Quick. What comes to mind when you think of Maine?

Lobsters. Moose. Rocky shoreline. Endearing accent.

Vermont?

Maple syrup. Cows and cheese.

Massachusetts?

Patriots. Revolutionary War. Cape Cod. Kennedys.

New Hampshire?

Hmmm.

A rock that looked like an old man, until it fell down? More turnpike toll booths per mile than any state in the U.S.? Tax-free booze coming and going. The mean state that made Ed Muskie cry?

That’s right. It’s a state without clear-cut icons and, as a result, its tourism folks have developed a wicked case of icon envy.

“New Hampshire is kind of a weird little place because it has so much variety and not one of those things is a standout,” Mark Okrant, who coordinates tourism research for the state, told the Boston Globe.

And that’s a problem in the tourism business, which depends upon attracting people in short pants and extracting money from their back pockets.

Maine has 6,000 lakes and ponds; New Hampshire has about 1,300.

We have about 32,000 miles of rivers and streams. New Hampshire, a mere one-seventh of that.

Maine covers about 35,000 square miles. New Hampshire, about 9,000. It’s a cute state that Maine could practically tuck into its shirt pocket. You know, the one labeled Aroostook.

And coastline? Maine has 3,478 miles of it and New Hampshire has what? A couple of hundred yards? OK. It’s 18 miles, but still.

So, when people think about any of those things, they think first of Maine.

It’s called branding, and it is apparently important, and not just in attracting tourists.

The Globe story points out that a strong brand can boost the price of all products made in a state by 5 to 10 percent. Vermont’s attorney general has even uncovered non-Vermont companies trying to claim some connection to the state.

That’s how valuable a good brand can be.

New Hampshire does have some good things going for it, like a memorable license plate slogan, the famous “Live free or die,” which beats the heck out of “Vacationland.”

New Hampshire could do something with that, but its tourism department is strangely wary.

“That has nothing to do with the marketing of the state,” Alice DeSouza, director of tourism, told the Globe.

Too many tea-party/Glenn Beck overtones, perhaps? A little too grumpy, maybe.

The “Granite State” is also a good slogan, way better than “The way life should be.”

“New Hampshire. Like a rock.” A good slogan, if they can talk Bob Seger and Chevy out of it.

Sorry, Chevrolet.

New Hampshire also has Mount Washington, which is the highest peak in the Northeast and the third-highest in the eastern United States.

But it’s hard to turn a mountain known for its freakishly strong winds and killer weather into a come-hither icon.

So, New Hampshire has a problem. It’s simply a little state stuck between a bunch of bigger, more identifiable places.

“New Hampshire. Betwixt and Between.”

“New Hampshire. You can get there from everywhere.”

We’ll get it yet.

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