It takes a community to build a better brand image for itself. And that's what local leaders set out to do in Greensboro, N.C., which in the 1980s was one of the top 10 markets
in the country to live, but had since that time fallen by the wayside.
Results from a February 2001 study gauging local perceptions of the city and metro were sobering, yet inspiring. An analysis of the city found several shared community values
that Greensboro should promote, including education, opportunity and diversity. Community leaders concluded that a new community relations image campaign was imperative to put
Greensboro, population 250,000, back on the map.
After nearly 40 years of relying on the tobacco, furniture and textiles industries, the city by the late 1990s had morphed from a manufacturing to a service and technology-
based economy, and community leaders needed to refine their message. Greensboro Connects, the brand image program of the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce, brought in the Quixote
Group, a Greensboro-based strategic marketing and PR firm - specializing in relationship marketing, brand building and market research -- to put the campaign together in early
2002. A three-year budget of nearly $1 million was approved and for the first six months of the campaign a budget of $150,000 was used to develop and implement PR.
"We needed to find ways to define and differentiate the city," says Sonya Conway, communications director for Greensboro Connects. The imaging campaign included advertisements
featuring the new tagline "Greensboro - A Great Place to Connect," with placement on billboards and local print and online outlets, as well as a new "G" logo to convey the
community's said shared values. PR played a key role in the campaign, too.
From February 2002 through October 2002 the PR team ran focus groups to identify community strengths and draw community feedback about what people liked about living in
Greensboro.
The PR team sent out notices via e-mail to volunteers, community activists and chamber members to participate. An announcement on the focus groups ran The Greensboro News
& Record and flyers promoting the focus groups were distributed at city events.
Crafting a communications plan involved analyzing voting records, election results and studies conducted by different groups about all the disparate aspects of life in
Greensboro. The communications team then infused what they had learned in the focus groups into the launch event, which took place last September with the campaign's ad execution
already in place.
Around 500 members of the community were invited to the event in downtown Greensboro, where attendees were treated to African-American, Native-American and Latino-American
dances. Greensboro Mayor Keith Holliday and Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce Craven Williams gave speeches plugging Greensboro, as did the Greensboro Connects program chairs.
Each attendee was given a packet of information including a brand image brochure, committee structure and opportunities, stickers, pen, pencil, t-shirt and tote bag along with a
list of volunteer opportunities available. A video promoting Greensboro and the brand image initiatives was screened.
"These were strong, grassroots efforts," says Kim Doran, CEO of Quixote Group. "By reaching out our hope is that the community will be more supportive of the [campaign] efforts
and that members of the community will be willing to come forward." Adds Conway: "Working with the community is more effective at affecting change than managing media relations."
But, by focusing on the community, the campaign was able to get the local media interested.
The Results
CBS, Fox and NBC affiliates all ran stories on the launch event and features appeared in the Greensboro News & Record, Carolina Peacemaker and the Business Journal (North
Carolina version), among many other media outlets throughout the region. The event also got radio and Web exposure and the city was able to sign-up 80 new volunteers to
participate in the imaging campaign.
The campaign is now deploying several PR tools to maintain the momentum. Greensboro Connects is currently developing "Connections," a local TV program debuting in September
that will focus on the city's economic development while this month a new Web portal was rolled out to provide Internet users with information and links about Greensboro. The PR
team is also pushing to members of the media/community a multi-media CD-ROM exploring all the history and current opportunities available in Greensboro. It's also developing a
series of bylines to market to various media outlets profiling community success stories.
Greensboro's 3-Year Plan
- The "Greensboro Connects" brand image program is overseen by a communications director who acts as spokesperson for the new brand image and community pride program.
Responsibilities include appearances before civic organizations and convening and coordinating activities of the 12 different outreach committees. - To date, in addition to the launch event, the Greensboro Connects logo and program have been presented to the Greensboro Chapter of the NAACP, the Greensboro City Council, the
Greensboro Rotary Club, and the Downtown Greensboro organization. - Meetings of the 12 Community Outreach Committees have resulted in a program of action that will deliver the new brand image logo through a monthly community education program
focusing around education, arts and entertainment, non-profit groups, government and faith-based groups, for example. - Subsequent surveys will be conducted yearly to assess the community's understanding of Greensboro's brand image, identify changes in attitudes and/or behaviors and evaluate
the effectiveness of Greensboro Connects outreach initiatives.
The day-to-day direction of the Connects program is managed by a volunteer steering committee:
Beth Lacey, American Express - Program Co-Chair; Steve Bowden, Attorney - Program Co-Chair; Richard Moore, Action Greensboro - Program Advisor; Susan Schwartz, Action
Greensboro - Program Advisor; Lee McAllister, Weaver Investments - Business Outreach Co-Chair; David Jameson, Greensboro Chamber of Commerce - Business Outreach Co-Chair; Kelly
Harrill, Koury Corporation - Community Volunteer Co-Chair; Lynn Wells, Moses Cone Health Systems - Community Volunteer Co-Chair
Contacts: Sonya Conway, 336.510.1234 X312; [email protected]; Kim Doran, 336.544.2406; [email protected]