Branding Concerns
Editor:
I would like to comment on the new “branding” campaign for Ocean City. It is impossible for me to disagree with the position of the Ocean City Advertising Agency owner Paul Jankovic in the ongoing dialogue with the mayor. I think the new branding campaign is totally inadequate and inane. The Smiley Face, really?
I can’t believe that the amount of dollars and time spent to rebrand Ocean City didn’t produce something other than the Smiley Face. I have been visiting Ocean City all my life and have been a full-time resident for over 10 years. When I occasionally and infrequently see an ad for Ocean City in various travel and resort publications, they always seem inferior to other ads for similar coastal resorts. I have never felt that Ocean City has marketed itself to the level it deserves.
I actually was involved in a variety of ways in marketing and branding in my professional career. Sometimes one assumes everyone has the same knowledge of an area that you do. It is mission of a branding campaign to promote and educate people who do not have that knowledge. It is hindsight now, but I wish the city had simply used the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) principle before embarking on this expensive branding campaign. So let’s try this:
Ocean City, Maryland
— World class 10 mile beach — longest on the East Coast
— Three-mile long Boardwalk full of restaurants, amusements, hotels and lounges
— 25 spectacular golf courses within 20 miles
— Hundreds of condo and hotel rooms have views of the sunrise and sunset
— Two hours from BWI International Airport and Washington National Airport
— White Marlin Capital of the World and home to the White Marlin Tournament, the richest billfish tournament in the world. Endless number of deep sea fishing boats
— 10 miles from Assateague National Seashore — wild ponies, pristine beach and miles of beach open for four-wheel drive exploring
— Ever had a crab cake? We have the world’s best crab cakes and dozens of restaurants of all cuisines
— Show photos of the five sculptures up and down Coastal Highway starting with white marlin by the bridge and dolphins by Route 90 which should have signs welcoming you to Ocean City
I’m sure residents and visitors could add to the list. It’s really not that complicated.
Eric Waterman
Ocean City
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Impressed By Dialogue
Editor:
When learning of the new smiley face logo that BVK created for the town, I was not sure how I felt. Was it silly and passé or catchy and cool? I was not sure. In my mind the jury was still out.
I then read the letter to the editor written by Mr. Paul Jankovic of Ocean City Advertising Agency in the Nov. 11 edition of The Dispatch. Mr. Jankovic was a brutal critic of the new logo. He found not one redeeming quality of the smiley face and berated the town for spending money foolishly and accused them of having been duped by the folks at BVK.
In the following week’s edition (Nov. 19) the mayor penned a rather eloquent and rational response to Mr. Jankovic’s harsh opinion. The mayor laid out many valid points and made a compelling case as for why the smiley face logo would be a success. Mayor Meehan was so successful in stating his case that Mr. Jankovic responded in a follow up letter in the Nov. 25 edition giving the mayor credit for this new logo and stating that he just may have been incorrect in his initial assessment.
While it is way too early to tell if the logo will be a success, failure or a nonfactor, the real winner in the open discussion has been civility and dialogue. Amazing things can happen when people actually discuss things. Having the ability to admit that maybe he was incorrect in his initial opinion is a lost art. Mr. Jankovic not only did this but did so in an open forum which almost never happens these days.
I want to thank The Dispatch for allowing such a free flow of information. It is awesome when dialogue can sway people’s opinions through passion and experience. While we will not know for some time if the logo is a success, we do know that thanks to people like Paul Jankovic and Mayor Meehan and the valuable The Dispatch, Ocean City will always be a winner.
Scott Chismar
Ocean City
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Festival Support Appreciated
Editor:
On behalf of the Ocean City Development Corporation, I would like to thank the many businesses and individuals that made our 8th annual craft beer festival held on October 29th at Sunset Park in downtown Ocean City such a big success. At least 1,500 attendees enjoyed this event which continues to get more popular each year. Hotel packages sold for this festival doubled over last year. This success includes our event partners, ShoreCraftBeer.com and the Town of Ocean City, 20 breweries with their seasonal craft beers, Eastern Shore Distributing, Carey Distributors, Backup Beverage, The Other One Brewing, Malibu Beach Eats and Get Baked food trucks, Sessa’s Vending, Dough Roller, retail vendors, FireKite band, and our many volunteers.
