Stuffy, preppy, sleepy: Can a rebrand restore Connecticut’s reputation?

What comes to mind when you think of Connecticut?

Preppy? Rich? Conceited? Old? A pit stop between New York and Massachusetts?

Gov. Ned Lamont, a second-term Democrat, wouldn’t be surprised. ‘Sleepy, suburb. Not very diverse,” he suggested in an interview at his Statehouse office.

“Let’s face it,” he continued, “our perception, our lifestyle was considered a bit outdated.”

He would like to change that.

Governor Lamont, who once publicly urged residents to stop “slanderConnecticut has begun a state rebranding campaign:Make it here,” a $1.8 million advertising blitz portrays Connecticut as creative and diverse. It joins “Find Your Vibe,” a $3 million tourism effort.

The twin campaigns are an attempt to make Connecticut feel like it is somewhere, and not just an amorphous American. Officials want to refresh the state’s identity and boost state pride, hoping to entice people to buy homes, raise children and build businesses there.

“My job is to not only give people something to crow about, but it also gives them something to be proud of,” said Anthony Anthony, the state’s chief marketing officer.

“Make it here” celebrates the state’s high-tech production: spacesuits, helicopters, submarines. And it shows the fun side of Connecticut: pizza, basketball.

The ads also frame the state as livable. There are walkable cities, good schools and good jobs. (And also cities that are a short distance from good jobs in New York City or Boston.)

But forging a new identity can be a challenge.

In a recent study by the governor’s officeonly 50 percent of Connecticut residents said they were proud of the state — even though 73 percent of them said it was a good place to live.

And there’s no obvious thing to sell in Connecticut. The state is not known as the center of any major industry. It has no major cities. The largest airport, Bradleyhas only two direct international flights: Toronto and Dublin.

One thing Connecticut does have to offer is the WNBAs Connecticut Sun. Jennifer Rizzotti, the team president, says her challenge is much like the state’s: retaining loyalists while attracting younger fans.

She says she also needs to sell Connecticut to some young players who might want “a sexy, big city environment.” She notes the state’s natural beauty, quality of life and proximity to major cities. “It’s definitely underrated, for what we have to offer,” she said.

Residents don’t even know what to call themselves. Are they “Connecticutians”? “Connecticuts”? “Connecticuters”?

“We had no identity,” said Mr. Anthony, who cooperated Cronin, an advertising agency, about the new campaigns. “There is nothing that unites people.”

Other cities and states are also changing brands, trying to compete for tourists, businesses and talent.

San Francisco, battling its image of crime and decay, recently unveiled “It All Starts Here.” Flood-ravaged Vermont tried to attract tourists with ‘Very Much Open’. Michigan spends at least $20 million on “That’s possible in Michigan”, to try to attract employees.

Does it make a difference?

“It would certainly be easy enough to dismiss attempts to label statehood as a frivolous exercise,” says Connecticut state historian Andy Horowitz.

“But ultimately,” continued Dr. Horowitz, “it’s part of an ongoing conversation about who we are and who we want to be.”

Still, reputations die hard. And the state’s previous branding was, frankly, confusing.

The reasons behind Connecticut’s official nickname, “The Nutmeg State,” are unknown to most residents, few of whom call themselves “Nutmeggers” with a straight face. (Dr. Horowitz said the nickname probably refers to a duplicitous scheme to sell wooden nutmeg and was intended as an example of Yankee cunning.)

The motto ‘The Constitution State’ is also baffling. It doesn’t reference the US Constitution – it’s a nod to a document adopted in 1639 by leaders of the Connecticut colony.

Even “Still Revolutionary,” the now-defunct brand campaign that debuted in 2012, touted a runner-up finish: Connecticut’s claims to revolutionary fame are overshadowed by places like Massachusetts. (One of the country’s most famous villains is Connecticut native Benedict Arnold, whose name is synonymous with treason.)

Jimmy Robinson, 24, a social media influencer who promotes the state in videosacknowledges the challenges: “I can’t think of a Connecticut personality at all.”

Among the celebrities who could call Connecticut their home state – actors Meg Ryan, Katherine Heigl, Chloë Sevigny and Paul Giamatti; the musicians Michael Bolton and John Mayer; former President George W. Bush – almost no one agreed with an interview about its atmosphere.

Not even Peter Salovey, the president of Yale, or Dan Hurley, the coach of the University of Connecticut men’s basketball team, took time to say anything.

Only Jacques Pépin – the 87-year-old French chef who has lived in Madison, Conn. for more than 50 years. lives – took on the challenge while stuck in traffic heading south on Interstate 95. He is, it turns out, a fan of “Find Your Vibe.”

“I like that new motto better than the old one,” he said, adding: “It better suits young people who now want to live their own lives and choose their own way of life.”