Wilmington isn’t alone in its quest for a fresh, commercial brand.
The state as a whole is on a similar mission, and it could influence the local product.
The Brand North Carolina Project “seeks to assemble basic research findings, core concepts, and examples of creative expression for a statewide brand,” says the initiative’s website.
Sponsored by the N.C. Department of Commerce, it’s being carried out by UNC’s Frank Hawkins Kenan Insititute of Private Enterprise. Commerce officials plan to unveil elements and concepts from the state branding program this summer, a department official said Friday.
“This very likely will be a multiyear initiative,” said Commerce Marketing Director David Rhoades.
In the meantime, the state wants “to provide everyone an opportunity to contribute ideas and suggestions,” says Brand N.C., “for an authentic and credible overall brand for the state—in other words, you’re invited to help us capture and document, ‘What makes North Carolina, North Carolina?'”
That differentiation is what a team of local government, business and higher-education officials has been after for greater Wilmington specifically. Called the Brand Identity Leadership Team (BILT), it’s currently working with loose concepts for the area’s message and image–whatever sets this region apart from other locales in competition for economic development prospects.
“The best branding programs are grounded in the reality of a product, or a place,” N.C. Commerce Secretary Sharon Decker posed in a recent release.
Friday morning at Wilmington City Hall, BILT members and partners continued to brainstorm on just how to channel this region’s individual spirit and flair into a brand strong enough to gain attention from outside business.
It’s not as simple as saying “Come to Wilmington”; the brand must communicate why, BILT members say.
“At the end of the day, you’re selling yourself,” said Wilmington Business Development’s Billy King, a BILT member.
A concept that won support from King and others at BILT’s March 14 meeting involved discovery, such as “Being Discovered Since 1739” (the year of Wilmington’s incorporation) or since some earlier colonial date. That suggestion came from Johnny Griffin, director of the Wilmington Regional Film Commission.
Story: Officials offer loose concepts for Wilmington’s ‘brand’
But it wasn’t as well backed at Friday’s meeting, from one perspective that “discover” might be bit too standard for a good slogan. Another official worried it wouldn’t really set this region apart.
Roger Johnson, assistant to the city manager for development, said the concept had a nice ring to it, but “We have to have some kind of differentiator from other [regions]. And I don’t think ‘discover’ does that.”
BILT member Kristen Shaheen, general counsel at OpinionLab in Wilmington, disagreed.
“It encompasses so much,” she said. “It is a hidden treasure and there’s so much here that you can discover.”
Nicolas Montoya, general manager of the Blockade Runner at Wrightsville Beach, said Friday that zeroing in on the region’s spirit may continue to pose a challenge.
“It is hard to define,” he said, “therefore hard to brand.”
The effort has played out over the past several months as led by officials from the City of Wilmington, New Hanover County government and UNCW with the participation of business officials like Montoya.
They’d initially planned to have a brand concept ready by April and a marketing plan in June, but on Friday Johnson emphasized the process will receive as much careful time as it needs.
“We’d rather do it right” than fast, he said.
He noted the state branding process and its timeline might influence the local one. Decker last year announced the possibility of the state unveiling its new brand at the U.S. Open golf tournament in Pinehurst this June. Rhoades on Friday clarified that the unveiling may just involve some starting points in the brand’s multiyear shaping.
The Brand N.C. Project is seeking idea submissions from North Carolinians in a “What N.C. Stands For” contest with a top prize of $2,000.
The contest deadline is 11:59 p.m. on April 1; the finals will be April 12 in Raleigh. Click here for info on participation.
The state initiative also involves a survey asking participants to determine the Tar Heel State’s “enduring core values.” Click here to take it.
Rhoades noted Brand N.C. would continue to gather public input after the contests and surveys disappear.
BILT members expressed interest Friday in what the state will produce; Johnson said the local effort might be able to bounce off of it or harmonize with its message.
The team also awaits the contents of an economic development report that a consultant will present to the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners and members of Wilmington City Council on April 2.
The county hired an Atlanta-based firm called Garner Economics to analyze this region’s potential and provide recommendations. A draft version released earlier this month advises, among other things, the development of a “unified brand” to market the tri-county area, though it suggests that area economic development agencies, including Wilmington Business Development, assemble a new group to handle it.
Story: County releases draft economic analysis
The Garner report’s April 2 presentation will be at a special meeting in room 301 of the New Hanover County Historic Courthouse, 24 N. Third St.
Elected officials “will hear and respond to [author Jay Garner’s] findings after his extensive analysis of the region’s economic drivers and job creation opportunities,” a notice from the county said.
The meeting will not include a public comment period.
Recent story: Panel: Economic development a multi-headed creature
Ben Brown is a news reporter at Port City Daily. Reach him at [email protected] or (910) 772-6335. On Twitter:@benbrownmedia