Thanks to Worcester County and the Town of Ocean City that sponsored the commemorative metal pint glasses for this event. The Monte Carlo Hotel Group, Bank of Delmarva, and Kite Loft were also event sponsors. We wish to provide a special thanks to the adjacent project owner, Christos Sarantis and Wilde Daug’s On Lost Lady Beach, who allowed this year’s festival to use their waterfront property. In addition to this event that brings many people to the downtown area, it is also a fundraiser for our nonprofit organization. We look forward to seeing everyone next October for our ninth annual craft beer fest in October 2023.
Glenn Irwin
(The writer is the executive director of OCDC.)
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Incompetence Cited
Editor:
Yeah, I’m going to be outspoken one and say this. The same people who think Ocean City is the greatest is the same people that are profiting and destroying the once safest resort of Maryland.
You cannot have a title of All American city when you have criminals robbing and beating innocent people up in on season or off season, especially when the Baltimore criminals reach its doorstep,
Campaign message is very simple. Residents and businesses that read this. To all the residents of Ocean City, what do you have to lose if you voted for an outsider?
My answer is this. The residents and businesses have everything to gain voting for a younger, brighter and healthier mayor that can take Ocean City by the horns. Plus, to make sure everyone who breaks the law under my watch will feel the bull seeing red.
Fresher ideas, younger Ideas, safety measures, be outspoken about any decisions made by the City Council, take Ocean City from 1978 to 2022 and beyond. Work with local communities and event planners. But first, making sure that criminals don’t come to my town and hurt anyone.
Making Ocean City safe and secure again. Working with the police, attorneys and whoever I need to make criminals pay for every crime they commit. I would protect families and residents once again without using tons of taxpayer funds.
It’s very clear that the current administration of Ocean City is not doing a very good job on keeping the locked and sealed illusion that Ocean City is a safe place.
Residents of Ocean City, how many more people have to get hurt or potentially be brutally attacked before you realize that the illusion you are being shown and told is false? That this illusion of statistics is nothing more but a devil playing God given the apple away lullaby. A band-aid on a surgical wound? A volcano looking overlooking Pompeii? How many more law enforcement officers and their families have to suffer because of your ignorance and incompetence?
DT Hagan
Chincoteague
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Thanksgiving Help Provided
Editor:
I want to thank the community of Ocean City for their continued support of Thanksgiving Dinner at Ocean City Baptist Church. For the last 43 years, Ocean City Baptist Church has hosted and served a free dinner on Thanksgiving day. Every year I am amazed to see the community come together to make sure that nobody is hungry or alone on Thanksgiving Day. This year Ocean City Elks Lodge 2645 and Humphreys Foundation made sure that we had enough donations to buy all the food and paper goods to support this ministry.
Also, there were over 100 volunteers from in the Ocean City community that came to help set-up, serve, cook, clean up, bus tables, deliver meals, and do whatever it took to make sure that everyone was happy and fed. In a world that seems so divided on every issue, it was an amazing thing to experience.
This year we served 452 meals to those who came in or carried out. In addition, we delivered 215 meals to our amazing first responders who were working on Thanksgiving as well as shut-ins and a few businesses that were opened on Thanksgiving. Making the total number of meals served 677! These meals consisted of turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, corn, cranberry sauce, sauerkraut (for those who asked) and a piece of apple or pumpkin pie. I want to give a special thank you to Paul deHuarte and Melanie Corbin (members of Ocean City Baptist Church) for their hard work in making sure everything went smoothly.
Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday where we count our blessings, and this meal reminds me every year of the blessing it is to live in Ocean City. It truly is an amazing city full of great people who love God and love one another. I am thankful to live in such an amazing place.
God Bless.
Pastor Sean Davis
Ocean City Baptist Church