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HomeMy WebLinkAbout[07] Marketing • CITY OF ST. JOSEPH www.cityoistjoseph.com Administrator DATE: February 15, 2012 Judy Weyrens MEMO TO: St. Joseph Economic Development Authority Mayor Rick Schultz FROM: Cynthia Smith - Strack, Municipal Development Group Councilors RE: Marketing Goal Steve Frank Bob Loso Renee Symanietz BACKGROUND: Dale Wick At the January EDA meeting when discussing goals to include in the 2012 Annual Report, Council Member and EDA Board Chair Wick recommended the EDA work on a marketing concept for the EDA City. Carolyn Yaggie- Heinen The first step toward this goal is to define the process by which a framework for marketing campaign Steve Frank can be developed. Chad Davey Tom Skahen To those ends please find several attachments including: Dale Wick 1. A Commentary by Steve Berg published in the Star Tribune Newspaper 2. A News Report by Jim Adams published in the Star Tribune Newspaper 3. "Brandtown USA" a report by Karen Post. 4. Ten Guiding Principales for Branding a City by "CEOs for Cities" 5. A report from the University of Wisconsin Extension Service regarding Branding for Downtown Success ACTION: Discussion and direction on next step in establishing a marketing campaign. a 3 StarTr , Ille commentaries Steve Berg is a writer and urban design consultant in Minneapolis. His clients include the Minneapolis Downtown Council. the Metropolitan Council and the Urban Land Institute- Minnesota It's hard to pinpoint the moment that the Twin Cities disappeared from the national and local consciousness. That's because the fade and ultimate death of Minneapolis -St. Paul and its metro area was such a gradual thing that almost no one noticed. Only recently has it become clear that our home city is known, both to ourselves and to outsiders, as simply "Minnesota." This is a bizarre turn. We live in an era of cities. Metropolitan areas have emerged as the basic units of a dynamic global economy. Metro Seattle competes with metro Denver, Dallas, Munich and Mumbai for creative talent, good jobs and the next slice of prosperity. With a population of 3.3 million, our own metro city is the 16th largest in the nation. Together with the other 99 largest metros, we produce three - quarters of the nation's gross domestic product and nearly all of its new ideas. To put it bluntly, cities are in the driver's seat; states are along for the ride. Never has it been more important, then, for a city to have a strong identity and a competitive brand. For Chicago to become Illinois or Atlanta to become Georgia would be almost suicidal. And yet that's what has happened here. For years I had been vaguely aware of our slipping identity, but it hit me with a jolt this summer when I overheard each of our grown children, now living on the East Coast, tell friends that they would be going back to Minnesota for a family wedding when I knew perfectly well that the wedding would not be in Fergus Falls or Bemidji but in Minneapolis, with some festivities in St. Paul. And I recalled distinctly that in the mid -1970s when my wife and I first moved here, we told our friends we were moving to Minneapolis, or to the Twin Cities, because that's the way it was described on our main point of reference -- the "Mary Tyler Moore Show." It was a way of saying that we were moving to an up- and - coming urban place. Apparently, we no longer live in such a place, but rather in Minnesota, which is a different concept altogether. Don't get me wrong. I love our state -- every lake, every pine tree, every dairy cow. But Minnesota isn't a city. And its image has been vividly framed by talented satirists and storytellers, mainly Garrison Keillor and the Coen brothers. 2 L To most of the world we are eccentric small -town people who sit in the Chatterbox Cafe while snow piles up outside. Or, we are overly earnest "Minnes000tans" with Fargo accents and simpleminded ideas. Our self - deprecating humor is a fine trait, and I laugh louder than almost anyone. But seeing ourselves as an amusing backwater carries a price in the serious game of attracting the young, creative talent that will produce the next wave of prosperity. It's a wave that we can't afford to miss. To brand our energetic, artistic and quite excellent city as Minnesota is a bit like Coca -Cola telling the world it's a pretty good beverage in the cola family. The question quickly becomes: Can our city compete if it doesn't have a name? I admit that my "invisible city" complaint has become something of an obsession. When I bring it up at parties, people shuffle their feet and suddenly need to refill their wine glasses. Still, I press on, hoping that the ever - mounting evidence will convince people that our city has all but disappeared, to wit: • The New York Times obituary for Keillor's sidekick Tom Keith said he was featured on "a broadcast