with small incentives if necessary) the airlines, cruise ships, trains and long range buses to play Here Comes The Sun as their vessels make their final approach into downtown San Diego. These businesses will likely welcome playing an uplifting song like this because it will leave a positive impression on their customers which will encourage repeat business.
E. City & County Welcome Signs -
F. City & County Websites, Brochures, Travel and Visitor materials-
G. Airports, Harbors, Port Authority, Train & Bus Stations, Border Crossings, etc.
H. Chamber of Commerce, Convention Center, Visitors Bureau, etc.
I. Private Enterprise - Hotels, Television and Radio Stations, San Diego Union-Tribune, San Diego Transcript, San Diego Business Journal, Metropolitan Magazine, the Reader, Sempra Energy, Taxi and Shuttle companies, etc.
J. Other - ?
III. BENEFITS OF AMERICA'S CITY OF LIFE CAMPAIGN
A. World Class Image - The campaign will establish a resonating, world-class image that will act as San Diego's goodwill ambassador to the world. The positive nature of this image will help entice tourism, conventions, business, scientific research, higher education, art and sporting events to our city. It will be beneficial to everyone.
B. A Beacon of Optimism - The campaign will be a "beacon of optimism" that will be psychologically uplifting to the residents of our region, as well as leave a lasting positive impression on our visitors. The impact of a repetitious campaign devoted to positive slogans and artistic images should not be underestimated, as evidenced by the successful advertising tactics of Coca Cola and Walt Disney, and the consistent draw to iconic images such as the Statue of Liberty, Mount Rushmore and the Eiffel Tower.
C. Uniqueness - The unique quality of this campaign will positively differentiate San Diego from all other North American destinations.
D. Vision - The campaign will firmly establish San Diego as one of the few cities in the world with a real "vision" for itself. Officials from other cities continuously claim to have such a "vision", but more often than not their claims are meaningless hyperbole.
E. Setting the Trend - By launching this unique campaign, San Diego will become an important trendsetter in America and will be the model for other cities to follow suit. It will be interesting to see how many other cities follow our branding lead, what type of art they employ in doing so, and what kind of unique approaches they come up with, such as our painting of highway overpass bridges. (We will scoop the major trendsetter cities in this effort: New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Paris, London, Rome and Milan will have nothing on us.)
F. Artistic Welcome Mat - The campaign will put San Diego on the road map as an exciting, forward-looking contemporary art destination. It will enliven the entire San Diego art scene, benefiting artists and patrons alike.
G. Staying Power - This is a powerful campaign concept that is designed to span the next 300 plus years. Paris did not become the "City Of Lights" overnight, nor will San Diego brand itself overnight. This is a campaign concept San Diego can easily build upon over time, but it is vital that the city maintains the core theme and is persistent and patient in the branding process. (Those who become impatient and frequently change concepts rarely achieve long term branding success. GE, Coca Cola, The New York Times and many others maintain their unique old style fonts and logos precisely for this reason.)
H. Minimal Cost - The cost of this campaign will be relatively small: paint, scaffolding, labor, and such for the public art projects being the major expenses. We can either paint the walls and bridges themselves, or we can paint metal sheeting that we rivet in place afterwards. (Funding sources - city budget, private donations, corporate donations, other?) In addition, this campaign does NOT require the building of structures or the condemning of private land under the right of eminent domain, both of which can be legally cumbersome, time consuming and expensive.
I. No Downside - There is no identifiable downside to this campaign. Neither the proposed "catchphrase", nor the proposed "visual / musical art" have any offensive components to them. In our media-entertainment driven nation it has disappointingly become commonplace to embrace offensive and/or risqué tactics in order to create a "buzz" about something new. We fortunately have a powerful concept that does NOT need to employ such tactics. In addition, this campaign is NOT political or religious, and as such there will not be any competing or opposing groups.
IV. PROPOSED LOGO, ART AND THEME SONG
Pages 5 - 27 display the proposed logo and artistic images for America's City of Life.
Proposed Logo for the City of San Diego
(English and Spanish versions)
V. BACKGROUND AND REFERENCES
A. Background - George Mullen is a recognized oil painting artist and a sample of his work can be viewed at www.StudioRevolution.com. His studio is located in the Broker's Building at 402 Market Street in downtown San Diego. (By standing on the south side of Market, between 4th and 5th and looking at the Broker's Building from across the street, you can see a sample of his "Celebration of Life" paintings covering the six windows of his third floor studio. Photo on page 27.) He has been a member of Rotary International since 1988 and is a past-president of the Mission Valley Rotary Club. He is a native of San Diego, a graduate of the University of Colorado, Boulder, and currently resides in Del Mar with his wife and three children.
B. Personal References for George Mullen
- Judge Robert C. Coates - San Diego Superior Court Judge and author of the book, A Street Is Not A Home: Solving America's Homeless Dilemma
Website: www.sandiego.courts.ca.gov/superior/about/depts/sd45.html
Tel: available upon request
Email: available upon request
- Mel Yoakum, Ph.D. - Curator of the F. Gilot Archives and confidant to artist Francoise Gilot, one of the most enduring artists of the post World War II School of Paris. He is author of several noteworthy art books as well, including Stone Echoes and Francoise Gilot Monograph 1940-2000.
Website: www.fgilot.com
Tel: available upon request
Email: available upon request
- Terrence R. Caster - Chairman of the Board of The Caster Companies and A-1 Self-Storage.
Website: www.castergrp.com
Tel: available upon request
Email: available upon request
- Brian R. Caster - CEO / President of The Caster Companies and A-1 Self-Storage.
Website: www.castergrp.com
Tel: available upon request
Email: available upon request
