The birth of the 'First Coast'

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Published Wednesday, November 6, 2002

The birth of the 'First Coast' Trio put their heads together to knock out a name that stands today By Christopher Calnan Times-Union business writer, The words are everywhere now, but 20 years ago they were hard to find. Florida's First Coast, "First Coast" for short, appear everywhere nowadays. But in 1983, when the name for Northeast Florida was coined by three Jacksonville advertising people, it came only at the end of a grueling nine-month process that reached fruition in a darkened downtown office building. Jacksonville had already had other monikers, The River City, Gateway to the South, and The Bold New City of the South. But none have endured quite like Florida's First Coast. Nearly 800 businesses, places and organizations in Northeast Florida have adopted the name. But maybe more importantly, the region has adopted the name and made it a permanent Florida fixture. The people who coined and promoted it have all moved on to other things, but they still take pride every time they see or hear the product of their creativity nearly 20 years ago. "I wish I had royalties, that's how I feel," advertising copy writer Kay Johnson said, laughing. "I still get that, 'Wow!'" Public officials wanted funding for projects, but the consolidated Jacksonville and Duval County wasn't big enough to qualify. So the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce hired the William Cook Advertising Agency to create a new campaign that would encompass the five-county area -- Duval, Baker, Clay, Nassau and St. Johns -- without obscuring any one area's identity, Johnson said. After a nine-month process of organizing an advertising campaign, the creation came down to a late-night meeting in the Cook offices on the 16th floor of the APL Building at the corner of Forsyth and Main streets. Johnson met with art director Bryan Cox and account executive Bill Jones about 9:30 p.m. after all their co-workers had gone home for the night. Cox hadn't been working on the project and was brought in at the last minute to pinch-hit for colleague Robin Shepherd, Cook's senior art director, who was called out of town. The group had just a few days before it was scheduled to present its idea to the chamber. It was crunch time, the 11th hour. More than 300 names had been generated for the campaign, but nothing sparkled for the group. Jones said he kept throwing out ideas to Johnson who would give her own responses. Cook workers called the brainstorming sessions, "concepting." "It was a word game with me giving her ideas," Jones said. "I was giving her questions and ideas and words prompting her to give me copy." Jacksonville native Cox explained to Johnson, a native New Yorker, how the Spanish made St. Augustine this country's first permanent city in the 1500s. Then, pay dirt -- Florida's First Coast. "Everybody kind of went, 'That's it,'" Cox said. "It was like somebody struck the jackpot." The jackpot is filling up. The Alta Vista Web site lists 777 Florida businesses and organizations with First Coast in their names -- everything from ministries to movers, banks to builders. Jacksonville Baptist Temple changed its name to First Coast Baptist Church when it moved to Blanding Boulevard in 1987. Two-year-old Timeless Love, a small Southside company that embroiders and prints hats and T-shirts, changed its name to First Coast T-Shirt Co. in 1991. "We wanted to sound larger and more familiar," co-owner Michael Arthur recently said. "We felt it was a pretty recognizable name in the industry." Eleven years later, Arthur said the change was good for business. "I think our company has grown into the name," he said. "I think it's done very well for us." Arthur said he had no idea who coined the First Coast name or how it came about. It happened in 1983. Jones' team was assigned the task of presenting the idea to Mayor Jake Godbold and the many organizations that approved the new name. Jones said they made 27 presentations to sell the idea.

"As soon as I heard it, I said, 'That's a winner,'" said James G. Vaughan, who was executive vice president of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce from 1983 to 1986. "In our view it was perfect," Johnson said. "The reason was the word "first." It's one of the words in the English language that has infinite possibilities." Harvey Schmitt, president of the Greater Raleigh (N.C.) Chamber of Commerce, who was general manager of the Jacksonville chamber in 1982, said a region's nickname is like a brand name. The Raleigh area is called the Research Triangle, promoting the positive image of high technology. "Once you get a positive image in the customer's mind about the brand, it opens the customer up to other images," Schmitt said. "It's very useful." Jones, who is now president of Jacksonville's Advertising Data Scan, said although the name received a warm reception, the city's smelly paper plants made it a formidable task to change its self image, Jones said. "People who lived here talked the place down," he said. "That was the biggest challenge." The new moniker was officially introduced during the 1983 Gator Bowl with the First Coast Anthem, written by Johnson. The name has increased in popularity ever since and proven to be a valuable tool in more than just business. "It suddenly took on a momentum of its own," Jones said. "I think for the first time it created a real sense of identity for people who live in this area." Vaughan, who is now a partner in an Atlanta company raising money for chambers of commerce, said he's been surprised by its continued acceptance. "I don't think anyone would have predicted that it would become a part of the nomenclature," he said. Vaughan attributed the popularity of First Coast to the validity of its claim. "Something has to be believable for it to be accepted," he said. "If it were all smoke and mirrors it would have been dead a long time ago." Shepherd, who is now president of his own marketing and public relations agency in Jacksonville, said Florida's First Coast is more than a catchy moniker. Jacksonville "has got a right to that name," he said Cox, who is now the creative director for Jacksonville's Morgan & Partners Inc., said he's proud of the longevity the name has enjoyed. In the advertising business, that's more important than money. "You really want people to like what you do, to like your creation," he said. "That's what we work for -- that good feeling." Johnson, who has been a freelance writer and producer since 1991, gets satisfaction from the work she did so long ago. "We all have a different vision," she said. "This was a time when my vision paid off." Staff writer Christopher Calnan can be reached at (904) 359-4404 or via e-mail at ccalnanjacksonville.com.

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