on public radio in front of a theater audience in Minnesota, or in other cities on tour." (Reminds me of the NFL player who said that Minnesota was his favorite city to play in.) • Describing the major media markets Eleanor Mondale had worked in, the Star Tribune's obituary about her said: "Her broadcasting career took her from Minnesota to Chicago to Los Angeles and back to Minnesota." • Several Star Tribune stories described Delta Airlines corporate jobs shifting from Minnesota to Atlanta. Another Strib story talked about job cutbacks among "Medtronic's 8,000 Minnesota employees." Just this month KARE -TV mentioned that 200 Minnesota jobs were being lost at Andersen Windows. (All of these jobs were in a place formerly known as the Twin Cities.) • The New Yorker magazine mentioned sharing a phone call with Walter Mondale "from his home state of Minnesota." (Mondale's home and office are in Minneapolis.) • My favorite came last June when MSNBC's Rachel Maddow recalled that Sen. Larry Craig had been arrested "in a Minnesota airport." All of that reminds me of the man who stopped me at a baggage carousel at the Tampa airport to ask: "Is this the flight from Minnesota ?" Or of a friend's New York mother who arrived here for her first visit and gasped: "You have a city here!" Even this small sample prompts a few questions: How did we drop off the map? Does it matter? If it does, what should be done about it? As it turns out, the nominal demise of Minneapolis and St. Paul stems from their intense rivalry. 25 in 1961 the newly arrived major league baseball team quickly discovered that it would have to name itself without offending either twin city. Herb Hoeft, the team's publicist, came up with a clever solution. "Minnesota Twins" was a wordplay that described each city equally. A logo showed cartoon characters -- Minnie and Paul -- shaking hands across the Mississippi River. A "TC" was placed on the team's caps. Almost immediately, however, the whole state claimed the team's name as its own. The team responded by adding the state's outline to the logo in 1972 and printing "Minnesota" on its road uniforms in 1987. Clark Griffith, whose father moved the ballclub here from Washington, D.C., in 1961, credits Hoeft's marketing savvy for launching the trend toward a "Minnesota" brand for the metro area. "That was the start of it," he told me. The metro area's other pro teams fell in line by naming themselves "Minnesota," and, in 1968, the Minneapolis Symphony renamed itself the Minnesota Orchestra. Gradually, businesses, civic groups and the media followed along to the point that the distinction between metro and state all but disappeared. "Maybe it's a case of Minnesota Nice going overboard," said Kevin DiLorenzo, CEO of Olson, the Minneapolis (or is it Minnesota ?) ad agency. "We don't really want to leave anybody out, so we talk about the whole state." It's especially ironic that the Twin Cities began losing its identity at roughly the same time it gained a metropolitan government. The Met Council, founded in 1967, should arguably have given the region an advantage in branding itself in the minds of its residents, but the opposite happened. The rise of poverty and decline of population in the central cities in the '80s and '90s was another factor. Rather than identify themselves with slumping Minneapolis or St. Paul or both, suburbanites chose to link themselves to the state. A key player was Minnesota Public Radio, which increasingly portrayed the state as the major brand and all of its cities as mere components. Maple Grove, thus, became just another city in Minnesota (no different from Crookston or Albert Lea) rather than a Twin Cities suburb. This is the geographic idea that now prevails. Is the Twin Cities' nominal demise trivial or significant? Marketing executives take the matter seriously. "The upside of 'Minnesota' as a brand is that it's recognizable and generates curiosity," said DiLorenzo. "People want to know about it. It has a lot of nature attached to it, and that's a big selling point for us. On the downside, 'Minnesota' defines us as not quite the sophisticated place we need to be in order to compete in major markets." He added: "Minneapolis, especially, needs a stronger brand. It has to define itself as an urban place in the best sense. As a metro area, we need to tell the story that we have big -city amenities -- and that we're close to nature and our rural roots." Steve Wehrenberg, CEO of Campbell Mithun, conceded that the Twin Cities has chosen to reinforce the Minnesota brand while failing to establish a global, or even a national identity for itself. "There's low awareness of us as a city," he said. We could have a brand if we wanted to do something about it, but maybe we'd just rather be one big happy Minnesota family." Actually, we're not all that happy -- not all of us. Met Council Chair Sue Haigh, for one, believes firmly that the metro area is an actual place, and that it should have an actual name. "It'll take time to catch on," she said, "but it's important for telling our story to the outside world. Were so modest here. Our quality of humility has led us not to be strong sales people." "We've allowed other people to tell our story, or we've told our own story in ways that might not always be in our best interest," said Mike Brown, vice president for marketing and communication at Greater MSP, the metro region's new business recruiter and re- brander. 