Why Community Branding is Important

Community branding has become the new economic development. More significant than the value of financial incentives, giving your city/town/community a brand that represents its values and beliefs will ultimately attract others to it. Community branding defines neighborhoods, revitalizes districts, packs restaurants and creates an economic buzz. A community must give its businesses the support they need beyond grand opening day.  What is going to drive people to that business once it’s open? What is going to create a sense of home? What is ultimately going to make that business a success? How do you measure your community’s brand awareness? At HAVEN Creative®, our team of HAVEN Mavens™ is here to help answer these questions and create brands that define spaces and generate economic opportunities.

Given the recent downtown, even private brands have learned the power of community branding to assist with their marketing efforts. Forbes, The Power of Community Branding, mentions, “some of the world’s strongest brands were originally built through low-cost community-based marketing. Nike, Starbucks, Google … The list goes on.”

 There has been a shift across all generations, reprioritizing the role communities play in our lives. People are looking for more out of the places they live and work. Cities and towns that understand and tap into that can attract quality talent and businesses beyond what incentives alone ever could. The brand promise that these communities offer speaks to a growing audience looking for that, now that is economic development through community branding.

Unfortunately, many community leaders throughout the country still think that economic incentives are all they have to offer businesses and developers. They bet it all on one project with hopes that it will trigger economic growth. They discount the most powerful tool of all, the brand – by definition, the characteristics that make an area unique and attract a community that shares that vision and set of beliefs. 

When speaking with community leaders, the words “branding, logos, and taglines” can become daunting and overwhelming. However, branding isn’t just fabricating something out of nothing; it’s about pinpointing what truly makes an area unique. A high-quality brand gives a location an identity that it can use to define its core values and vision.

At HAVEN Creative®, we use our proprietary Maven Method® to develop brand platforms for communities. Discover how we can help your community tell its story here.