EDC Philosophy
As you know branding plays a huge role in developing business communities, and making them stand out. Eisenberg And Associates (E&A) has a unique approach to branding, one that involves utilizing the research you already have, doing some of our own qualitative primary research and most importantly implementing that research with a specific strategy in mind so that it is beneficial to your municipality and grows its economic base. As a result of our branding process your Economic Development brand will be positioned for success. We will design the ideal creative message to positively influence business owners to come to your municipality. In addition, we will have developed custom action ideas for taking your two-dimensional paper brand and bringing it to life in your very three-dimensional city. At Eisenberg And Associates we believe that a brand is more than a logo, it is a personality. We look forward to discovering your municipality’s unique personality and communicating that personality to businesses.
BACKGROUND RESEARCH
Our first step is to spend some time going through any research that you have on file. E&A will be discovering your municipality’s personality and we need as much information as we can get our hands on. During this time we will also scope out communities around your municipality and evaluate your position relative to the competition.
PRIMARY RESEARCH
In smaller municipalities especially, community matters. So we talk to the community to see what they think about doing business and living in your city. The main focus is on businesses, however we also want to talk to a few residents in order to get an overall feel of the city.
Another component of our primary research is outside perception. How do people in surrounding towns perceive you? Often times it’s quite different than what you think.
DIRECTION
After we spend some time getting to understand more about your municipality we work on a positioning strategy together. We hold a meeting with a few key stakeholders and talk about what you want to be known for, what the research says that you are known for and how we can change this perception or make it stronger.
CREATIVE
If the research and your board deem this step necessary once a direction is decided upon we begin to develop a logo, tag-line, graphic standards, and stationary.
LAUNCH STRATEGY
E&A helps you develop a strategy to get the word out about your new brand. We suggest an internal launch first (in order to get the EDC board, leaders of the municipality, your employees and local businesses on board with the new brand). Then we help you launch your brand to other businesses. This could take many forms, including: events, direct mail pieces, website design, downtown details and awards. Most of what we suggest will be based off of what we think will work best for your municipality, which means research is key. So lets get started.