A thoughtful, stimulating article about creating a new image for our region congruent with the new reality it has grown to embrace.
An excerpt.
Branding the Region
Appeal to a Design-Savvy Audience
By Elizabeth Sagehorn and Deanna Broxton
Unfortunately, if you ask your cousin in Cleveland or your best friend in Baltimore what they think of Sacramento, you’re likely to get a quizzical stare, and then maybe an eventual mutter about a movie-star governor and the Kings. But a growing verve abounds here that Sacramento is poised for greatness, if only the message can spread and there is an image to match.
That’s why there is an intensive effort under way by a host of public and private projects to brand the region. From Sacramento State’s new image to proposals for a new city nickname, regional institutions are using cutting-edge corporate identity and marketing methods to create a new look.
Staying In Step
Designers say it’s not uncommon for corporations to change their logo or “look” every 10 years. Redesigns of websites may happen every two to three years. Make an old thing “new and improved” and it shows that an organization is competitive in the marketplace.
More and more local public institutions and other organizations are recognizing the need to appeal to a design-savvy audience when representing the region. For public institutions, rebranding can signify they are staying in step with the world around them. “Public institutions are just catching up to what private corporations have been doing for years,” says Steve Mehallo, graphic designer and president of the Sacramento Art Directors and Artists Club.
Best Face Forward
Motivated by a desire to keep pace with growth, better serve members, and communicate mission and values to target audiences, many organizations have recently updated their websites and/or created new logos, taglines and positioning statements. Among them are the Sacramento Area Commerce and Trade Organization and the California Chamber of Commerce. Amtrak California, the Elk Grove Chamber of Commerce and the cities of Roseville and Rancho Cordova are also undergoing rebranding efforts.
Blue River Interactive Group is a Sacramento design firm hired to redesign websites for the California Chamber of Commerce. Still in the midst of the process, Blue River has redesigned the chamber’s product-delivery site and human resources site, as well as making the sites easier to update and to manage the back-end database functions. Along the way, Blue River CEO Malcolm O’Keeffe could have hit many road blocks. Yet, says principal Ryan Thompson, the chamber was “remarkably forward thinking. This is a 100-year-old organization, but the people we were dealing with are hip to marketing and understand the need for change.”
When the Sacramento Convention and Visitors Bureau decided to do a revamp, it put the problem in the hands of John Chua, president of Digital Gear in Sacramento. Chua’s primary objective was to create an emotional impression that would engage the visitor. But first he had to know who the visitor was.
“We spent a lot of time defining who the visitors were going to be and made sure we had content that addressed those needs,” says Chua. “We focused on interesting content, making it relevant, up-to-date, eye-catching and interest-grabbing.”
Digital Gear also used fast-loading graphics, keyword optimization to be sure the site appeared at or near the top in the most popular search engines, and metrics for easier management of the website.
It seems to be working. Even though the CVB was more interested in getting the relevant information to the people who needed it, rather than increasing their “hit” quotient (the number of individual visitors to the new site), the number of individual visitors has gone up slightly, according to Sonya Bradley, the bureau’s director of marketing services.
A Vivid Brain Tattoo
Area leaders agree that outdated websites and logos and inconsistent promotional materials won’t attract businesses to the area, students to the universities, or top-flight execs looking for a great place to work and live. Replacing nicknames and slogans, such as “Sackatomatoes” and “Ninety Minutes from Somewhere,” are crucial. Being known as a cow town just won’t cut it anymore.
This is why many of the region’s movers and shakers are banding together to shape and share a message that will invigorate interest in Sacramento from outsiders as well as people already living here.
