It’s not often we would say Warren County should pay much attention to Philadelphia.

But when it comes to capitalizing on one’s strengths, creative Philadelphians have done just that with Rockyfest after a phase during which city tourism officials wanted little to do with Rocky. Philadelphia residents had gotten sick of the movie, and the city went so far as to remove the Rocky statue that was synonymous with the film’s titular character.

Why the change?

Rocky sells, and Rocky brings people with money to spend. And the lesson, as Warren Worx consultants work on branding for Warren County, is to steer into the obvious – and then embrace the heck out of it. The outdoors is our calling card. The question we have to answer is how best to capitalize on the outdoors in a way that attracts visitors and those who may want to relocate here.

We’re not saying we’ve ever fought our status as an outdoor recreation destination here in Warren County as Philadelphia did with Rocky a couple of decades ago. At the same time we’re not sure we’ve capitalized on the outdoors to its fullest, either. And that is really the biggest job facing the Warren Worx marketing director and consultant. We have to find the best value for our limited dollars to use our greatest draw to our greatest advantage.

That’s going to mean additional investment and ideas from all of us. Branding alone doesn’t fix anything or attract anyone. We all have to buy in and create vitality around the brand, or else the entire exercise is little more than wasted time and money.