Is this Bluffton or Hilton Head Island? Better check the map

Bob and Julie Donelson moved from Washington, D.C., to Sun City Hilton Head about six years ago, and since then they’ve had many visitors.

Their kids.

Their grandkids.

Their friends.

Even people they only kind of knew before coming to the Lowcountry.

“(When they find out you’re moving down here) all of a sudden they’re good friends,” Bob Donelson chuckled Wednesday.

It’s true.

People hear “Hilton Head Island” and “house,” and they’re usually quick to whip out their vacation calendars and hint heavily about how they don’t snore and how much they love the beach.

Though, let’s face it, Sun City Hilton Head isn’t exactly on Hilton Head. It’s not even in Bluffton, if we’re being technical about matters ... not to single out Sun City, though. Many businesses in Bluffton bear the Hilton Head name despite not actually being located in Hilton Head.

The active adult retirement community isn’t even the only neighborhood using the “Hilton Head” brand to entice new residents despite its mainland location.

Hilton Head Lakes in Hardeeville is nearly 18 miles from the bridges to the island but proudly stakes its geographical claim in shimmery gold paint and lovely fountains, proving, I guess, that anything between Interstate 95 and the Intracoastal is fair branding ground.

Oh, I know. Locals chuckle when they drive by the sign.

“Yeah. OK. You’re ‘Hilton Head Island.’ I must have missed the bridges and water.”

But this is apparently an easy thing to miss, so let’s not make fun. Last year, columnist David Lauderdale even wrote in The Island Packet about people confusing Bluffton for Hilton Head, that is thinking they were on the island when, in fact, they were not.

So it happens.

To some people.

I guess.

But these neighborhoods and businesses do know what they’re doing when they use the Hilton Head name.

I spoke with Mark Newsome, a senior brand strategist who teaches at the Darla Moore School of Business at University of South Carolina, about the off-map geographic branding we sometimes see in southern Beaufort County.

“I take it back to the very basic question that any brand should take into consideration before naming a business,” he said. “What do I want consumers to think about me? And will the name deliver on the promise it makes?”

The brand “Hilton Head Island” is long established and clearly holds weight.

It means pristine beaches. World-class golf. Retirement and wealth and exclusivity.

It means resorts and relaxation and that life is really great for at least this week.

And just look at all of Hilton Head’s awards and Top 10 rankings. We can barely keep track of them.

Who wouldn’t want to be associated with that?

Using the name “Hilton Head” makes sense, Newsome said, for businesses that are trying to capture the kind of customer to whom all of this appeals.

“If you’re aligning yourself with a geographical location that has a very positive impact on the consumer when they think of it, that’s a positive for the brand (with that location in its name),” he said.

You might be wondering right about now: So what ... is Bluffton, chopped liver?

Is Bluffton so second-class that businesses overlook its consumer potential?

Not at all.

The rapidly expanding town has its own brand and personality, and the same rules apply.

Businesses hoping to capitalize on the family-friendly aspect or the town’s quirky “state of mind” certainly don’t hesitate to do so: The Bluffton Room, Bluffton BBQ and Old Town Dispensary are just a few geo-branded businesses whose names match their location.

I called Terry Fowler, the manager at Bluffton Tire and Auto, to ask him why they decided to use the Bluffton name.

“Well …,” he said with a long pause, “because we’re in Bluffton. That’s about the only thing I can tell you.

“We were surprised the name was available.”

It’s important to note that businesses using the Hilton Head name in Bluffton don’t all have the same reason for doing so.

It’s not all about borrowing an image.

Many businesses used to be located on Hilton Head and kept the name after moving to the mainland. Some are branches of Hilton Head businesses, such as the affiliates of Hilton Head Hospital.

And some just want to make sure it’s obvious that they serve Hilton Head as well as Bluffton.

“The Hilton Head name brings a much broader reach,” Newsome said.

Clearly, it’s a reach that can cross two bridges and stretch all the way to the interstate.

The question then becomes, do customers really care if something is named Hilton Head but not located on Hilton Head?

“Again,” Newsome said, “it goes to this promise and experience thing.”

In other words, it will matter little to a consumer that a business or neighborhood uses the Hilton Head name off-island as long as that business or neighborhood meets their general expectations.

Bob Donelson told me, in his three years of serving as an ambassador for prospective Sun City residents, not one person ever expressed surprise or disappointment at finding out that Sun City is 15 miles from the island.

Nor have his guests minded the distance.

Still, both he and his wife make it a point to announce to their friends and family when they’re crossing over the bridges to the island.

“We always make a big deal ...,” Donelson said. “‘We're officially on Hilton Head!’”

This story was originally published February 11, 2017 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Is this Bluffton or Hilton Head Island? Better check the map."