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P/SUNNY Temp: 62 °F Wind: NW at 4 mph Monday, August 5, 2002 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Cyberchef E The People Golf Job Network Headbone Zone Wellness Connection Movie Times Newspaper in Education Oregon CarZone Outdoor Journal Personals Prime Times Real Estate Tempo A & E TV Times W3 Magazine CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Destinations Automotive Communities Employment Entertainment Publications Real Estate Recreation Shopping Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Jobs @ Mail Tribune Email Story to a Friend July 15, 2002 Celestial beings, cowboys and carousels are just a few of the images used in slogans for the Jackson County Fair over the years. Fair Director Chris Borovansky says the best slogans create an identity and translate well into marketing. Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli What’s in a name? Planners put a great deal of thought into picking the right slogan for the fair By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune There was "Fairmania," "As Hot As It Gets" and "Fair to Remember." "Make A Splash" made good waves when it was the Jackson County Fair’s slogan, as did "Carousel of Dreams" during its 1990 go-around. But who could forget the down-home groans over "It’s A Great Big Ol’ Fair." Chris Borovansky wishes he could. "I don’t know what we were thinking when we did that one," says Borovansky, the fair’s director. "It bombed." At least it’s not county fair clich�s like "Poultry In Motion" or "The Days of Swine and Roses." Picking the right slogan for the Jackson County Fair is not exact science and the results don’t always make a splash, but fair managers spend a great big ol’ amount of time and brain- power picking the fair’s annual catch-phrase. This year’s slogan, "Reach For the Stars," is the product of immense head-scratching and planning to ensure that a few cute words can resonate into a good fair’s theme. After all, the slogan anchors the $60,000 marketing campaign aimed at luring 160,000 people to the fair, which opens Tuesday. "We want our slogans to create an identity and be integrated into our marketing campaign," Borovansky says. "So it’s a couple months’ process from first inception to actually having a slogan." And it’s not good enough to recycle past winners or even buy licensed rhymes involving cows and horses as some fairs do. This is a build-your-own county. "We’re all good thieves, and we’re not above that," Borovansky says. "But we try to be original thinkers. We try to go for something that’s a little more topical." The process starts in January, when Borovansky, some of his staff and members of the Maentz Agency, the fair’s publicists, brainstorm ideas for slogans and possible logo designs that foster a theme for that year’s fair. A few of those slogans are then presented to the Jackson County Fair Board, which kicks them around before choosing one. "Sometimes they don’t have the right ring to them when you first hear it," says Ron Anderson, a Fair Board member. "But then they catch on." For instance, 1992’s "Cowabunga! It’s the Fair" might sound quite hokey a decade later, but it was a good fit for that fair, Borovansky says. "We had a lot of cow themes and beach stuff," he says. "And Jan and Dean were there. It worked better then than now." A slogan won’t please everyone. Borovansky liked "Make A Splash," which was built around a jumping frog. But when the TV commercials showed the frog apparently jumping across what seemed to be a busy highway to get to the fair, Borovansky received some hate-mail he still keeps. This year’s slogan came as a mix of post-Sept. 11 patriotism as well as a venue for advertising what Borovansky sees as the highlight of this year’s fair — the musical lineup of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Tracy Byrd, Pat Benatar, the Neville Brothers and Styx. The ad campaign shows a young girl saying the "Star Light, Star Bright" bedtime rhyme while grasping a star from the sky. "It’s a little patriotic, but not pandering to jingoism, and it translates well into our TV ads," Borovansky says. "I really like it a lot." Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright 1997-2002 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy web master feedback A D V E R T I S E R S