Agenda - Planning Commission - 12/04/2014

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Strategies to Improve Communities promote their communities and the work they do to visitors and residents alike. Reimaging or branding is an increasingly popular approach for cities and counties to highlight their unique attributes in a strategic voice. A Case Study in Community Branding Greeley, Colorado Greeley, Colorado has a rich agricultural history of sugar beets, produce, corn and cattle as well as a highly -regarded university. However, as the longtime home of a meat processing facility, Greeley grew to have a reputation inside and outside the city as a place that featured some of the less attractive attributes of agriculture. A simplistic summary of a complex community, this stereotype, born out of the city's agrarian heritage, seemed to have a tail wind that blew into all parts of Colorado until City leaders had had enough. It was time for this city, with a population just shy of 1oo,000, to allocate resources to define the problem more clearly, gather and analyze data, set baselines for future comparisons and, most importantly, to take action. The citizen survey results confirmed what everyone knew, but the survey put a number to it: two-thirds of Greeley residents thought that the community's image was not good. The cultural scene is weak. No, not by any means! The Greeley Philharmonic just celebrated its 103rd season making it one of the oldest symphony orchestras in the nation The new Creative District highlights the people, galleries and activities that make Greeley's creative class glad they're here www.greeleyereatived istrict.org; However, about the same percent felt that more effort should be put into improving the community image through "communication, marketing and image building with residents and external audiences, community appearance, etc." This and other data gave Greeley's leaders the information they needed to move forward. It clearly showed that the city had grown and evolved from its early agricultural roots and that people were fed up © 2014, National Research Center, Inc. with the old misperceptions. A partnership was formed by Greeley City government with the Greeley Chamber of Commerce, University of Northern Colorado, Aims Community College and others to improve the city's image. With financial and civic support, Greeley embarked on an aggressive marketing and image initiative to show the state — and even local residents — that Greeley was far more than its distant history. The advertising campaign within the initiative, named "Greeley Unexpected," includes photos, conversations, traditional advertising, social and traditional media engagement and multi -media placements that highlight the great things about Greeley that too many people did not know or ignored. These images, from the Greeley Unexpected campaign, help tell the story of a diverse and creative community and generate enthusiasm for the little known facts that Greeley is home to a variety of interesting individuals and businesses, from internationally known musicians to a special effects house that creates animatronic horrors for Hollywood. For more information about the Greeley Unexpected campaign, a Flickr gallery of Greeley scenes, and more, visit: httn: / /www.greelevunexnected.com. For more information on local government branding, see ICMA's Knowledge Network Community Branding Resources: httn://icma.org/en/B1ogPost/h2A/Knowledge Netw ork Community Branding Resources thwi . i ",:-:-, .itt';.