Santa Ana, the most populous city in Orange County, has an identity problem, and the Chamber of Commerce wants to do something about it.
It is one of the safest cities of its size in the country, but chamber officials say it is stereotyped as plagued by gangs and crime. And with a population that is 76% Latino, Santa Ana is viewed as a place where English is a foreign language and assimilation is discouraged, the chamber said.
To counter those perceptions, the city and chamber hired the Santa Ana-based DGWB marketing group to "brand" the city with a new image. Its "Education First" slogan will give way to a new tagline in 2003: "Santa Ana. The Spirit of Change."
The idea is to attract more visitors to Santa Ana and to encourage professional firms from throughout Southern California to relocate downtown.
Chamber officials acknowledged that many in Orange County view Santa Ana as a Latino city with, perhaps, good Mexican restaurants but little else to offer non-Latinos.
Downtown 4th Street, also known as Fiesta Village, is lined with businesses that cater to Latino shoppers. As part of "The Spirit of Change," the chamber plans to bring stores to the area that will appeal to a more diverse group of consumers.
Although the marketing of the new and changing Santa Ana is more than a year away, people are already taking issue with the concept. And the song used in a video promotion might perpetuate the stereotype of Santa Ana as a violent city rather than quell it.
DGWB has promoted the branding with a brief-but-hip video. The hitch: The background music might send a subliminal message that Santa Ana is a place of unrest, alienation, paranoia and distrust of police.
DGWB partners Jon Gothold and Mike Weisman chose the 1967 protest song "For What It's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield as the score for the video. As Santa Ana's best attributes begin appearing on the screen, the protest anthem's lyrics call different images to mind:
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"There's something happening here,
What it is ain't exactly clear.
There's a man with a gun over there,
Tellin' me I gotta beware.
I think it's time we stop,
Hey, what's that sound,
Everybody, look what's going down."
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"It's used to say that there's something going on. Stop. There was change in the air in Santa Ana," Gothold said. "None of the focus groups we showed it to picked up on the other message" of uncertainty.
