PRSR HANDOUT 08-10-2011Attached is an informational memo from Director of Economic Development Annie
Deckert regarding Elk River's branding and marketing.
The Economic Development Authority will be holding a joint meeting on Monday,
September 12, 2011 at 5:30 p.m. to receive the final branding and marketing presentation
by chandlerthinks. ALL board and commission members are invited to attend this
meetinn. Please pass this meeting information and the attached memo on to your board ox
commission members as soon as possible. It can be included with your next packet if time
permits.
One special meeting notice has been prepared covering all boards and commissions so it is
not necessary for you to prepare any other meeting notices for this meeting.
# Please let me know by August 31 how many of your board/commission members plan
to attend. #
MEMORANDUM
TO:
FROM:
DATE:
SUBJECT:
City Boards and Commissions
Annie Deckert, Director of Economic Development
August I, 2011
Final Branding and Marketing Presentation- chandlerthinks
WHAT IS BRANDING?
"Your brand is what people say about you behind your back"
What do people (residents, businesses, employees, outsiders, etc.) see when they look at our
community? We want to ensure they see a community working together and a City that gives off
a strong, unified message. A branding and marketing plan will send a unified message to the
community as well as those outside of Elk River. Currently, there are different messages that the
City conveys to the community, businesses and outsiders. Some of the examples include:
Elk River Economic Development location-efftcienry-innovation
The IJght Indurtria! HuG of the Narthu'ert Metro
E!k Rr'ver Parks and Recreation Helpingyou /ead an active, healthy lifestyle.
E!k River Energy City Energy City provides the opportrmity for the City of Elk River
to be a hub of energy technology, energy manufacturing, energy
demonstrations, rerycling, use ojgreen productr and education.
This may cause confusion and may not portray Elk River as having a solid identity. These
different messages may create the misconception that different departments within the City do
not work together, when in reality, they do. It may also appear that there is no cohesive message
o£ the City. To encourage economic growth it is beneficial that communities have a strong and
competitive image.
Think about some of your favorite brands...what do you think of when you think of Target?
Wal-Mart? There's a good chance that you don't think the same thing about each of the big
boxes. Think of some communities throughout Minnesota...what comes to mind when you think
of Stillwater? Maple Grove? Ely? No two brands or communities make us think of feel the
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same thing. Our goal is to find out what people think about us, and to use that information to
best market our community and utilize our assets to maximize Elk River's exposure.
BACKGROUND
At the December 13, 2010 Elk River Economic Development Authority meeting, the EDA
authorized staff to move forward with a branding and marketing strategy. This is an action step
that will support the 20] 1 Vision and Goals, approved by the Elk River City Council. This
process has been identified as a priority of the EDA and City Council.
To create a sense of ownership and pride in the brand, it is important that the brand represent the
entire community and accurately reflects the thoughts, perceptions and opinions of those in our
community. It is difficult to stand behind a brand you don't believe in. The more relevant and
resonant a brand feels to us, the more we believe in it, and the more we have a sense of belonging
to it. The EDA authorized the creation of a branding subcommittee to assist staff and the
branding consultant chandlerthinks in facilitating the process. The subcommittee is comprised of
the following members:
Tina Allard, City Clerk
Steve Benoit Parks and Recreation
Andy Christensen, Heritage Construction
Annie Deckert Director of Economic Development
Pat Dwyer, Economic Development Authority Commissioner
Larry Farber, Sherburne County Commissioner
lay Lusignan, Vision-Ease Lens
Michelle Martindale, Elk River Municipal Utilities
Brad Rolfe, Chief of Police
Alan Sakry, Chamber of Commerce Board Choir
Wendy Simenson, Downtown River's Edge Business Association
Ron Touchette, Economic Development Authority President
Nick Zerwas, City Council
PROCESS
Branding consultant chandlerthinks was in Elk River April 27-29 to begin the market research for
this project which included a community tour, approximately 25 one-on-one interviews with
stakeholders, three focus groups and numerous mystery shops throughout Elk River. The group
also completed mystery shops in Big Lake, Ramsey, Anoka, Maple Grove and Minneapolis to
find out their community's thoughts and perceptions about Elk River.
Using the information collected from the visit, chandlerthinks created two customized surveys;
one for the community and one for employees. These surveys were executed early June to gather
community input. Community input and involvement is not only crucial to this process, but will
create buy-in and support of the final brand plan. Similar surveys were executed throughout the
Metro area to determine their opinions and perceptions of Elk River.
