The Lone Star Identity – Part 2
December 27th, 2005
Back in September, I wrote about the identity Texas has created over several decades and the pride that goes along with it. Well, I’m back from the homeland (Dallas) where I visited family for Christmas. And even though I was born and raised in that state, I’m still amazed at the Texas pride that can engulf a person there - even a visting native.
Just riding along with my sister to get my yearly (which is not nearly enough) Tex-Mex fix, I couldn’t keep up with the number of billboards that tried to tie their particular product to Texas. There were ads for Texas special edition trucks. Texas beer. And Texas-sized thinking in general. These are things that I wasn’t used to seeing after being away for a year. And it was like a Lone Star bomb had exploded all over the metroplex.
As I stated before, a great identity creates great passion – both love and hate. And crafted the right way, other identities will try and associate themselves with it with that “me, too” messaging. When you have other companies saying, “We want to be the Google of this,” or “we have to become the BMW of that,” or even, “we need a ‘Don’t Mess With Texas’ kind of message,” it’s a sure-fire way of knowing that you’re getting people’s attention and setting a new standard.
Other posts by Spike.
TxWriter says:
Here’s another instance of the Texas Identity: Drive down a street or road in any other state and count the number of state flags flying. Oh, yeah, you’ll find them in front of state office buildings. But in Texas, you’re liable to drive down a gravel country road and find a little house proudly flying the Texas flag in front.
February 22nd, 2007 at 11:07 am