By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
This is not Bowling Green, Kentucky.
When the voice on the other end of the line has a distinct twang while asking about Bowling Green events, local officials have come to realize the callers are often talking about the Bowling Green to the south.
This Bowling Green is said to have been named by a retired postal worker who previously worked in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
But people whose job it is to promote this Bowling Green want to make a distinction.
This is not Bowling Green, Kentucky.
A new branding effort on part of the Bowling Green Convention and Visitors Bureau, led by executive director Wendy Chambers, was revealed last week to City Council.
“We are BG, Ohio, and we want to spread the word united to make us stand out to the masses and become readily recognizable,” Chambers said.
The new branding is intended to reflect the city’s energy.
“This city is not sleepy. It’s engaged, accepting and hungry for smart growth,” Chambers said.
Bowling Green is not what many people think, she added.
“We’re better, cooler and more progressive,” Chambers said. Bowling Green is a small city with a big city mentality, she added. The city welcomes diversity, is open-minded, offers a kaleidoscope of activity and is eco-minded.
“We welcome all people from all countries to live, work and play,” she said.
The city is open to possibilities, open to innovation, open to everyone, Chambers said.
The new branding effort is intended to show that this is not the other southern Bowling Green. And it may be a small city, but it is not small-minded.
“Bowling Green has the guts to break barriers and the heart to bring others with them,” Chambers said. “We are the up and coming college city in northern Ohio to learn, live, grow, work and play.”
In addition to pushing the message on social media and printed materials the Convention and Visitors Bureau plans to look into a series of wearables and branded merchandise, she said.
“We can all be walking billboards,” for the community, Chambers said. “We all need to work together to spread the word.”
A “brand launch” party is planned for March 28, from 5 to 7 p.m., in the Four Corners office downtown.
“Bowling Green, Ohio, is a city where you can be you. We are open-minded, forward- thinking, and ready to grow our city culturally and economically. We are full of colorful opportunities and people; a small city with a big city mentality. We are educated, eco-minded and innovative,” the branding materials stress.
“We’re a real life kaleidoscope of connectivity; a free reflection of one another,” Chamber said. “We want to show the world that in Bowling Green, we’re generating the future, one big thought at a time.”
