What happens to a municipality that has no clear identity or narrative?

The first thing we usually see is inconsistency.

One department is using one version of the logo. Another department has created its own. Tourism looks completely different from Economic Development. Parks and Recreation has another identity. Then every festival and community event gets its own logo.

Before long, you have a lot of people communicating on behalf of the same community without much visually connecting them.

That doesn't necessarily mean the community has a bad reputation. More often, we see it as a missed opportunity.

Without a clear identity and story, you're also allowing other people to define your community for you. Maybe you're known only for your location. Or one attraction. Or something that happened 30 years ago. Or simply whatever comes up first when someone searches for you online.

There's another type of confusion we've personally seen with municipal clients that I don't think gets talked about enough: when the identities of different public entities start looking too similar.

For example, a city and the local school district are two completely separate taxing entities, but residents don't necessarily think about government structure that way.

We've seen residents say something along the lines of, “Why is the city asking us for more funding? Didn't we just approve the schools' bond proposal last year?”

Those two things may have absolutely nothing to do with each other.

From inside local government, it might seem obvious that the city, county, fire district and school district are separate entities. To the average resident, it isn't always that clear.

A distinct and consistent municipal identity helps with that.

Your brand doesn't just help people recognize your community. It helps them recognize who is communicating with them.

Please reach out and we will be happy to help you navigate this with you!