Place Branding for American Cities

Place Branding for American

Cities

Hamilton County Planning PartnershipMarch 14, 2014

Place Branding …

We all know what that is, right?

It’s a logo or a tagline

It’s an iconic structure

It’s memorable advertising

It’s not that easy

Branding, and especially place branding,

is much, much more

Your Brand is a Promise

A single, compelling value proposition

Your Brand is a Promise

A single, compelling value proposition

between you and the people that matter most to your

community(your target audience …

customer)

Your Brand is a Promise

A single, compelling value proposition

between you and the people that matter most to your

community(your target audience … customer)

to help you win(achieve your objective)

Branding is …

The fulfillment of your “promise” with every interaction with your target audience:

Branding is …

… how you bring your brand to life :– Research–Marketing– Advertising–Media Relations– Social Media– Community Relations– And much, much more

Some more Terminology

• Image: how you are perceived today• Identity: how you want your community to be

perceived (desired identity)• Themes: key differentiators• Target Audience(s): the people you must

influence to take the desired action in order to achieve your objective

• Objective(s): what action you desire of your target audience

• Key messages/positioning: words/images that will inspire your audience to the desired action

• Strategies: specific but broad plans to achieve your stated objectives

• Tactics: actionable and measureable things to do to achieve the strategies

And, it’s hard to do.

You may think you know

A

B

C

EXPECTATION

But it’s never really what you think

A

B

C

EXPECTATION

AB

CD E

FG

REALITY

Converting “prospects” to “buyers”

For every 1,000 “Qualified Prospects” you touch …

40% - 400 will not buy a thing

30% -

300 will buy from some vendor in < 6 months

20% -

200 will buy from some vendor in 6-12 months

10% -

100 will buy from some vendor in > 12 months

Place-branding has many choir leaders

Mayor

City CouncilCity Manager

Township Trustees

Neighborhood CouncilsBusiness Associations

Citizens Media

“Experts”Governor

In the public sector, everyone has an opinion

Singing off the same sheet isn’t easy

Experts:Research,

Marketing, Graphic Design,

PR

Process:Surveys,

Community Engagement,

Online Contests, Public Hearings …

Getting there …

Often feels like it takes a miracle

How to do all of this?

The concept is easy …

You are trying to influence your target audience (TA) to take a desired action …

AWhere TA is today

The concept is easy … (cont.)

You are trying to influence your target audience (TA) to take a desired action …

… to move from point A to point B

A BWhere TA is today Where you want TA to be

Execution … not so much

• PROMISE: What differentiates you … your compelling value proposition?

• AUDIENCE: Who matters most to you?• OBJECTIVE: What action do I want them

to take?• KEY MESSAGE/POSITIONING: What can

I say or do to affect the desired action?

Execution … not so much (cont.)

• STRATEGIES: How do I do it?• TACTICS: What specific things should I

do?• EXECUTION: How and who will do it

consistently and professionally?• MEASUREMENT: How do I know if it’s

working?• ADJUST: How do I know if I should change

it up?

It starts with a promise

PROMISE

OBJECTIVESTHEMES

KEY MESSAGES(story concepts/ideas)

STRATEGIESTACTICS

(content calendar, timetables,

accountabilities)

MEASURE & ADJUST

Message map … a tool

PROMISE …Our community will help you to achieve

your American dream

Message map … a tool (cont.)

PROMISE …

OBJECTIVES …Increase tax base by X%

X% fewer Type 1 crimes

Reduce citizen

complaints by X%

Our community will help you to achieve

your American dream

Message map … a tool (cont.)

PROMISE …

OBJECTIVES …

THEMES … Lower cost of doing

business

No individual income tax

Achieve work/life balance

Increase tax base by X%

X% fewer Type 1 crimes

Reduce citizen

complaints by X%

Our community will help you to achieve

your American dream

Message map … a tool (cont.)

