How Does Lagoon's Branding Resonate?
So, as I’m sure you saw in my first video, I’ve been needing out big time over Lagoon’s latest branding. But before I get too deep into this, I’m going to warn you that I’m not a graphic designer nor am I “branding” specialist. I’m a writer and a brand storyteller. All of that to say that there’s something with Lagoon’s branding that’s resonating with me and I want to share that with you.
First, what is Lagoon? Lagoon is an amusement park in Farmington, Utah, just 20 minutes north of Salt Lake City. It opened in 1886(!), even before Utah gained statehood. It, according to Wikipedia, included "bowling, a shady bowery and good restaurants.” Lagoon also became legendary locally for being a concert venue in the 60s which had The Doors, Jimi Hendrix and The Beach Boys (FORESHADOWING) grace its stage. Now, it’s home to some of the world’s most renowned roller coasters and awesome summertime fun.
I want to give a little background to you about my relationship with Lagoon. I first saw Lagoon when I moved to Utah when I was 9 years old. Granted I was afraid of everything back then and never had been on a rollercoaster. I finally went in junior high and high school during what we had called “Lagoon Days”, which was basically an excuse to ride rollercoasters and flirt with the people you had crushes on all day.
Since I’m not much a thrill seeker or being out in the summer heat, I never had an excuse to go to Lagoon until I became a dad. I got season passes for the family a couple of years ago and now my family is hooked, even to the point that my wife worked for them for three weeks. She got paid alongside getting free passes for the family. She came home with a map of the park with it’s 60s inspired font. I had seen a billboard with the branding prior to this but it didn't hit me until I saw this.
It reminded me of two things. First, it reminded me of old-school Garfield collection books. Second, and probably the most important, was the cover The Beach Boys classic album Pet Sounds. Don't you see the similarities?
Now there’s something special about The Beach Boys comparison. The first, is obviously the history between Lagoon being their Utah venue of choice in the 60s but even The Beach Boys had a love affair with Salt Lake City:
"There's a park near the city, yeah All the kids dig the Lagoon now It's full of all kinds of girls And rides and we'll be flyin' there soon now And girl for girl They've got the cutest of the Western states They got the sun in the summer And winter time the skiing is great yeah Salt Lake City we'll be coming soon."
And second, what does the lay person know about The Beach Boys?
Summertime.
Fun.
Surfing.
Teenage love.
Other than surfing (thanks landlocked Utah), these are the things that resonate with the Lagoon experience if you’ve ever been to Lagoon, especially as a teenager who's finally allowed to go Lagoon alone with his friends without the supervision of their parents (truly a rite of passage for a Utah kid).
Another thing that Lagoon’s branding evokes is a heritage. As I said before, Lagoon’s been around since 1886. I may be only 33 years old, but I know Lagoon hit its stride as a go-to place to discover your youth in the late 60s.
I went there for the first time this year literally the second my wife left her last shift. She had our passes in hand and when I went in, I’d take a bet that nothing's changed since the 60s and from when I went for my junior high Lagoon Day; girls and boys flirting on the Sky Ride, kids running to the next ride and families having a great time.
So why do we make the emotional connections that we do when we see marketing? I’ll get into that tomorrow when I get really, really nerdy about how people make the connections that they do.
If you have any questions or comments or you just really want to nerd out about Pet Sounds with me, or need an opinion of an experienced brand storyteller and content-creator for your brand, leave a comment or fill out the form and we can talk about your brand storytelling needs.
Regards,
Matthew Nanes
