Last week, the MAGIC Fund Screening Committee supported investing in a consultant to recommend a unified marketing strategy for the city and a handful of organizations.

The organizations include Visit Minot, Minot Area Chamber of Commerce and Minot Area Development Corp.

If enacted by the Minot City Council, it might include other entitities in town that are marketing themself privately.

Hopefully. If not, it is a waste of taxpayer money.

Minot needs a unified branding message. Too many disparate messages today are being broadcast now – way too many – and the result is… what?

If travel, tourism and municipal authorities agreed, wouldn’t that be better? One message, one brand … would that not be advantageous? To all of us?

Until… another consultant to advise Minot institutions on how to better market? With, you know, no influence over private industry.

The issue isn’t the intent. Good idea. Even a great idea. But getting all stakeholders to unify?

That’s the real challenge.

Let’s see how the investment works out.