Help Uncover Our Community’s Authentic Story
The Branding Project
Chatham County has recently begun a community-wide branding initiative. Why? In an increasingly competitive and mobile world, communities must present what they stand for to their residents, prospective residents, visitors, and businesses to give each of these audiences confidence in choosing the community. It's a matter of ensuring long-term economic health and vibrancy.
While this is a branding project for Chatham County as a governmental organization, the County’s brand must reflect Chatham County’s identity both as a government and as a community.
The Chatham County story is defined by the people who spend their time here—living, working, and exploring. Each individual plays a part in defining this community, and their stories help us uncover the unique identity of Chatham County.
As we build the Chatham County brand, we will rely on a strong foundation of research to inform creative outcomes and implementation planning. We are currently in the Research portion of the project and look forward to uncovering and creating the Chatham County brand.
The Process
Research
We start by conducting research inside and outside of the community to uncover perceptions, attitudes, and what's unique about Chatham County.
Creativity
We then transform the research data into compelling creative tools that tell the Chatham County story and connect with residents, stakeholders, and visitors.
WE ARE HERE
Action
Lastly, we will roll out the brand into the community over time. The purpose of the brand extends beyond communications to serve and be embraced by those who call Chatham County home.
“How people think of a place is less tangible but more important than just about anything else.”
- Richard Florida,
Author & Leading Urbanist
FAQs
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Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not around. In other words, your reputation! Just like people or products, communities have reputations based on all the different experiences people have had with that community over time. Branding is the process of changing, clarifying, refining, or improving that reputation.
The first step in our community branding initiative is conducting research to figure out what Chatham County’s existing reputation is. At the same time, we will conduct research to determine what Chatham County's greatest strengths are. What makes our community special and unique? This allows us to look at what our reputation is and what we want it to be. Then, we come up with creative tools, strategies, and advocacy programs that help close the gap between the two.
A new brand won't solve all our problems. What branding can do is focus people on the positive differentiators in Chatham County, which can help us stand out as a preferred location. The stronger and more defined our reputation, the more people will want to live, work, and play here.
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A brand may include a logo and tagline, but it is much more than that. Our brand is our unique story. It sets an expectation of what our community is about and shapes what people think of Chatham County—from inside and outside of the community.
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People have opinions about Chatham County. We want to hear them all. And the only way to do that is to gather lots of data about the community. That data then becomes the primary driver for uncovering Chatham County's brand. A statistically significant body of quantitative and qualitative research ensures the brand represents the perceptions of all audiences inside and outside the community.
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You can see numerous examples of community branding on the website of North Star Place Branding + Marketing. This agency is Chatham County's branding partner.
Get Involved
At the heart of Chatham County are the stories of the people who spend their time here—and we want to hear them all! We have a few ways for you to get involved throughout the branding process.
If pictures are your preferred way to tell your story, post a picture of you, your family, and friends at a favorite Chatham County hangout. Post pictures on Instagram or Facebook with #DistinctlyChatham. The best pictures might even be used in a social media campaign associated with the rollout of the new brand!
If you have a passion to help with this process, sign up to become a Chatham County Brand Ambassador below. Ambassadors are kept updated on the project and given the tools to spread the good word about Chatham County within their own personal spheres of influence.
