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Client: Lima-Allen County, Ohio
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Lima-Allen County branding reviews positive
BY Bart Mills
LIMA — The process of branding Lima and Allen County is finished. Now organizers face the hard work — getting people to actually use it.
Members of the Community Branding Committee presented the new brand to local business leaders during Friday’s Wake, Rattle and Roll event. During a 20-minute presentation, Marketing Co-Chair Steve Johnson explained how consultants, the Tennessee-based North Star, came up with the logo, motto and other elements that, combined, make up a countywide brand based on the idea of Real American Strength.
Just two days after the brand was unveiled in local media, the reviews from Friday’s crowd were positive.
“I think it’s fantastic,” said Tim Stanford, owner of Yocum Realtors. “I think this needed to be done and they did a good job.”
Like many of those attending Friday’s meeting, Stanford said the real challenge will be selling the community on the idea. Allen County residents are sometimes better at pointing out the community’s flaws than focusing on the sort of positives highlighted by the new brand.
“The community has to be one of the first consumers of the brand. We have to get them to believe in themselves,” Stanford said.
Selling the county brand outside Lima might also prove challenging. The brand is meant to represent the entire county. That means getting leaders in the townships, villages and towns around the county to embrace the theme.
“I think it’s going to take some education. I think it’s going to take key players in the various municipalities to make it happen,” said Chris Seddelmeyer, a Shawnee Township trustee who also sits on the board of the Allen County Chamber of Commerce, one of the groups that steered the branding process.
North Star spent months interviewing thousands of people from inside and outside the county to gather opinions about the perceived strengths and weaknesses of the county. The result is a motto — Real American Strength — and logo featuring gears in motion coordinators hope will be used on letterheads and Web sites countywide.
Seddelmeyer said she is already contemplating ways to work the brand into projects in Shawnee Township.
“We have a roundabout going up [at the intersection of Shawnee and Fort Amanda roads] and the [Interstate 75] improvements at Breese Road. There’s a lot that can be done. My wheels are already turning,” Seddelmeyer said.
It’s doubtful everyone will embrace the brand as readily as a group gathered for a chamber-sponsored event. But whether they like it, the brand is the result of serious research, said Lima Council President John Nixon.
“I think overall it’s been a good process,” said Nixon, who was involved in the selection of North Star to perform the research. “I think, from what data I saw, it’s pretty reflective of the community. I’m hoping the community will get behind it and make good use of it.”
