Municipal branding: WHY DOES IT MATTER?

What is "place branding," and how is it different from a logo or slogan?

Place branding is really the process of figuring out what makes your community different and then giving you the tools to consistently tell that story.

One of the biggest misconceptions we run into is that branding means designing a new logo. The logo is important, but it is only one piece.

Before we ever start designing, we want to understand the community. What do residents love about living there? What makes someone want to visit? Why would a business choose to invest there? What does the community value? What do you want someone who has never been there to know about it?

Those answers start to define the bigger brand story — the personality, experiences, history and characteristics that make one community different from the next.

Then we can start thinking about how that story looks and sounds. The logo, tagline, colors, fonts, photography, messaging and other brand elements should all come out of that larger story and mission.

That's why our municipal branding process doesn't start by asking, “What should the logo look like?”

We start by asking, “What makes this place special?”

Why do cities, towns and counties need a brand strategy the same way businesses do?

There are a few different reasons we think this matters.

First, your community already has a perceived personality.

Residents experience your brand every time they visit your website, receive a utility bill, attend an event or see a social media post. Visitors experience it when they drive into town, explore downtown or search online for something to do. A business experiences it when they're considering investing in or relocating to your community.

All of those little interactions add up.

If your colors are bright and energetic, your photography shows people having fun in the community and your tone of voice is welcoming and casual, people start associating those characteristics with the community itself.

The question is: Is that happening intentionally?

A brand strategy gives you the opportunity to define the personality you want to communicate and then make sure your visuals, messaging and communications are consistently supporting it.

Second, consistency builds trust.

Think about the consumer brands you immediately recognize — Nike, Starbucks or Tide. You know what their communications are supposed to look like. You've seen the same logo, colors and overall brand hundreds of times.

That repetition creates familiarity.

The same thing happens with a municipal brand. When residents repeatedly see a consistent identity on the website, social media, signage, utility bills, newsletters and community events, they begin to recognize it without really thinking about it.

We've also seen another reason this is becoming increasingly important: phishing and cyber scams.

We've probably all received an email supposedly from a company we know and thought, “Something doesn't look right.” Maybe the logo is wrong. Maybe the colors are off. Maybe the formatting just doesn't look like what that company normally sends.

Residents can use those same visual clues with municipal communications.

When you're communicating about utility bills, taxes, payments or other city services, having a recognizable and consistently applied identity helps residents know what official communication from their municipality should look like.

Finally, today's municipal brands also need to consider accessibility.

This is something we believe needs to be part of the conversation from the beginning, not something communications staff have to fix later.

New federal accessibility requirements for state and local government websites and mobile apps are based on WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards, with compliance deadlines beginning in 2027 and 2028 depending on the size and type of public entity.

Accessibility obviously goes far beyond branding, but your brand standards can give staff a much better starting point.

Are your brand colors accessible when used together? Are your fonts easy to read? Is there enough contrast? Do your templates have a clear information hierarchy?

If you're developing a municipal brand today that you hope to use for the next 10 or 20 years, those questions need to be part of the process now.

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