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Washburn Branding InitiativE
Project Purpose:
The primary objective of this project is to identify a community brand that will better position the City of Washburn within the greater Northern Wisconsin region. The final branding report will contain a community-generated brand positioning statement, strategic objectives and guidelines for use of the brand. This will be assembled into a branding book.
Project Team:
A team from UW-Madison Division of Extension will provide facilitation and coordination of the project.
Mary Motiff, Mayor of City of Washburn will provide community leadership for the project. The City of Washburn will work closely with the Washburn Area Chamber of Commerce to champion the project with additional support from the Washburn Business Alliance.
A team of 6-8 community residents will be recruited to work together in a series of (6) 75-minute meetings to gather and analyze data and develop the branding position. Team members shall reside in the School District of Washburn and represent a diversity of perspectives and community stakeholder groups.
Project Timeline:
Project will be conducted between January 2021 and June 2021.
Proposed Schedule:
Six (6) bi-monthy meetings will be scheduled between March 1st and May 15th on Tuesday or Wednesday afternoons from 4:00pm to 5:15pm.
Meetings will be hosted virtually via the Zoom platform.
In order to conduct this project successfully in the virtual environment Project Team members will need to have appropriate technology to be able to be seen and heard in the virtual environment while able to simultaneously review onscreen documents.
February 2 or 3: Stakeholder groups meet
Early February: Recruitment of residents for project team
February 15: Project Team finalized
March 2 or 3: Meeting 1: Introduction and Discussion of Community Needs/Hopes
March 16 or 17: Meeting 2: Survey Construction
March 30 or 31: Meeting 3: Survey Launch
March 31: Survey distributed to community
April 13 or 14: Meeting 4: Trade Area Profile Discussion
April 27 or 28: Meeting 5: Survey Results & Identification of Brand Pillars
May 18 or 19: Meeting 6: Review of Brand Book Text, Image Selection
May 25 or 26: Make-up/additional meeting if needed
June: Production/printing of Branding Book
What is a Community Brand?
Like a consumer product brand, a community brand is a combination of the name(s) and symbol(s) associated with a particular place. A community’s brand serves as the basis for marketing and communication strategy decisions. When done well, community branding builds on existing associations with a community and captures the enduring essence of that community, articulating its reputation, values and promise.
Why Brand?
Communities are often in unspoken competition for new businesses and residents. A strong brand identity provides reasons for individuals to choose one community over other, similar communities. For those already living or conducting business in a community, a strong brand can reaffirm their investment in the community, articulate community values and serve as a rallying point for involvement.
How do we discover our community’s brand?
Discovering a community’s brand is a multi-step process that works best when community residents and stakeholders are closely involved in the process. Starting with information acquired during market analysis, UW-Madison Division of Extension Specialists meet with the clients to determine the goals of branding. After careful consideration the clients choose a brand strategy that suits their needs. Typical community brand strategies include:
Overarching Community Brand
· The Big Apple (New York, NY), Keep Austin Weird (Austin, TX)
Destination Brand
·Door County, Wisconsin Dells
Economic Development Brand
·The Paper Valley (Appleton-Neenah-Menasha, WI), N.E.W. North (Northeastern Wisconsin),
Motor City (Detroit, MI), Music City USA (Nashville, TN)
Thematic Brand
· Entertainment Capital of the World (Los Angeles, CA)
The Branding Process
Once a branding strategy has been selected, UW-Madison Division of Extension guides client communities through a five-step process to discover their community brand.
Step 1: Understand the current position of Washburn
Includes: Gathering and reviewing available public data on Washburn’s current demographic and economic profiles. Soliciting feedback from current residents and stakeholders, as well as those external to the community.
Review trade area profile and a commuter profile
Step 2: Identify Washburn’s position and niche relative to other communities Includes: Review of data and literature, identifying the need for
additional information and gathering such information via interviews, focus groups or surveys, if needed
Step 3: Develop a brand proposition for Washburn
Includes: Image/photograph collection and key brand messages to be used in the brand proposition
Step 4: Test the emerging brand proposition for Washburn
Includes: Soliciting feedback from current stakeholders and/or potential stakeholders regarding different message, logos and
communication strategies
Step 5: Prepare public documentation articulating the brand and providing guidelines for use Step 6: Activate the Brand!
Branding Report
This project will result in a comprehensive brand report which includes:
Brand History
Brief overview of Washburn’s history
Intention statement for branding project
Washburn Brand Promise
The community’s brand proposition
Brand proposition pillars
The Washburn brand pyramid
Washburn s key brand messages
Economic Brand Promise
Economic aspects of the Washburn brand
Value proposition to businesses and investors
Quality of Life Brand Promise
Quality of life aspects of the Washburn brand
Value proposition to residents
Education Brand Promise
Education aspects of Washburn brand
Value proposition to students and their families
Visitor Brand Promise
Visitor aspects of the Washburn brand
Value proposition to visitors
Cost Sharing
The UW-Madison Division of Extension is eager to make community branding affordable and accessible. In order to make this possible, the UW-Center of Community Economic Development provides funding to cover the time of UW specialists and researchers allocated to the project. Expenses related to any travel, graphic design, photography and printing and production are to be covered by the participating community. Your local UW Community Development Educator will advise, coordinate and oversee the execution of these tasks and help locate appropriate local designers for their completion.
Development of Branding Book
The branding report is a template for the Branding Book, which becomes the public facing document to be shared. Developing a strong back of photos and images is a critical component to developing a strong branding book. The cost for design, and production of the branding
book needs to be covered by the community.
The primary objective of this project is to identify a community brand that will better position the City of Washburn within the greater Northern Wisconsin region. The final branding report will contain a community-generated brand positioning statement, strategic objectives and guidelines for use of the brand. This will be assembled into a branding book.
