• Ad Age, Friday, February 20, 2009 11:15 AM

Amidst all the gloom about stock prices reeling and shelf prices ratcheting, Jeremy Mullman has found a novel marketing story about the Minneapolis Police Department, which is cleaning up its image in an effort to improve minority recruiting.

The effort by Kazoo Branding, a local firm, has turned into a brand makeover, in fact, replete with a new slogan ("Be looked up to") and redesigned squad cars.

When rank-and-file cops got wind of a new emphasis on "compassion" in department communications, a fairly rough pushback ensued, Mullman reports, particularly among the "grizzled veterans." "I'm used to dealing with business people, who are politicians," says Kazoo account director Tom Dupont. "Cops are not politicians." Adds Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan: "If cops think something is silly or frilly, they let you know." We can only imagine.

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