City’s New Brand
By Robin Vinci | Editor at October 27, 2023 | 2:30 pm | Print
On Wednesday the Mayor’s Marketing and Branding Roundtable reviewed the first version of the Branding Initiative City Profile.
“It’s a very useful document. It is important for us to gather this information to see where we have come from and where we are today. That will help us find the answer to what we want to be as a City,” said Mayor Erin Stewart. “What do we want people to know about New Britain that would make them choose to live to work or to visit here? We have to study those basic elements to find the answer.”
The study starts with the profile of the City. Then it looks at public perceptions, building the brand and finally implementation.
“We acknowledge we may not be the richest people in the world, but we are rich in other ways and that makes New Britain extremely unique,” said Stewart.
Some facts include that 53 percent of New Britain residents are female. The median age in the City is 33.
“When you are talking about branding we need something for that age group,” said Stewart.
A survey was taken earlier in the year through the Greater New Britain Chamber of Commerce. About 350 people took the survey. Seventy percent were residents and the others were business owners.
People said they loved the location of New Britain. The parks were very popular and many thought New Britain offered a lot for young families.
The survey also brought out some negatives of the City including high taxes, low property values, crime and education.
“It is things we see in other cities, but it is a good thing to know. Now we know how to address those items,” said Stewart. “Our crime rate is down 11 percent in this year alone. We just won All-America City. Our property values will continue to rise as we get more economic development opportunities. These changes will happen gradually over time. We need to have a campaign to let people know about the positive things going on and combat the negatives.”
According to the profile the reason this was done now was because, “New Britain’s leadership includes a young energetic mayor, who is crossing political lines to generate new ideas with unilateral support. New Britain’s political landscape has also allowed for a renewed energy, as a key part of moving the city forward with bold initiatives that prepare New Britain’s story to be re-told. The image of the city is changing from being defined by its past, to being shaped by a new future.”
Some items this study is meant to achieve includes: Changing the image of a city and communicating; a positive message that everyone can get behind; can have far reaching influences on things that matter to a city most.
The following identifies what the city hopes to achieve with a new brand:
Competing more effectively for investment dollars from: Business investment, Private investment and State and Federal government; Promoting the downtown; Attracting visitors; and residents to experience the city in a new way; Recruiting job-creating businesses; Changing the image of the city to be proactive instead of reactive; To be more visible statewide and regionally; Better utilization of existing marketing resources; Turning taxes, education and safety into positive messages; Strengthen arts and culture; and more CCSU student presence in the city.
The City hopes to roll out a new brand in February that identifies all physical and digital elements that need updating and/or replacement with the new logo and visual identity.
Starting in May there will be City Brochures, a Separate City Event Website, 30-sec. video spots, TV commercial, Brand Event, Social Media and an Instagram for pics of New Britain.
The goal is by June 2018 to identify key external stakeholders who can be active supporters of the brand and partner with them to promote the brand.
“We are doing this collaboratively with the Chamber. We started with $20,000,” said Stewart. “Now, we hope other entities will pitch in some money in too.”
This document will be shared with funders and the general public.
The new brand will be released soon and residents will be able to vote on a logo at the City Journal website, nbcityjournal.com.
