Place Branding for American Cities
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Place Branding for American Cities Hamilton County Planning Partnership March 14, 2014
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Nick Vehr, president of Vehr Commmunications, shares his recent presentation as the keynote speaker at the Annual Meeting of the Hamilton County (OH) Planning Partnership on Friday, March 14. In the presentation, learn more about the challenges and benefits of place branding for cities, states and countries, an overview of how to do place branding, the 15 most common mistakes of place branding and more.
Transcript of 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
