Branding & Marketing
Branding and marketing techniques that will engage participants and sponsors
Creating and maintaining a strong brand that serves as a foundation for active marketing efforts is vital to a successful program. Your brand builds credibility and marketing raises awareness of your program among the target audiences you want to reach. Done right, these two elements serve as the base for the entire program.
Elements of Success
Establish a strong brand
Flood the market during the first six months to create strong brand awareness. Use the ‘newness’ of your effort to create earned media opportunities to keep costs low.Involve your municipality
Municipality leadership should be involved in the launch and ongoing support of the effort through frequent communications. Municipality leadership should also play a big role in participant recognition reiterating the importance of the program and its impact to participating properties and the community.Give participants visibility
Use your marketing and media efforts to give visibility to participants. Provide signage and materials to participants so they can let employees, customers and the public know about their participation.Use the right messaging
Pick some key participation benefits to build your messaging around program goals that resonate with city goals and community priorities: saving money, conserving natural resources and creating jobs, offer a “three-fer” of benefits to participants.
Flood the market during the first six months to create strong brand awareness. Use the ‘newness’ of your effort to create earned media opportunities to keep costs low.Involve your municipality
Municipality leadership should be involved in the launch and ongoing support of the effort through frequent communications. Municipality leadership should also play a big role in participant recognition reiterating the importance of the program and its impact to participating properties and the community.Give participants visibility
Use your marketing and media efforts to give visibility to participants. Provide signage and materials to participants so they can let employees, customers and the public know about their participation.Use the right messaging
Pick some key participation benefits to build your messaging around program goals that resonate with city goals and community priorities: saving money, conserving natural resources and creating jobs, offer a “three-fer” of benefits to participants.
Demonstrate the value of the program through its resources
Convey to participants the value of the program by introducing them to the tools and resources they’ll receive throughout their participation in the program. Build awareness of the tools through marketing efforts.
Create implementation excitement
Use branding and marketing events to help spark implementation.
- Municipal leadership is key to getting the word out. Keep your muni involved in communications early and regularly to build the brand and solidify the idea of civic pride around the program.
ATLANTA ACCENT
Create brand advocates
In addition to Mayor Kasim Reed, Atlanta had a few key stakeholders from the commercial real estate and energy efficiency industries that advocated for the program from the onset, including AJ Robinson, Atlanta Downtown Improvement District, Rutherford Seydel, Davis, Pickren & Seydel, and Dennis Creech, Southface.