Sunday Column

Chamber Chat

Sunday, September 14

Our new community brand will be unveiled to the public on Thursday, October 2 at Depot Park. The 2^nd Century Project will reveal the results of their year-long research and interview process which will take the form of concrete branding symbols such as a name, logo, slogan and design scheme. Along with art work and concepts for creative advertising, there is an extensive market analysis which includes an action plan for our community to implement in the future.

How does a community decide on a brand? Actually, Lee County’s brand is not something we get to decide…it is something we already are. Advertising and marketing experts employ a specific process which discovers or uncovers the essence of what we are as a community.

The research project, undertaken eleven months ago, took a close look at our community. The researchers dug deep into why it exists. Interviews of community leaders were designed to reveal the story of Lee County and its people. To brand a company, marketers look for the “unique selling proposition.” Sometimes the product or service has a positive benefit which makes an outstanding brand story. Think Oil of Olay and most women think of younger skin. Think Kodak and the connection is made to family memories. Our community has a story that provides a “brand experience.” The job of the 2^nd Century Project was to discover the right story that would lead to the development of the brand.

What is your opinion of our brand image? Do we even have one? Think of the color icon or symbol of such famous brands as Caterpillar’s distinctive yellow CAT symbol…UPS with brown…McDonald’s yellow arches…Coca Cola with its one-of-a-kind script. Those companies made color and design choices that uniquely identifies their company within its market environment. Our choice of color, font and iconic imagery should also reflect our identity as a growing and diverse community in the middle of a growing and diverse state.

Another thing to remember is that companies strive to make sure that all marketing materials portray a professional brand image. Every item should be consistent. This is not so hard for a single company, but imagine how difficult it will be to get an entire community to use the artistic choices of a small group. There is nothing more important than this when you want your audience to take you seriously. An inconsistent brand image not only confuses the viewer but does nothing to help build our brand story. We need a “culture of familiarity” so that, over time, the viewer builds a comfort level and trust with our brand image.

All of our community institutions can benefit from using a consistent, although not identical, image. City and county governemtn, the town of Broadway, our school system and the Chamber, for example, can use common themes in their logo design and communication materials.

If we have taken the time and made the effort to discover and analyze our community brand correctly, and we believe 2^nd Century steering committee and the professions they hired have certainly done so, the brand values they will disclose to the community on October 2 will lay a solid foundation for a dynamic, successful marketing campaign for our community.