Chandlerthinks was in Elk River July 18 and presented the research results to the branding
subcommittee. In addition, he provided the proposed brand promise/positioning statement. The
brand positioning statement is an internal strategy for driving and measuring the direction of
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city/community branding efforts. It is not something that literally gets communicated in a
broadcast manner throughout the community; it is something to fuel and inspire messaging for
advertising, websites, names of community events, programs, etc. Communicating to residents or
externally for marketing to others needs to reflect the spirit of the statement. It will be used by
key Elk River brand driving organizations such as the City of Elk River, and other interested
organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce, Arts Alliance, River's Edge Business
Association, etc.
Input and suggestions from the committee have been incorporated into the final brand and two-
year plan. This meeting is also intended to build momentum, instill pride, confidence and buy-in
of the plan.
Final presentation of the brand and two-year strategic marketing plan to best support the brand
will be presented not only to the EDA and Council for approval, but to all interested board and
commission members, Ciry staff, the branding subcommittee and all who participated in the
initial market research to engage and prepare them to help champion the brand. Finally,
chandlerthinks will be holding 'train the trainer' sessions with Ciry staff, interested organizations
and civic groups to demonstrate how the community brand can be incorporated to their
respective marketing efforts. This will provide the tools needed to explain, advocate for, interpret
and integrate the brand strategies and tactics into their work in the community.
NEXT STEPS
Staff will be seeking authorization to approve and adopt the final brand and strategic marketing
plan. This plan will be executed by the Assistant Economic Development Director under the
supervision of the Duector of Economic Development and City Administrator. The brand plan
will be revisited one year after execution and applicable tune-ups will be made. Staff plans on
revisiting the plan annually.
Citizen Satisfaction Survey
After approving the 2011 Vision and Goals on May 16, the Ciry Council authorized staff to enter
into a contract with chandlerthinks to execute a citizen satisfaction survey. Executing this survey is
a step that will allow us to support two goals identified in the visioning process: "Develop nem
programs and rervirer to meet the needs oJthe community", and "Enhance and Expand community Involvement
and publicparticipatian" in addition to supporting a number of tasks that rely on a better
understanding of Ciry residents, and how they use, receive, and want city information and services.
This survey will help us understand the state of existing programs offered by the city, how and if
they are used, as well as help us identify any new programs, services or processes that should be
offered. We will also learn how citizens currently receive information, as well as their preferences
moving forward.
Completing this survey is necessary to allow staff to obtain an accurate representation of the voice
of the community and gain a better understanding of the needs of our residents in several key
areas related to the provision of services. This information will ultimately be used to form and
communicate recommendations for the Council's use.
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The survey was available to residents the first half of July and data is currently being tabulated.
Results and final report are anticipated to be complete sometime in August.
EnerYy City Educational Event Series
Staff partnered with the Environmental Department to hold the third event in a series of business
educational events on June 1. Local lenders, business owners, property managers and realtors
joined us at the Elk River Public Library to learn about the new Energy Efficiency Improvement
Micro Loan Program, 2011 utility rebates and federal tax credits. This event was attended by
approximately 30 people and a survey distributed at the event indicated high satisfaction. Staff has
received several follow-up calls and inquiries regarding the Micro Loan Program.
Restaurant Attraction and Recruitment Efforts
Identifying the community's desire for additional restaurants, staff continues to proactively market
Elk River as it relates to restaurant development. Staff has created a link on our city's website
(~\'wu.ci.clk-ricer mn us/rctiraurant;) tailored specifically for those looking for a location for their
next restaurant. This site includes financial programs and incentives, available sites, a map
showcasing specific restaurant pads and more. In addition, detailed demographics are provided
for site selectors to be able to quickly determine if Elk River meets their site selection criteria.
Major restaurant chains have site criteria which must be met before locating their restaurant in a
community.
The Elk River City Council recently approved a sewer access charge and water access charge
payment program available for full service restaurants. Also approved by the Utilities
Commission, this program is one of very few in the state which allows applicants to pay these fees
over a period not to exceed five years, in conjunction with their utility bill, instead at the time of
building permit. This is a unique financing tool staff can use and partner with our Micro Loan
program to utilize when responding to inquiries, meeting with developers and mazketing our
community. A direct mail outlining these incentives is anticipated to complete later this summer.
An advertisement appears in the 2011-2012 Economic Development Association of Minnesota
(EDAM) directory ourLning this program, in addition to other programs and incentives attractive
to developers. EDAM is a professional association of individuals and organizations (approximately
800 members) throughout the state of Minnesota who strive to advance economic development in
the state.
Staff attended a Retail & Restaurant Summit through the MN Real Estate Journal (MREJ) to hear
about the current retail and restaurant climate, strategies, trends and opportunities. Staff has since
spoken with the MREJ to provide additional information about available sites and financing
programs to be considered for a future issue of the MREJ publication.
Staff has begun working with a restaurant broker to raise awareness about available sites/property
owners, financial programs/ incentives and demographics. Staff will continue to provide updates
as they occur.
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