Tukwila, Des Moines, and SeaTac rebrand as ‘Seattle Southside’
Jul 25, 2019, 5:50 AM | Updated: Oct 1, 2024, 11:45 am
Tukwila sign. (Sounder Bruce)
(Sounder Bruce)
If you live in Tukwila, Des Moines, or SeaTac, you may not be aware that you actually live in Seattle Southside. The three cities joined forces in the past few years and rebranded as Seattle Southside in order to promote the community as an attractive place to live and work.
The rebrand began years ago after a successful “Think Tukwila” branding campaign, whereupon SeaTac created an agreement with Tukwila to promote the two cities as Seattle Southside, according to the promotional site. Des Moines joined the party in 2006, and in 2015 the Seattle Southside Regional Tourism Authority was born.
A promotional ad states their case.
“Visiting Seattle? Get more out of your Seattle vacation in Seattle Southside. Kick back and have fun. Come stay and play in Seattle’s backyard.”
Snohomish County rebranding as ‘Seattle NorthCountry’ to attract visitors
Areas outside Seattle, using Seattle’s name as part of a rebranded marketing campaign, appears to be a pattern. Recently, Snohomish County rebranded itself as “Seattle NorthCountry” in order to capitalize on their proximity to Seattle with its national tourist appeal. The campaign is aimed at people looking to vacation in Seattle, emphasizing the outdoor recreation, cheaper hotel stays, and local culture, all just a little north of Seattle, as they present it.
Seattle Southside hopes to do the same. They promise everything from cheaper hotel stays to “indoor skydiving in the winter to beachcombing in the summer.”
Vacant 25-acre piece of land may become a new Seattle neighborhood
“I live in the south side and there’s plenty good stuff about the south side,” said KIRO Radio’s Todd Herman. “But I don’t think the rebrand is going to quite deliver what they think it’s going to. I don’t think it’s going to rub off that way.”
Now that regions north and south of Seattle have rebranded by highlighting their proximity to the Emerald City, it remains to be seen whether regions to the east and west follow suit.
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