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Branding Arkansas Came Naturally for CJRWLock Icon

2 min read

It’s emblazoned on everything from pencils to pillows, jigsaw puzzles to hot-air balloons. It’s stamped into Arkansas license plates and enshrined as the state’s official nickname.

Not to mention this: “Arkansas: The Natural State” is an infinitely better come-on for visitors than “The Bear State.”

Above all, though, it is an unusually enduring tourism brand, shaping the state’s image in marketing messages for 36 years.

So who came up with the slogan?

“Shelby, I think,” says Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism Executive Director Kane Webb, referring to longtime marketing executive Shelby Woods.

Not so fast, says the state’s tourism director, Joe David Rice: “I’d bet a considerable amount of money that it was Jim Johnson.”

Woods himself credits “the agency” (Little Rock’s CJRW and its predecessors) and ultimately the Parks & Tourism agency for recognizing a great slogan and sticking with it.

The trademark phrase actually evolved from an earlier incarnation, “Arkansas Is a Natural.”

“That came from a brilliant copywriter, Jackye Shipley,” Johnson said. “She’s now Mrs. Curtis Finch Jr., Jackye Finch. She’s a hugely creative person, and she came up with a great theme line. And as a state nickname, it’s a lot better than ‘Land of Opportunity’ or ‘The Bear State.’”

Johnson created the state’s logo, shaping the ear of the lowercase “r” in “Arkansas” into a leaf (green in summer and orange in the fall). He conceived it in the 1970s as a visual allusion to the state’s natural bounty, including 2.6 million acres of national forests, 13 major lakes and two mountain ranges.

But the “Natural State” brand goes beyond nodding to Arkansas’ 52 state parks, which were conceived in part to stimulate tourism. Recent state marketing has cast Arkansas as a “natural” for listening to live music, exploring culture and art or experiencing fine dining and entertainment.

“We wanted something simple but memorable, without crazy fonts, and the leaf was something that really clicked,” Johnson told Arkansas Business. “I’m glad the state has kept it, not because I did it, but because too many times these things are changed just for the sake of change.” Woods agreed, calling it “the iconic image … used since the slogan was adopted 36 years ago.”

Other states change their marketing bywords as often as they change governors, Woods said. “That’s often a mistake, abandoning something just because it’s familiar. You want your brand to be established.”

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