A Town Called Jenniferann.com

Abstract

In the year 2000, a small conservative New Zealand town received a new name. Pokeno became JenniferAnn.com. Why take on such a name? Familiar to motorists as the town at the end of the Southern Motorway, in the 1990s Pokeno was also “Bacon Country.” Distinctive welcome signs featured pink pigs that smiled at the 12,000 motorists entering Pokeno daily. They sat within a plethora of messages: Coca Cola, Mobil, Kodak, speed limit signs, and utility instructions. In 1999, the motorway bypassed Pokeno. With reduced traffic, how could this little town retain a place on the map? Enter JenniferAnn.com, brainchild of the owner of an Internet lingerie business. Renaming the town JenniferAnn.com was a stunt to propel Pokeno—and JenniferAnn.com—to great publicity. The town moved from having a name to being a brand. The highly local became global. Pokeno—now JenniferAnn.com—became a site in cyberspace.