'We haven't said who we really are; we have to talk about ourselves if we want a better brand." That better brand, said Brown, must emphasize both nature and urbanity, and it must succeed in getting rid of our default name (Minnesota) while installing a more accurate one: Minneapolis -St. Paul. Ad campaigns can help push the rock forward. The "metropolitan by nature" campaign launched by Meet Minneapolis (the convention bureau) is nicely conceived; Greater MSP's "prosper" campaign ties our name to future prosperity, and that's a good thing. But ultimately our name depends on whether we ordinary folks are willing to call ourselves a city. I'm trying very hard to imagine the sounds of our grown children's voices telling their East Coast friends that they'll be flying home to Minneapolis -St. Paul for the holidays. Steve Berg is a writer and urban design consultant in Minneapolis. His clients include the Minneapolis Downtown Council, the Metropolitan Council and the Urban Land Institute - Minnesota a 7 StarTribune - Print Page Page 1 of 2 StarTribune Marketing plans help cities draw business Article by: JIM ADAMS Star Tribune January 7, 2012 - 9:12 PM Several Dakota County cities are developing marketing strategies to keep up with their neighbors in drawing more bush their way. Hastings just approved a nearly $29,000 plan, partly based on a survey last year of 35 area businesses and prepared Minneapolis public relations firm Himle Horner. The city's economic development arm will meet this month to outline wh comes next to put the plan into action, said spokeswoman Shannon Rausch. Farmington is just starting work on a home -grown plan, while Lakeville is spending about $30,000 on its marketing star to be completed in February. Consultant Tripp Muldrow from Greenville, S.C., led a local steering committee and unveil new marketing slogan to the City Council last week: "Lakeville: Positioned to Thrive." "I'm a skeptic, but I like it," Mayor Mark Bellows told Muldrow. "It has an honesty and humility about it. It says we haven arrived yet, but we have potential." The plan's aim is to increase awareness of Lakeville's business airport, schools and other assets in a tight economy, se Dave Olson, community and economic development director. He noted that the city used a federal community block grr pay for the study, to be implemented this year. "We want to distinguish ourselves from other cities," Olson said. "There are fewer projects out there and more cities competing for them." Do the plans produce measurable results? "I know it's better than if we don't do anything," Olson said. One gauge Hastings will monitor as its plan is implemented over a few years is whether the number of store vacancies, has been stable, starts declining, Rausch said. Among other things, the plan suggests recruiting businesses that appea boaters and bike trail users. At Muldrow's suggestion, Lakeville, which previously has used marketing videos or special inserts in publications, is considering broader Internet and social media advertising. "The whole way of communicating is changing, and you have to adapt and change with it," Olson said. "A lot of marketing is done on city websites ... More and more of it is going electronic." Muldrow told the council Tuesday night that corporate site selectors wade through many websites listing city incentives. as Developmentalliance.com, to winnow potential sites, before even talking to local officials. Burnsville is an aggressive Internet marketer, noted Ruthe Batulis, president of the Dakota County Regional Chamber c Commerce. Burnsville's website has a "Why Burnsville" page that lists local and state programs to help companies find grants, business sites and other information. "We pride ourselves on being 'cut from a different cloth' -- that is, we think act like business people," the website says. htt : / /www.startribune.com/ rintarticle / ?id= 136713103 2/15/2012 P P StarTribune - Print Page Page 2 of 2 The city also promotes itself on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter (it has about 550 followers) and specialty websites, includi that of the Minnesota High Tech Association, that few cities use, said Skip Nienhaus, economic development coordinat The city has hired several tech savvy staff in the past decade, including a former marketing - consultant and last summer new communications director who produces local videos for YouTube and other websites, Nienhaus said. Online ads a are used to reach some younger people for whom, "if you don't have an online presence, you don't exist." Burnsville set up a website to focus on attracting medical and health care businesses about six years ago. A year ago, site became the "Why Burnsville" page, with a broader focus on attracting science, technology, health and math - relatec businesses, Nienhaus said. He gets a call or two a month from potential new businesses which have seen Burnsville's Internet ads and want more information. Similar business lures are available on the websites of Rosemount and Progress Plus, an economic development agen jointly operated on behalf of Inver Grove Heights and South St. Paul, Batulis said. Progress Plus President Jennifer Gale said businesses in the two cities raised money to enhance the website -- which i searchable by site location, business type, size or price -- and to hire a branding consultant about five years ago. That produced a pair of slogans: "Pro- Business Attitude" and "Urban- Alternative Space Available," she said. The branding effort led to stronger connections with real estate brokers, who now receive monthly e-mails about availat sites and business incentives, said Gale, who also heads the local River Heights Chamber of Commerce. South St. Paul has worked 20 years on redeveloping its former stockyards and now has a diversified business mix that provides 3,500 jobs, she said. Jim Adams • 952 - 746 -3283 ® 2011 Star Tribune http:// www. startribune .com/printarticle / ?id= 136713103 2/15/2012 Brandtown, USA By: Karen Post August 23, 2004 Communities, cities, and even states all compete in the world of everything -- commerce, tax bases, cultural riches, hometown intellects, the creative class, and happy folks using it all. It's the fuel to keep geographic areas going and growing. It also brews healthy combat zones, the seduction of buyers to destinations. For business or pleasure, the game is called branding. As in, regional branding. For decades, this practice has existed, but more recently ifs become in business vogue -- and a powerful economic advantage. As people and companies decide where to plop down their roots and cash, just like with any other buying decision, they need to feel the emotional connection to their needs and the earned trust to reduce their fears. Destination branding is about • clearly defining a purpose • being distinct • consistently communicating a persona • delivering on a promise Sounds easy enough. Then why is it that so many cities and other geographic destinations have a bad case of brand blues? To track down the answer, I sent out feelers to the main information- disseminating practitioners, PR firms. The response was encouraging: Within 15 minutes I had almost 40 examples of branded cities, states, regions, and countries. Then I starting researching, checking out the so- called "branded" Web sites, and making calls. Clearly there are well- branded cities and places. Bravo for those gallant efforts. These destinations have crisp stories, distinct attributes, and consistent messaging. They deliver the brand promise at all touch points. They affix a vivid brain tattoo on the minds of their markets. On the other side of the map are many lost destinations and leaders who don't quite get it. They think the brand is their jazzy logo or a catchy tagline. They think a costly ad campaign is the big ticket, and most of all, they are oblivious to the destructive power of un- united forces within their destination. 3 � A city or destination brand is the sum of what the market thinks when they hear the brand name. It's how they feel when they arrive at the destination's Web site or experience other communication. And it's what they expect when they select one place over another. An effective destination brand resonates through all touch spots, including but not limited to the physical environment, entry and exit points, signage, marketing, residents' attitudes, transportation venues (airports and freeways), events, Web presence, visitor services, and leadership. Unlike product or company branding initiatives, however, branding a destination has an extra layer of challenge. Here are some of the most prevailing brand development dysfunctions and how you can work through them. Creative Class Deficiency Well, maybe "deficiency" is a harsh term. My point is that many cities lack creative potency or organized creative movements -- and allow fear to halt their creative progress. This spills over into their branding. Richard Florida, author of The Rise of the Creative Class: And How it's Transforming Work, Leisure, Community, and Everyday Life, sums up the impact of creative thinking and the Creative Class on economies. "The Creative Class now comprises more than thirty percent of the entire workforce. The choices these people make already had a huge economic impact, and in the future they will determine how the workplace is organized, what companies will prosper or go bankrupt, and even which cities will thrive or wither," states Florida. Competing Complexities Most destinations have multiple sub -brands or voices. A typical city can have the business chamber, the visitors and convention council, economic development councils, and the government all reaching out with simil -- and different -- agendas. "Hartford, Connecticut, needed to change their image, build a fresh brand, and increase business and visitorship," says Michael Kintner, project director of the Hartford Image Project (HIP). Led by former Governor John Rowland, the HIP brought together 13 community organizations in 2000 to form a nonprofit marketing consortium. "The result was 'New England's Rising Star,' a cohesive brand story and visual system. The united group contributes funds along with corporate donors and we stay committed to communicating and living one brand message," Kintner adds. "The initiative has been a great success. Annually we assess our efforts, brand recall is strong, and business is up." 31 Committees Can Kill Even the Greatest Idea A by- product of brands "for the people" is the committee that compromises and kills potential brand home runs. That is why you never see statues of committees in parks; you see brave leaders. Adam Hanft, author of Dictionary of the Future, notes, "There is no question that multiple levels of government, etc. militate against a successful branding campaign. When the strategy and advertising become dumbed down so that it satisfies bureaucrats and ends up as self - serving pabulum, it's destined to die." The way around this is for leadership to take control and say, "Listen, while some issues demand creating a consensus, this is one area where a consensus will fail." What might be helpful is to show resistors the kind of advertising that works in today's culture and how a city that wants to brand itself as cool must rise to that level. While firm leadership is required, it also makes sense to create a small subgroup of special interests and involve them in the process. That way, their opinions can be heard, and they can feel invested in the process -- and end product. So Many Good Things, Nothing Stands Out To gain something, something else must be sacrificed. The great brands in every industry have a strong singular message. The same thing applies to destinations. If you try to brand with everything that you have, your brand will mean nothing -- unless of course your position is "A great city full of flea markets." One more thought from Adam Hanft: "Align your city's strengths with what the market demands, and be pretty brutal about zeroing in on one communication strategy, and then stick with it." History Is Hard to Change. Many well - deserving destinations are burdened by some mind - chiseled brand or event from their past. That's certainly not the easiest of roads, but these situations can be turned around. How do you brand a city best known for its tons of nuclear waste? Or a town that smells bad? Lynn Parker, principal of Parker LePla and author of Brand Driven and Integrated Branding, explains. "These seemingly intractable branding challenges have been fought to positive effect by Richland and Tacoma, both in Washington state. In the first case, we approached it with an 'if you can't fix it, flaunt it' method," LePla says. "In our research we discovered Richland has more PhDs per capita than almost anywhere in the world. So we played up the atomic history through a grade B alien movie campaign, 'Come to where there are signs of intelligent life,' focusing on the well- educated workforce. We sent branded spaceships to 100 companies looking to relocate 32 out of California and ended up with 100% recall of the direct mail box. We also achieved the center column of the front page of the Wall Street Journal." LePla continues: "In Tacoma's case, the famous 'aroma of Tacoma' was history since the paper mill left town, but only locals knew it. So we designed a campaign around the Arts District, made up of a brand -new Tacoma Art Museum and its nearby architecturally interesting Museum of Glass and the Washington State Museum of History and Industry. Adding new, brandable assets expanded our story and strengthened the city's brand." As you can see, destination branding is vital to compete and win. Take these steps and your brand can become a valuable, revenue - producing asset to your community. • Make necessary physical and mental changes to attract and keep "The Creative Class" in your community. If your city has a low cell count of creative energy and people, on Sept. 8 -9, St. Petersburg, Florida, will host the Creative Cities Summit. • Embrace a