New Longview brand not exclusive to city

Officials upset that 'pure and simple' used for other towns

LONGVIEW — From the majestic mountains of Colorado to the sandy shores of Florida and now the piney woods of East Texas, things are pure and simple. Or at least that's how marketing logos designed to attract people and economic development describe the different areas.

Though diverse in topography, the three areas have logos containing the phrase "pure and simple."

For two of those communities — Longview and the expansive Beaches of South Walton in Florida's panhandle — the logos and catch lines were created by marketing companies that once had strong ties.

The third community, Gunnison-Crested Butte in Colorado, has a trademark on its version of "pure and simple." Officials there aren't happy with the duplication.

Longview leaders aren't happy, either.

"I feel like we have been derailed here," said Kelly Hall, president of the Longview Partnership. "The company did not disclose that this 'pure and simple' tagline was used with any other community. We would not have chosen it if we'd known."

The partnership, the Longview Economic Development Corp. and the city of Longview paid $90,000 — $30,000 each — to Tennessee-based North Star Destination Strategies, for market research and a unique Longview branding campaign.

The brand, "Longview, East Texas Pure and Simple," was unveiled Thursday. Public response has been critical, particularly over the cost and the use of the word "simple."

Mayor Jay Dean said the city, the partnership and the economic development corporation would meet with lawyers today to determine what to do next.

"If there are copyright issues, we are going to hold North Star accountable," Dean said.

John Stroud, executive director of LEDCO, said he was surprised "and quite frankly disappointed" to learn that other communities have the "pure and simple" tagline, including one that is a registered trademark.

"If that's the case, we're not going to copy somebody else," he said. "What we need to do is do something for us, that embodies the same character that we were looking at."

Stroud said he would have expected the possibility of the "pure and simple" phrase being a registered trademark to have already been checked.

"That would be the responsibility of North Star," he said.

Don McEachern, North Star's chief executive, said he was aware of the similar tagline used in the Beaches of South Walton branding campaign, but believed the two areas and their marketing strategies were so different that it would not present a conflict.

"Pure and simple here (in Longview) is about the character of the people," he said. "Their's (in Florida) is entirely about the pure white sand."

The Beaches of South Walton logo was developed in 2000 by Nashville-based BOHAN Advertising. McEachern and David Bohan, North Star's chairman and co-founder, were executives at BOHAN. Both companies include the South Walton campaign as products on their Web sites.

"We parted with BOHAN two years ago," McEachern said.

McEachern was not familiar with the Gunnison-Crested Butte marketing strategy and said North Star does not routinely check whether a logo has been trademarked before recommending it to a client. The Gunnison-Crested Butte Tourism Association registered the tagline with the U.S. Patent and Trademark office in Alexandria, Va., about a year ago.

Jane Chaney, executive director of the tourism association, said any use of the tagline could be an infringement on her community's trademark.

"The last thing we want to do is to dilute our brand," Chaney said. "We were the ones who trademarked it, and we would like to hang onto our brand identification and not have another 10 or 15 towns using it."

North Star's suggestion of the "pure and simple" tagline for Longview doesn't bother the Florida community that has been using the phrase since 2000, but one tourism leader there says she can see why it would bother Longview.

"I think that when you start off with a new and exciting brand and you find another destination with a similar 'pure and simple,' you probably want to know why," said Kriss Titus, executive director of the Beaches of South Walton Tourist Development Council.

The Beaches of South Walton includes 14 beach communities in Florida.

She also said if Gunnison-Crested Butte is concerned about another city's use of the "pure and simple" phrase, that city should talk to the Florida citrus growers, who she said have been using a tagline "pure and simple" for many years.

Chaney said the problem is that the trademarked phrase is being used to market several destinations. She said marketing a product would be different.

"The whole thing is trademarked, but use of any part of it is not acceptable," she said. "The fact that we are both destinations is not acceptable."

Stroud said Longview should move on and develop what's best for the city. North Star has completed its work, he said, adding that he believes if anything else needs to be done, it could be done locally.

"All of us who were involved in it — there was so much work that went into this," Stroud said. "We felt like it really did talk about our region, that if you put it together, that Longview is just pure and simple.

"We just get the job done. We're hard working. We keep things uncomplicated. That just stood out for us. It showed something about the character of our area. I'm really surprised."

Longview's new logo was introduced last week. The Beaches of South Walton, Fla., logo was developed in 2000. Gunnison-Crested Butte in Colorado trademarked its use of 'pure and simple.'