Project Team:
A team from UW-Madison Division of Extension will provide facilitation and coordination of the project.
- Kristin Runge, Community Economic Development and Branding Specialist with the Division of Community and Economic Development Program and the EDA University Center will provide process facilitation and leadership on research.
- Kellie Pederson, local Community Development Educator, will provide facilitation support and project coordination.
- Additional research support will be provided by Bill Ryan, Community Economic Development and Downtown Specialist.
Mary Motiff, Mayor of City of Washburn will provide community leadership for the project. The City of Washburn will work closely with the Washburn Area Chamber of Commerce to champion the project with additional support from the Washburn Business Alliance.
A team of 6-8 community residents will be recruited to work together in a series of (6) 75-minute meetings to gather and analyze data and develop the branding position. Team members shall reside in the School District of Washburn and represent a diversity of perspectives and community stakeholder groups.
Project Timeline:
Project will be conducted between January 2021 and June 2021.
Proposed Schedule:
Six (6) bi-monthy meetings will be scheduled between March 1st and May 15th on Tuesday or Wednesday afternoons from 4:00pm to 5:15pm.
Meetings will be hosted virtually via the Zoom platform.
In order to conduct this project successfully in the virtual environment Project Team members will need to have appropriate technology to be able to be seen and heard in the virtual environment while able to simultaneously review onscreen documents.
February 2 or 3: Stakeholder groups meet
Early February: Recruitment of residents for project team
February 15: Project Team finalized
March 2 or 3: Meeting 1: Introduction and Discussion of Community Needs/Hopes
March 16 or 17: Meeting 2: Survey Construction
March 30 or 31: Meeting 3: Survey Launch
March 31: Survey distributed to community
April 13 or 14: Meeting 4: Trade Area Profile Discussion
April 27 or 28: Meeting 5: Survey Results & Identification of Brand Pillars
May 18 or 19: Meeting 6: Review of Brand Book Text, Image Selection
May 25 or 26: Make-up/additional meeting if needed
June: Production/printing of Branding Book
What is a Community Brand?
Like a consumer product brand, a community brand is a combination of the name(s) and symbol(s) associated with a particular place. A community’s brand serves as the basis for marketing and communication strategy decisions. When done well, community branding builds on existing associations with a community and captures the enduring essence of that community, articulating its reputation, values and promise.
Why Brand?
Communities are often in unspoken competition for new businesses and residents. A strong brand identity provides reasons for individuals to choose one community over other, similar communities. For those already living or conducting business in a community, a strong brand can reaffirm their investment in the community, articulate community values and serve as a rallying point for involvement.
How do we discover our community’s brand?
Discovering a community’s brand is a multi-step process that works best when community residents and stakeholders are closely involved in the process. Starting with information acquired during market analysis, UW-Madison Division of Extension Specialists meet with the clients to determine the goals of branding. After careful consideration the clients choose a brand strategy that suits their needs. Typical community brand strategies include:
Overarching Community Brand
· The Big Apple (New York, NY), Keep Austin Weird (Austin, TX)
Destination Brand
·Door County, Wisconsin Dells
Economic Development Brand
·The Paper Valley (Appleton-Neenah-Menasha, WI), N.E.W. North (Northeastern Wisconsin),
Motor City (Detroit, MI), Music City USA (Nashville, TN)
Thematic Brand
· Entertainment Capital of the World (Los Angeles, CA)
The Branding Process
Once a branding strategy has been selected, UW-Madison Division of Extension guides client communities through a five-step process to discover their community brand.
Step 1: Understand the current position of Washburn
Includes: Gathering and reviewing available public data on Washburn’s current demographic and economic profiles. Soliciting feedback from current residents and stakeholders, as well as those external to the community.
Review trade area profile and a commuter profile
Step 2: Identify Washburn’s position and niche relative to other communities Includes: Review of data and literature, identifying the need for
additional information and gathering such information via interviews, focus groups or surveys, if needed
Step 3: Develop a brand proposition for Washburn
Includes: Image/photograph collection and key brand messages to be used in the brand proposition
Step 4: Test the emerging brand proposition for Washburn
Includes: Soliciting feedback from current stakeholders and/or potential stakeholders regarding different message, logos and
communication strategies
Step 5: Prepare public documentation articulating the brand and providing guidelines for use Step 6: Activate the Brand!
Branding Report
This project will result in a comprehensive brand report which includes:
Brand History
Brief overview of Washburn’s history
Intention statement for branding project
Washburn Brand Promise
The community’s brand proposition
Brand proposition pillars
The Washburn brand pyramid
Washburn s key brand messages
Economic Brand Promise
Economic aspects of the Washburn brand
Value proposition to businesses and investors
Quality of Life Brand Promise
Quality of life aspects of the Washburn brand
Value proposition to residents
Education Brand Promise
Education aspects of Washburn brand
Value proposition to students and their families
Visitor Brand Promise
Visitor aspects of the Washburn brand
Value proposition to visitors
Cost Sharing
The UW-Madison Division of Extension is eager to make community branding affordable and accessible. In order to make this possible, the UW-Center of Community Economic Development provides funding to cover the time of UW specialists and researchers allocated to the project. Expenses related to any travel, graphic design, photography and printing and production are to be covered by the participating community. Your local UW Community Development Educator will advise, coordinate and oversee the execution of these tasks and help locate appropriate local designers for their completion.
Development of Branding Book
The branding report is a template for the Branding Book, which becomes the public facing document to be shared. Developing a strong back of photos and images is a critical component to developing a strong branding book. The cost for design, and production of the branding
book needs to be covered by the community.