Branding Rally: Place Branding
It amazes me the level of talent that flows over and through Branding Strategy Insider. So it just makes sense to try and harness the current and rally this exceptional group.
This is the first Branding Rally in which we will analyze real-world branding issues and share ideas for the greater good. My hope is that we'll pool our experiences and all will be better for it.
The focus of this rally is Place Branding. Specifically Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Ed Roach is the resident branding expert and is in the early stages of discovering who Windsor's target audiences are and what can be owned in their minds.
Ed and I are hoping to hear from you as well as Eli Portnoy, Marcia Hoeck, and Alan Williamson.
I think a good place to start is to share our process. Brad and I have some experience in this area with Tampa, Florida and are in the place branding process with a few other cities.
Typically we begin with a brand audit which ideally includes a full research component. We talk to all of the most important target audiences. Depending upon the scope of the project, this usually includes current and potential residents, current and potential businesses, tourists, conference/event planners, etc.
With this insight we move to the brand positioning phase where we lead key stakeholders through a unique and highly facilitated discovery process designed to build consensus around what the brand stands for and why target audiences would choose it over competing brands.
This phase includes a pre-workshop questionnaire to gain input from a broader group of stakeholders and influencers. This is important to gather additional insights and to rally those that will not be invited into the workshop which is best conducted with a group of 6 to 12 participants.
On the day of the workshop we discover the brand's most important target audiences, the brand's essence, competitive frame of reference, brand promise and brand personality. Key to the exercise is identifying the most unique and compelling benefits (functional, emotional, experiential and self-expressive) that the municipality can own and deliver to its target audiences.
We believe that the primary brand benefit chosen should deliver against these objectives:
