Some Ridgefield leaders have interest in "branding" the town. At a recent town board meeting, First Selectman Rudy Marconi, with the backing of some local business owners, urged the board to dedicate $40,000 to the initial branding campaign.

According to CT Post, the plan is being held off for a later vote, as the board was not ready to just pull the trigger on that amount of money. If they do ultimately agree, the $40,000 would be part one of an $80,000 investment by the town. That $80,000 would match the $80k already raised for the initiative by local business owner Wayne Addessi. The brand will be called "inRidgefield."

I like Ridgefield and I always have. Anyone who listens knows I've seen tons of shows at the Ridgefield Playhouse, hosted a few there and been a small part of others. The Playhouse is no doubt, a local treasure. The town of has a ton of great locally owned small businesses. Last time I was there, I saw the ACT of Connecticut Theater for the first time -- another beautiful, small theater. Ridgefield is unquestionably, a nice place to live.

What is the point of a branding campaign for a town of this kind? Are they going to start a Ridgefield clothing line? Polo already exists. Are they going to have their own Vodka?  Is Ridgefield going to do reality shows and music videos? Is it to increase tourism?

Or is the point to spend a lot of money to distract from the Town's most recent reputation? Is this an expensive effort to distract from people from the baseball fire scandal? You know, the one where someone accidentally set the local baseball field ablaze followed by a cover up that continues today.

While $160,000 is a drop in the bucket for a town this wealthy, it seems like a waste. The reputation of Ridgefield is what it is. It's beautiful, safe, good schools, expensive and is a town that knows how to keep a secret.

But hey, maybe I am wrong. Maybe the "branding" of Ridgefield is necessary. Maybe the town will ultimately benefit from marketing itself. First Selectman Rudy Marconi had this to say about the proposed effort:

I don’t want to wake up some day and say, ‘What the hell happened? We had a great thing going. How did we lose it?’

I don't hate that quote. Why sit on your biscuit never having to risk it? How does one become the best and stay the best? You never stop pushing yourself to improve. That's what I always say. So, it's possible it will just be a giant ad campaign for what the town does right. It will remind people that Ridgefield is a great place to live and spend money.

How else could a branding campaign benefit the Town of Ridgefield? If they get enough likes, clicks and shares they could:

  • Start a monetized Youtube channel and give that Logan Paul a run for his money.
  • Kick off a super-profitable homemade jewelry business.
  • Land a record deal.

In the process of writing this, I changed my own mind. This is a great idea -- a slam dunk for sure. Ridgefield is going to be so hot on "Insta," that everyone is going to be sliding into their "DMs" face first.

Obligatory and fake "inRidgefield" slogans:

  • "inRidgefield, what fire?"
  • "inRidgefiled, all this money and we still have to drive 20 minutes to the lake."
  • "inRidgefield, James Woods was here once."

Ridgefield is now Tom Haverford

 

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