PROMISE …

OBJECTIVES …

THEMES …

KEY MESSAGES … No corporate inventory tax

Shovel-ready development

sites

Plentiful, educated workforce

Increase tax base by X%

X% fewer Type 1 crimes

Reduce citizen

complaints by X% Lower cost of

doing business

No individual income tax

Achieve work/life balance

Our community will help you to achieve

your American dream

Message map … a tool (cont.)

PROMISE …

OBJECTIVES …

THEMES …

KEY MESSAGES …

STRATEGIES …

Our community will help you to achieve

your American dream

No corporate inventory tax

Shovel-ready development

sites

Plentiful, educated workforce

Third party study of area

taxes

Company “X” case study

Community CEO

testimonials

Increase tax base by X%

X% fewer Type 1 crimes

Reduce citizen

complaints by X% Lower cost of

doing business

No individual income tax

Achieve work/life balance

Message map … a tool (cont.)

PROMISE …

OBJECTIVES …

THEMES …

KEY MESSAGES …

STRATEGIES …

TACTICS …

Our community will help you to achieve

your American dream

No corporate inventory tax

Shovel-ready development

sites

Plentiful, educated workforce

Third party study of area

taxes

Company “X” case study

Community CEO

testimonials

Local business

paper

Letter from Mayor

Call from another

CEO

Increase tax base by X%

X% fewer Type 1 crimes

Reduce citizen

complaints by X% Lower cost of

doing business

No individual income tax

Achieve work/life balance

Why it matters …Five benefits of place-branding

1. It influences choice

Your target audience (customer) will recognize you more quickly and choose you more often.

2. It creates loyalists and advocates

Creating an emotional connection strengthens a personal bond and sense of loyalty.

3. It connects price with quality service

Citizens are more willing to pay for quality services if they value the tangible and intangible benefits of living and working there.

4. It empowers everyone … creates “we”

From staff to elected officials to citizens, it empowers everyone to demand excellence, expect quality and professionalism. It creates “we” and breaks down “us” and “them.”

5. It enables growth

Growth requires investment. Investment requires trust. Trust generates resources.

Five Benefits of Place-Branding

1.It influences choice2.It creates loyalists and advocates3.It connects price with quality service4.It empowers everyone … creates “we”5.It enables growth

15 most common mistakes in

place-branding

1. Over Promising. Under Delivering.

2. Not promising anything

3. Making boring promises

4. Ignoring your consumer

5. Ignoring your people

6. Trying to please everyone

chancesof

failure

# of people you try to

please

7. Fear of upsetting anyone

8. Fear of standing out

9. Letting opinions rule over expertise

10. Outsourcing who you are and what you do

11. Thinking of branding too late in the development process

Hey, boss, the new project is finished

and it looks beautiful.

FANTASTIC!Now, let’s brand it as a recreation

center. Check that. How about a health clinic. Never mind.

Let’s call it the “People’s Park”.

Huh … that sounds like

Putin? Never mind. Can we sell naming

rights?

12. Thinking of branding only as marketing, logo, tagline, etc.

13. No one owns the brand

14. Changing your brand for no good reason

15. Letting perfection be the barrier to great, or even really good

Fifteen Most Common Mistakes in Place Branding

1. Over promising. Under Delivering.2. Not promising anything.3. Making boring promises.4. Ignoring your consumer.5. Ignoring your people.6. Trying to please everyone.7. Fear of upsetting anyone.8. Fear of being original.9. Letting opinions rule over expertise.10. Outsourcing who you are and what you do.11. Thinking of branding too late in the process.12. Thinking of branding only as marketing, logo, tagline, etc.13. No one owns the brand.14. Changing your brand for no good reason.15. Letting perfection be the barrier to great, or even really good.

Some resources

Strengthening Brand America

The Burghard Group (http://strengtheningbrandamerica.com/)

Strengthening Brand America (http://www.scoop.it/t/place-branding)

The American DreamComposite Index TM

American Dream Composite IndexXavier Universityhttp://americandreamcompositeindex.com/

strategic communicationswww.vehrcommunications.com

Nick Vehr513.381.8347

Vehr Communications ▪ 700 walnut street ▪ Suite 450 ▪ Cincinnati, OH 45202