In 2005, Snoqualmie, Washington developed a new marketing plan to help attract business development to the city.  In the plan, the city of Snoqualmie outlined the need to preserve the scenic and historic character of the city, and offered a detailed plan for doing so through rebranding.  Today, the city of Snoqualmie’s leaders still use the branding techniques proposed within their branding innovation in city publications and social media campaigns. The benefits of their rebranding have been evidenced in the many awards, investments, and initiatives they have seen since the adoption of the new branding strategy.

You can learn more about the city of Snoqualmie and how to stimulate economic development in your community by reading through some of the branding-related resources on the Knowledge Network.

• “Branding your Borough” offers an outline of a private-sector approach to branding by explaining the need for a dedicated branding strategy and offers advice for local governments seeking to differentiate themselves from other localities.
• A question from an ICMA member from Hamilton, Ohio, whose strategic plan called for the implementation of a new branding strategy, sparked a helpful discussion about the realities of developing a new brand for a local government.
• In “Do the Loop: Branding a Geographical Destination,” the Alliance for Innovation offers a case study on the implementation of a branding strategy where there had not previously been one through the story of New Smyrna Beach, Florida.
• In 2013, the city of Sparks, Nevada unleashed its new branding campaign after sending out a RFP for the project. Use their RFP memo as a model to find a new branding strategy for your community.

To learn more about developing a new branding strategy or new identity for your community, browse through the Knowledge Network’s innovation, economic development, community development, citizen engagement and strategic planning topic pages.  If you would like to share stories about your community’s rebranding efforts, feel free to share your stories in the comments section below, or add presentations or articles to the Knowledge Network’s documents page.

Aloha,

James Davidson

James Davidson is an intern for ICMA’s Knowledge Network. You can reach him for questions and comments at jdavidson@icma.org.