Board chair Rep. Betsy Johnson called the meeting to order at 9:00 am. Brand Oregon advisory board members, staff and public visitors took turns introducing themselves. Board members present included: Barry Bushue, Orcilia Forbes, Rick Gustafson, Chip Jenkins, Betsy Johnson, Randy Miller, Cory Schreiber, Scott Shull, Betty Tamm, Mike Wilskey and Carol York. Staff members present included Debby Kennedy and Julie Curtis, Brand Oregon; and Marty Brantley, Ron Fox and Joshua Ingle, OECDD. Public visitors present included Roger Collier, Scott Hayes, Krista Hildebrand, Jan Jackson and Tim McCabe.

Approval of Meeting Minutes
The April 16, 2004, meeting minutes were approved unanimously.

Remarks from Marty Brantley, Director, Oregon Economic & Community Development Department (OECDD)
Marty Brantley presented remarks on behalf of OECDD, as well as answered questions from advisory board members. To begin, he thanked the advisory board members for their good work. He reiterated the need for Oregon branding, that is Oregonians telling their story to outsiders, in order to build Oregonians' confidence in themselves and their state.

Marty went on to discuss the financial issues related to Brand Oregon. He brought up OECDD's plans to include a Brand Oregon line item into its 2005-2007 agency budget. The proposed line item would be earmarked to fund branding efforts, and while no exact figures are available, the amount would still be modest compared to what other states spend for branding. For example, Nevada spent $550,000 for one billboard campaign in California. Brand Oregon's total budget for the 2003-2005 biennium is less than that ($450,000).

Randy Miller asked Marty if OECDD was making an effort to build relationships between Brand Oregon and Oregon businesses. Marty answered that OECDD-led efforts are underway, but they are not moving as swiftly as imagined. However, there are several regional branding efforts in progress that involve businesses, regions and local governments. Randy said that he would like to see progress reports on the OECDD-led efforts that Marty discussed. Randy also voiced concerns that there is a need for officials to respect regional boundaries as well as to avoid overlap, duplication and inconsistencies in the local/regional branding efforts.

Betsy commented that the Oregon Tourism Commission needs to 1) be able to answer business relocation inquiries if/when they receive them; and 2) link to OECDD's business development website. She then asked Ron Fox of OECDD to generate a report on the idea of providing business development materials to the Tourism Commission's fulfillment house. Julie Curtis suggested that Tourism Commission staff engage in business development cross-training, an idea that Betsy strongly supported.

The board then discussed strategies for the upcoming legislative session. Betsy asked Marty how the Brand Oregon Advisory Board can effectively influence the legislature to approve Brand Oregon's line item in OECDD's 2005-07 budget ($2 million for promotion, plus administrative costs). Marty replied that the budget needs all the support that the advisory board can provide. Members should take the initiative to individually advocate for its passage. In doing so they should emphasize to lawmakers both the concept of branding as well as its ability to generate additional business growth and tax revenue. Betsy commented that the advisory board's members need to coordinate their legislative advocacy in order for it to be effective. Marty said that members can coordinate their efforts through Julie and Debby. Betty Tamm said that it was important for board members to learn who their lawmakers are.

Betsy said that the line item will go to the Economic Development Subcommittee in the legislature for consideration. Marty then mentioned that the advisory board will meet twice more before the legislature convenes in January, 2005. The first will be in October and the second in December. Betsy said that in the meantime, and especially at the December meeting, the board should consider strategies for advocating for the budget's passage. We also should develop a 'Plan B' just in case. Marty added that the line item will be in the Governor's Requested Budget, which is good, but that OECDD will have to lobby heavily for its passage. Betty commented that a good plan of attack would be to emphasize to the legislature the value of leveraging funds. Marty answered that it is true that Brand Oregon has generated $10 for every $1 in state funds spent. However, it's imperative that the legislature comes to value the overall concept of branding first. Audience member Roger Collier mentioned that the advisory board should consider lobbying private businesses to donate a portion of their profits to support branding efforts.

Dr. Orcillia Forbes asked Marty how much money was in Brand Oregon's 2003-2005 budget. Marty deferred to Julie Curtis, who answered $450,000. Betsy said that she would like Marty to attend the advisory board's December 8 meeting, as the Tourism Commission also will be there. Betty asked Marty if local economic development organizations are receiving Brand Oregon's message. Marty said that it was a work in progress, and that the relationship with each group is unique. Betsy then asked Julie and Debby to work with the Oregon Economic Development Association (OEDA) and regional development associations to forge common connections in the private sector. Ron Fox said that while private sector advertising funding is currently small, the advisory board can work to increase these efforts.

Staff Report from Debby Kennedy
Debby provided an update on the seafood campaign. She said that the Wild Albacore Tuna effort had been recently launched, and proceeded to report the measurable successes that the Oregon Wild Seafood campaign has achieved. Salmon, shrimp and tuna prices are all up significantly this year compared to 2003. Debby explained the efforts of many Oregon restaurants and grocery stores to specifically market Oregon Wild Seafood.

Randy Miller asked if the price increases have been coming from demand by out-of-state customers. Debby responded that it is Oregonians who are discovering Oregon seafood because of the 'Oregon Wild' campaign, and are in turn becoming ambassadors for Oregon products. Scott Shull commented that North Willamette Valley Winegrowers are now learning about Brand Oregon and the connections it makes between commodity commissions that are not usually thought of as being related. He asked Debby how markets and restaurants are learning of the Oregon Wild campaign. Debby answered that Brand Oregon took pains to ensure that restaurants got the message, through advertisements, educational efforts and cross-promotion. Cory Schreiber asked if halibut, although not an Oregon Wild Seafood item, has also seen price increases. Debby answered that the seafood trade publications have been writing about the positive effect Brand Oregon has had in stimulating prices for Oregon seafood across the board.

Second, Debby touched on her recent meetings with Oregon commodity commissions, as well as the Tourism Commission. Tourism is providing part of its fall 2004 campaign for a 'Fall Bounty' campaign, which will emphasize Oregon cheese, pears, hazelnuts and wine. It will feature radio and newspaper advertisements in media markets from Seattle to San Francisco. Contributions from Oregon state commodity commissions also help fund the campaign, as well as funds from the Brand Oregon budget. Debby noted that in all Oregon regions, wineries are signing on for the Fall Bounty campaign. Carol York then suggested that point-of-purchase materials would be very useful for this effort. Betsy recommended that all Brand Oregon wine promotions feature a 'don't drink and drive' reminder. Debby mentioned that Julie Curtis has a contact at Associated Oregon Industries, who offered the Governor's motor-home to Brand Oregon for use in its fall campaign, and that it will be covered with Fall Bounty-themed graphics.

Betsy asked if Brand Oregon should be on the agenda for the December 6 meeting of the Oregon Business Plan, and Debby responded that we definitely have at least a workshop, and that she would be meeting with the business council to further develop the Brand Oregon program for the summit. Debby then presented a mockup of the business recruitment advertisement featuring Governor Kulongoski that will appear in the fall-winter edition of Travel Oregon, published by the Tourism Commission. Brand Oregon and OEDA also are currently working to match $150,000 in funds from OECDD to launch the business recruitment ad campaign this fall.

Staff Report from Julie Curtis
Julie Curtis showed a PowerPoint presentation that featured state-produced collateral material using Brand Oregon graphic standards. The presentation included several tourism ads such as the Oregon Escape, the Oregon Vintner and the Oregon Thespian. Julie also showed a new OECDD ad, and material developed by OEDA for business recruitment. She showed the Oregon4biz.com and Oregonprospector.com websites which are being managed internally by OECDD. Betsy asked how the Prospector site was doing, and Tim McCabe of OEDA said very well, with 17,000 hits on its first day, and is averaging 500 hits per day now. The presentation then showed samples of the Tourism Commission's fall guide and SAIF's August magazine which both use Brand Oregon style guidelines. Julie also discussed the State Fair's tie-in to "dreamers" in each of their program areas, and the Oregon Department of Aviation's newsletter featuring aviation 'dreamers.' In conclusion were slides of state agency websites, all done in the Brand Oregon format, and the 'My Oregon Story' website.

Oregon Natural Resource Council Update
Debby said that at this time, there is no change in status. The council and Brand Oregon have exchanged correspondence three times. Brand Oregon maintains that 'Oregon Wild' is used purely for marketing purposes, while the council's use of 'Oregon Wild' is educational and fundraising related. The Brand Oregon Advisory Board unanimously voted to maintain its current stance regarding the use of 'Oregon Wild.'

Brand Plan Presentation—Mike Wilskey
Mike Wilskey presented the Brand Plan, which is currently a work in progress. A finished product will be made available soon, definitely in time for the December 6 Oregon Business Summit.

The draft Mission Statement is as follows: "To build Oregon's economic health by applying unified branding practices to our products, people and places."

The plan will drive partnership development, marketing messages and communication strategies. The three Brand Values are: Visionary, Genuine, Stewardship

The Brand Drivers are (at least at first): Tourism, Agricultural Products, Sustainable Forestry and a few key "cluster" industries (Biomedical, outdoor Apparel, Creative and Professional Services).

The above "drivers" elevate the brand by communicating differentiation and core values—i.e., what differentiates Oregon from other places.

The selection criteria for the drivers were that they be commodities, especially on a larger scale. However, the criteria were not meant to exclude businesses that already promote or preclude smaller, local promotional campaigns. There then followed a discussion about 'sustainable' versus 'stewardship' and the connotations of each word. Barry Bushue and Carol York agreed that 'stewardship' would be a better term. Debby suggested that 'responsible' may be better, as it communicates the values of stewardship without any negative connotations. Barry replied that maybe a good way to explain 'stewardship' is when a dreamer takes responsibility for what they have. Chip Jenkins commented that 'stewardship' is a good term since it also connotes applied idealism. Carol thanked Mike and the subcommittee for their work on the Brand Plan, and said that Brand Oregon should publicize in-kind donations of time such as Mike and the subcommittee have provided, as they significantly leverage the budget. Julie commented that Australia recently went through a branding process and paid in excess of $650,000 for their basic brand document.

Next Meetings
Julie said that there are two more Brand Oregon meetings in 2004. The first will be October 10 and 11 in Bend, at the Inn of the Seventh Mountain. Overnight rates there have been reduced to the state per diem rate for Brand Oregon advisory board members. The second is December 8 in Portland. This comes the day after an Oregon Tourism Commission planning retreat. The Brand Oregon advisory board will meet from 9:30 to 12:00, at which time Brand Oregon and Tourism will have a joint lunch meeting.

Adjournment
With no additional business, the meeting was adjourned at 11:30 am.

Respectfully Submitted,
Joshua Ingle
Communications Assistant, OECDD