Subject
title
Discussion and Instructions on Branding
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Department
CMO - Public Information and Community Engagement
Recommendation
Following the presentation of the findings from the community focus groups on the final three brand logos and taglines, staff recommends that the Mayor and Council select one brand logo and one tagline as the city’s official brand.
Discussion
On January 8, 2024, the newly elected Mayor and Council instructed staff to work with Medium Giant to create focus groups to gather feedback from the community on the three reimagined logos and taglines.
Staff collaborated with Medium Giant to conduct six focus groups, each consisting of three people, to gather feedback on the final three brand logos and taglines.
This staff report includes a PowerPoint presentation summarizing Medium Giant’s focus group findings. Staff and Medium Giant representative Ginny Quina will present the findings at the meeting.
Mayor and Council History
In June 2022, the Mayor and Council awarded the city branding initiative contract to the marketing firm Medium Giant as a branding consultant to develop a new citywide brand.
Since then, a team from the Public Information Office (PIO) and Medium Giant have worked together to develop viable branding concepts for the city’s new brand. The Medium Giant team created five branding options in that process.
The process of developing the five branding concepts was done in four phases:
Phase One: Discovery-The PIO Team met with Medium Giant to establish expectations and an understanding of the city brand.
Phase Two: Audit + Strategy - Medium Giant conducted research and audits that included focus groups (city staff, business owners, residents, and the Mayor and Council), as well as an in-market visit. Medium Giant analyzed the data and developed a marketing strategy to build several branding options.
Phase Three: Strategy Presentation-The Medium Giant team presented a brand strategy encompassing the city's brand position, essence, and promise. That strategy was used to establish Rockville's new brand identity. The strategy's foundation was the concept of "dynamic diversity" and is meant to be aspirational.
Phase Four: Creative Concepts -Medium Giant developed several creative campaign concepts that brought the strategy to life.
On September 18, 2023, the Mayor and Council did not approve any of the proposed concepts presented by staff and Medium Giant. After a lengthy discussion, the governing body directed staff to add to the original scope of work by including the following:
• Remove the “cross” from the city flag from any branding concept.
• Redevelop two of the original branding concepts.
• Add a branding workshop with a follow-up survey to participants.
• Create an entirely new branding concept.
This scope expansion cost $58,400.
On January 8, 2024, the newly elected Mayor and Council directed staff to collaborate with Medium Giant to create focus groups for gathering feedback from the community on the three redesigned logos
The Mayor and Council’s discussions on the branding initiative can be viewed here: September 18, 2023 Branding Discussion <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0NHrk8ZG0E> and January 8, 2024 Branding Discussion <https://youtu.be/7D29Y7srKjY>.
Next Steps
Depending on the decision of the Mayor and Council, staff will do the following:
• Medium Giant will provide the deliverables needed for the PIO team to begin implementing the brand citywide.
• The PIO team will train city staff on how to use the brand within all citywide communications and outreach plans. This will take at least 3 months, and additional costs may exist to implement the brand citywide.
Attachments:
PowerPoint of branding focus group findings and Medium Giant recommendation.
Appendix detailing the branding process.