big, distinct idea; unite all subvoices to sing the same song; and stick with it. • Educate all forces and the community that the brand is not just the logo or tagline. It's the sum of everything the destination does! Brand on! 33 CEOs for Cities Branding Your City Ten Guiding Principles for Branding a City Have a Purpose Without a clearly defined objective and plan, the project is likely to go off in many directions, given the multitude of perceptions that a project is often trying to represent. With a clearly defined purpose, process, roles and responsibilities, the project is likely to run more smoothly. Credibility Is Key It is easy to have high aspirations for a place, but they must be grounded in reality. Use research to validate that the positioning is credible, relevant and motivating. Additionally, it is important to confirm the credibility of the aspirational brand identity. White brand identity does have license to be more aspirational given its long -term horizon, the positioning needs to be credible in the short -term to be effective. Be Specific A natural inclination for place branding is to try to be all things to all people. However, in doing so, you diminish the meaning of what the place really stands for. In effect, it becomes too generic to stand out and get attention. It is challenging but critical to decide which elements should take priority in the brand strategy. Disciplined focus will ultimately make the strategy stronger. Be Resourceful. Developing a brand strategy does not require a big budget. Rather, there are creative ways to get the project accomplished by using local resources, such as World Business Chicago working with students from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management to help conduct WBC's project. 21 3 L CEOs for Cities Branding Your City Grassroots Drive Word of Mouth While an advertising campaign is helpful in building awareness, it is often too costly to sustain. Instead, consider integrating grassroots tactics such as events, city tours and PR success stories as ways to build awareness and word of mouth. Often these tactics are more powerful than advertising in creating brand preference. Make It More than a Tagline Paul O'Connor, Executive Director of World Business Chicago said in an interview with CEOs for Cities, The greatest piece of advice I can give to other cities is to accept taglines only as a last resort. A tagline passes for branding, but it is not the same thing. Taglines are fragile, limited or too broad. They do not represent who you really are. A brand is the DNA of a place, what it is made of, what it passes from generation to generation. It is authentic and indicates what makes a place different from others." Look beyond Words When developing brand positioning, think beyond the words that describe the promise that the place is making. There is a chance that language barriers could influence the way a positioning is perceived. Use of supporting visuals and sounds are powerful additions to help motivate a target audience. Make It Emotional It is important to find the magic to stir men's souls," Paul O'Connor told us. The positioning needs to be more than a functional promise that is easy for other places to emulate; it must be place- driven. The core promise should be more heartfelt to strike an emotional connection with the audience. It Takes Time Branding is a long -term undertaking. The results take time, patience and commitment. Set realistic criteria for success, and make a plan for measuring success annually. Assume it will take three to five years to see its economic benefits. Make It Consistent Branding takes time, but it also takes consistency. In developing the brand strategy, take the time to be diligent with the upfront work and research to avoid frantic shifts in the strategy on the back end. Stick to your strategy for a set period of time before you change it. Put the energy toward delivering a consistent message, look and feel across all the communication media. Consistency and frequency are a powerful combination. 22 CEOs for Cities Branding Your City Ensure Stakeholders Are Involved Stakeholders involved in the process of branding must have strong commitment and conviction to support the brand. They need to be aware of it, believe in it and live it. This personal engagement will ensure that the strategy becomes the foundation of all activities that stakeholders pursue from marketing to decision making. Keep Stakeholders Informed of Success Given the long -term nature of developing and executing a place brand strategy, it is important to keep stakeholders involved in the progress. Promote successes along the way evidenced by news clips, ads and actual results. Keeping stakeholders engaged will ensure commitment and involvement over the long haul. • 23 4,1 Downtown Issue 154 June 2009 - ' ! E co n omjcs ideas for increasing