The notion of the brand that is Detroit and the power of that brand is a conversation that is no stranger to this blog. It’s certainly a topic that has been talked about a fair bit, from insiders and outsiders alike. Detroit’s brand power is represented by many forces– everything from grit and gore, doom and gloom, to architectural wonder, to food haven to faith-based organization and now, more and more, innovation through creativity. In many cases, that brand power is demonstrated by those in the city, but what seems a trend lately is a reflection of that brand power through the city’s exported talent.

The first reaction when you hear “export” might be to shrug it off. Sometimes it is hard to see that for some people to succeed they have to leave this place, simply because they can’t find their niche here– or in other words, a job. It’s a problem we certainly suffer from, but maybe we can use the efforts of these people when they leave as an integral part of the brand message about Detroit in creating momentum.

Just a few days ago, in West Hollywood, a restaurant called Coney Dog opened up on Sunset Boulevard. They serve, you guessed it, Coney dogs, chili cheese fries and Better Made potato chips among other Detroit staples. There are well over 5,000 fans on their Facebook page, and on opening day earlier this week, people were lined up along Sunset Boulevard to get in to the place. Interesting. Why? Well, for one, there are tons of Detroit ex-pats in LA that probably revel in the opportunity to get a taste of home. Two, there’s an alluring force to the notion of getting a taste of Detroit and experiencing it in some way. It’s that odd city that everyone around the country is increasingly curious about. In a video posted on a West Hollywood blog about the restaurant opening, a couple commented in an interview that they were dying to taste a Coney dog for the first time in there life, seemingly without any connection to Detroit. Kind of powerful.

Perhaps the momentum of Detroit’s brand forces all over the country could/should be a function of activating the momentum right here on the ground at this moment. When people in LA are experiencing Detroit through a Coney dog probably hundreds (maybe thousands?) of times a day, there has to be a way that experience can be used as a tool to kickstart momentum here and there. Sometimes a city’s forward movements, or just progress in and of itself, is directly related to the way that it’s existing forces are embraced and nurtured from the inside and out.

Whoo! Let me throw a fist pump in there, too (PUMP PUMP PUMP). Scoot on over to read this article immediately. It’s short, sweet and sort of epic. It’s like Detroit’s battle cry.

Go on.

It’s Aaron Renn’s take on the power of the Detroit brand. (He’s no stranger to writing inspirational pieces on Detroit– in fact, he’s penned quite a few). He claims, in this latest epic battle cry, that Detroit is one of the most powerful brands in America. “There are lots of cities that are struggling right now, but how many of them have a stream of international reporters, film makers, artists, etc. coming to see it in person for themselves? How many of them have attracted random bloggers from all over the country to analyze the place and propose remedies? Why is this place thought to hold lessons for America while so many others do not?”

There’s an energy that’s building. There is a force that is alluring people in and making them learn more about the city. This brand power that Renn talks about is changing perceptions and it is happening very quickly right now. Last week I was talking about the trip to New York to try and get some products in stores out there and how shop owners were quite receptive to Detroit with quips about it being “the next place to be.” Cool. Hell yes. I’ll take it. But here’s another. This one is kind of intense. In a good way.

Just last week, through a random hodge-podge of social interactions, I acquired a new roommate in my house. He had ridden his bike from Vermont to Detroit to make the city his home– for at least three years while he launched a series of projects that he thought might further his own goals and simultaneously help the city. He heard an inspirational talk by a visiting Detroit professor that whet his appetite. One thing led to the other and through a series of other interactions and the way that “opportunity” is portrayed in the city through a variety of different mediums, he decided to take the plunge. He finished school, hopped on a bike and came to Detroit.

I mean, come on. No smoke and mirrors here, folks. The “brand” that is Detroit is taking on a new form. A form that presents opportunity. It’s bringing people in, peaking their curiosity and just generally making Detroit a different “place.” This is powerful. This is the opportunity that leads to innovation. And that innovation, well, that’s what the fun’s all about.

Aaron Renn, the urban planning thought leader from Indiana, has taken something of a liking for Detroit. A few months back he wrote this article touting Detroit as something of a new urban frontier, a place potentially capable of providing a strange new American dream as Mr. Barlow once put it. That said, the last article Renn wrote for Urbanophile isn’t the point of this post. It’s his latest article that’s a treat. It goes down like a tall glass of lemonade on a sweltering Saturday. I mean, good God, nobody has talked this nicely about Detroit WITH photos and data to back it all up. He compares Detroit to other cities in the country and gives some side-by-side analysis that’s refreshing. Then he mentions the sexiness of “Brand Detroit”– the idea that the city has some international accolade and name recognition. I mean, think about it: when you go to Paris and are struggling to order a cappucino in some tasty little backalley cafe and you tell the guy at the counter you are from Cleveland, he is going to choke on his pastry trying to understand where the hell that is. But DETROIT?!!?! “Ahhhh. Oui, oui,” he says. Yep, they know we’re kicking over here in the D.