Tulsa recently underwent an extensive brand analysis. What the research found was that most people have absolutely no idea what Tulsa is, or even where it is. The image of Oklahoma is generally cowboys and Indians, but when researchers narrowed the frame of reference to Tulsa, most people drew a blank. Tulsa wants to change that. A 2006 article in the Tulsa World, an article in the July 2006 issue of TulsaPeople, and a more recent piece in the Tulsa Business Journal outline the strategy behind the branding effort.

Tulsa is located in northeast Oklahoma, and is referred to as “Green Country.” Tulsa is considered to be the cultural and arts center of Oklahoma, and features two world-renowned art museums, full-time opera and ballet companies, and one of the nation’s largest collections of living, breathing Art Deco architecture. Tulsa is credited as the birthplace of Route 66, and the home of Western Swing music. Nowhere is Western Swing better personified than at Cain’s Ballroom, open since 1924 and home to Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys.

Tulsa’s unique history began along the Trail of Tears, where Native Americans were forced from their land in the southeastern United States to what is now eastern Oklahoma, bringing early Southern traditions with them to their new home.

The Creek Council Oak Tree landmark is Tulsa’s birthplace, and still lives as a symbol of the region’s settlers’ strong spirit. Under this tree in 1836, the Lochapoka Creek Indians kindled a ceremonial fire using live coals they had carried from their Alabama homeland, and gathered to start a new life and establish Tulsee Town.