Vitality in Community Business Districts Branding for Downtown Success media appeals to consumers. Branding is more than By Dale Erlandson* the words and images used along with a place name; those things can change over time. A brand is a long - In economic times like these, building excitement about term, permanent concept of what a place should be and downtown and cultivating local loyalty is more important mean. It therefore demands a great deal of forethought than ever. Branding is an essential part of fostering the to be successfully conceived, implemented and sense of community that keeps residents interested in sustained. downtown and that makes the community an attractive destination for visitors and potential residents. Branding a Place Good community branding can have a number of A successful branding process involves four steps: positive impacts: it can increase exposure for existing research, design, education and maintenance. Before businesses and be a recruitment tool in building a more placing a logo in flyers and event promotions, research complimentary business mix. It can also boost retail is needed to establish a Tong -term brand concept that traffic and attract residents to the downtown area. fits the goals and realities of a community. Careful Successful branding can aid downtown and community design can then ensure that logos, taglines, lettering organizations, increasing both volunteerism and giving, and colors all complement the brand concept. After by increasing the credibility of revitalization efforts. defining and designing a brand — a process that can Poorly executed branding, however, can have just the take six months or more — the ongoing project of opposite effect. Therefore it is important to proceed education begins: merchants, organizations, residents carefully. and visitors all must be able to recognize, relate to and promote a consistent brand message. Finally, a What Is Branding? branding effort will be only successful if it is maintained. Leaders must keep the design and education efforts Branding involves creating a desired image for a up -to -date while sustaining the organizational product or place. For a downtown, a brand is the set of partnerships that support the community. emotional connections and positive expectations in the minds of residents and visitors. As Jonathan Baltuch Research — There are a variety of strategies for writes in Brand Your City: A recipe for success, "A developing a community's brand concept. Focus successful brand identity establishes a preconceived groups, market analyses and community surveys can expectation that is either met or exceeded by the all be utilized to match a long -term vision to the goals of reality." Logos and taglines are evocative of the overall the community and the target demographic that the image that is a brand. Through advertising, events and brand will seek to attract. Tripp Muldrow, in Creating a grassroots word of mouth, places can be defined by Brand for Downtown has this recommendation: "Ask, coordinated branding efforts, allowing businesses and ask, ask, and then ask some more questions. Everyone activities to stand out from the continuous onslaught of in your town knows what the brand is. It is why they live there. It is what they do on the weekend. It is where Re- Branding Success Story: On Broadway, one, they take people who visit. It is how they relax, what they miss when they are away, and why they want to On Broadway, Inc., a Wisconsin Main Street program, raise their kids there." Defining a brand involves has re- branded a once- derelict area of Green Bay, WI 'as bringing together the residents, government, a highly desirable shopping, dining and community organizations and businesses of the community to set destination. Through the efforts of economic clear objectives. Branding decisions — including who is restructuring and a rev community-wide r marketing team, On involved, the scope of the project, and promotional rev Broadway, Inc. has revitalized and re- branded a now thriving district. < activities — will be affected by whether the goal is to httpaianbroadway,arg attract residents or retain business; to increase retail traffic or to alter perceptions of an area. Everyone ea *Dale Erlandson is an intern with the University of Wisconsin - Extension and a graduate student in the University of Wisconsin - Madison Department of Journalism and Mass Communication. involved in the branding effort must understand the Dellutri of Evmark notes, however, that it is always limitations as well as the potential of the place. As easiest to reach visitors and newer residents. Naletta Burr of On Broadway, Inc. emphasizes, Convincing established residents to associate a new effective branding cannot over - promise or under -sell. brand with an old place will take additional time and effort. Focus Groupe Ad Consumer Survey Models Maintenance — While a successful event or positive The University :ofWiscansin- Extension Center fir feedback may indicate some success in branding, Burr Community and Economic Development has a number warns that a thriving downtown cannot rest on its of sample surveys and tools on their Downtown Market laurels. Consistent businesses and community surveys Analysis website. Adapting such samples to your can guide merchant, event and promotion turnover to community's specific needs is a good starting paint kir continue attracting residents and visitors. While the branding research. number of events can increase as the brand and wrww. uwex. edu/CES /ncedldowntownsldma/index cf n organization grow stronger, events are best limited to a manageable number and scheduled during community down -time, when they will not conflict with other Design — When it comes to designing a brand, experts organizations' activities. consistently urge communities to seek professional help. Holding tagline or logo design contests, or simply Organizational conflicts are almost inevitable. Brand taking whatever volunteer help is available, will not strategists may run into conflict with other community result in a successful, sustainable brand. Professional organizations, such as chambers of commerce, who marketers can define consistent graphic standards that must be included on an ongoing basis to share the will work across all media and for a wide range of responsibility of promoting the community and its promotions. Logos must be designed to work well in merchants. Especially in the current economy, both color and back - and - white, as well as to be easily maintaining good organizational relations is key to shared with other organizations and used in conjunction building grassroots support for the brand and making with other advertising. Details like the number of fonts efficient use of the limited dollars available for (too many will make advertising hard to read), color downtown revitalization. Finally, brand success should (and the psychological impacts it can have) and paper not be its own downfall. As businesses and (must be high quality to look credible but affordable organizations become self - sufficient, there is nothing enough to maintain) all complicate the design process wrong with their spinning off into their own ventures. of branding. Successful branding does not demand tight - fisted control of a community, merely a consistently appealing In addition, it is important to remember that design goes concept and message. far beyond graphics. Creating a brand for a downtown area can involve matching a streetscape — lighting, Getting the word out facades, signage — to the brand image. It may involve working with local businesses to relocate or recruit Helping the public become familiar with your brand can merchants to create a business mix that fits the brand. be a challenge. Here are Just a few ways to showcase Ultimately, the logo specifically and the brand in the image and values of your brand` general should be ubiquitous. Shopping and dining Press Releases, guides, event promotions and advertising can utilize the • individual Meetings design elements of the brand. While taglines, images • Cross»Retail Promotions and vocabulary will change, design should always * Holiday Events reinforce, rather than recreate, the brand concept. • Co-op Advertising * Coordinate and advertise a new more convenient Education — Once a brand is identified and the design business hours promotion established, the key step in realizing the goals of Al Festivals, including reward cards or other retail branding is education. An individual must lead this incentives effort, coordinating the various ventures that utilize the community brand and acting as brand watchdog to sources: ensure that all events, promotions and advertising 'Brand Your City: A recipe for success" March 25, 2004, Jonathan project a message consistent with the defined brand. Baltuch, brandchannei.com The brand and its goals should drive all activities, Carolyn Dellutri and Naletta Burr, presentation in the Revitalizing whether initiated by businesses, organizations or Wisconsin's Downtowns webinar series, April 16, 2009 volunteers. Events can bring people into an area to CEOs for Cities, 'Branding Your City" experience the new brand — and can also disseminate Creating a Brand for Downtown" Tripp Muldrow, Virginia Main Street a logo and tagline to a targeted audience. Carolyn Monitor, Summer 2006 Contact: Bill Ryan, Center For Community & Economic Development, University of Wisconsin - Extension 610 Langdon Street, Madison, WI 53703 -1104 PH: (608)265 -8136; FAX: (608)263 -4999; TTY: (800)947 -3529; HTTP: / /WWW.UWEX.EDU /CES /CCED An EEO /Affirmative Action Employer, UW- Extension provides equal opportunities in employment and programming, including Title Ix and ADA requirements. 3 g