The City of Monroe has hired a local company to rebrand the city in time for the mayor’s state of the city address in February; it’s a great idea, but the timeline is too short.
In its November 24th meeting, the city council approved a $60,000 contract with a local company called “CreateLore” to rebrand the city or change the way the city is seen by others.
A company that rebrands a city has to become completely aware of its positives and its negatives, have a city plan to promote, decide its target audience and then recommend a promotion of the city’s strengths that reflect a unified theme in all of its literature, websites, social media, and communications.
Rebranding is not a matter of changing the city logo or coming up with a catchy slogan. That’s been done before. Rebranding reflects a positive change in the city’s culture that reflects itself in the way its citizens feel or the city’s national image.
The city has had several changes in mottos and logos over the years, but the only rebranding of Monroe was done under the administration of Mayor W.L. Howard who began his tenure in 1956. Howard wanted to brand Monroe as a tourist-friendly city, with racial harmony, business opportunity, and a wholesome family-oriented social environment. He characterized his plan with the brand label, “The Pacemaker City of the South.”
That was a tall order. He passed taxes to build the City Hall complex including the Civic Center, Masur Museum, four recreation centers and a world-class Zoo. He had to fight the KKK to desegregate the city and with angry black leaders to cool down tempers and open dialogues. The public bought into his safe-city/tourism idea and began to see itself as the “Pacemaker City.”
That brand stuck until he left public office in the 1970s.
In the interim, different mayors had logo and motto changes, but none of the changes represented a major shift in the city’s culture or direction.
It was nearly seven years before Howard felt comfortable enough to promote the “Pacemaker City of the South” brand. He had to sell the plan first.
He followed the old Zenith Electronics motto “The quality goes in, before the name goes on.”
Mayor Oliver Ellis wants the company hired by the city to present its rebrand ideas by February. The company’s director Micheal Jordan, told the council that the extensive interviews necessary would be time consuming to get it right, but the mayor wants it by February.
In two months, the company will have time to talk to council members and a few members of the public. It will have time to design a new logo, letterhead, and media presence. The final product will, no doubt, appeal to the eye. However, with only a two-month window, it will not successfully rebrand the city; it will only give it another motto, color scheme and label.
Rebranding requires extensive data-driven research. To really work, rebranding is associated with planned changes of direction or culture of the city.
As yet, the city has not formulated a plan to rebrand. It’s the Zenith motto in reverse, “The name goes on, before the plan goes in.”
Mayor James Mayo labeled Monroe “One city, one future” it was a catchy label, but did not represent a cultural change. It consisted of sticking his name and face on everything.
Mayor Abe E. Pierce, III used the motto “Together we can work it out,” but it fizzled; he never promoted it with vigor.
The other mayors didn’t even attempt to have a motto or logo.
We think the city should back away from its arbitrary February deadline and give CreateLore the time necessary to assemble the focus groups, study the data, review the finalized plans of the entire transition team, and then present the new brand.
The city is paying for a rush job that will look great for politics, but will not accomplish the goal.
A rush job ignores the fact that Forbes magazine reports that 86 percent of all rebranding projects that are rushed, usually fail.
Get a plan, sell the plan, then rebrand; that can’t be effectively done in two months.
It’s a good idea, but a rush job just for a public show amounts to a waste of $60,000.
