- Overview
- What is a community brand?
- Do you need a brand?
- YOU WANT TO:
- Develop a new brand
- Use an existing logo/line
- Conduct more research
- Create a custom product

North Star Research Products

Grappling with any of these issues? Click the bolded research tool to find the solution.

How does your reputation with residents stack up against other communities?
Brand Barometer

Brand Barometer

How do residents feel about living in your community? Visiting there? Conducting business there? Are they promoters, passives or detractors of the community brand? How does your community stack up to the brands of other communities across the nation?

The Brand Barometer is a simple and easy standardized survey tool that measures the strength of your community’s reputation by determining resident advocacy for the brand as a place to live, work and play, and then comparing that measurement to other communities across the nation. The question “Would you recommend Everytown, USA to a friend or colleague as a place (to live… to work… to visit)?” is powerful because it surpasses the basic model of economic exchange and measures a combination of citizen loyalty and community performance. We strongly recommend a Brand Barometer measurement every year to track the progress of the community

Got a special event, effort or program? Is it working? How can it be better?
Community Program Evaluation

Community Program Evaluation

How is your community responding to a particular community effort, program or event? How successful was it judged to be? To what extent are residents engaged in the effort and how could you extend the effort to include more residents and community members?

Evaluating an event, program or other effort in the community is important for its continued success. This methodology explores the community’s response to your recent effort or event, and offers SWOT and ROI analyses to guide you in making strategic, planning and budgeting decisions moving forward.

What do potential economic development investors think about your community?
Business and Development Perception Study

Business and Development Perception Study

What is your reputation for doing business in the region outside of your community? Within your target industries? When companies or organizations set up shop in your community, why did they choose to go there? When they consider your community but decide against it, why didn’t they choose to go there?

This quick study uses a standardized survey instrument which assesses the perception and reputation of the economic development potential of the community from outside businesses, site selectors, development firms, and investment professionals. This information gives you a great foundation for building economic development plans and creating recruiting materials. It also lets you leverage your reputation to your greatest benefit.

Is your community ready to invest in sustainability?
Community Green Gauge Study

Community Green Gauge Study

Is renewable energy or sustainability a viable investment option for your community? How concerned are residents about “going green?” How dedicated are current business owners to sustainability efforts? How much community wide interest and potential exists? How ready are community stakeholders to implement a sustainable community strategy?

This survey based study measures the environmental sustainability readiness and willingness of the community and its leaders, residents and businesses, and gauges the extent to which the community is primed to “go green.” A gap analysis will show you the difference between the demand for sustainability in the resident population vs. sustainability supply and potential in the market and government.

What industry sectors should your Economic Development efforts target?
Economic Opportunity Analysis

Economic Opportunity Analysis

What are the expenditure patterns of your consumers? What are their demographics and lifestyle patterns? How does this compare with your competitive markets? What is the community supply vs. demand for certain industries?

This tool uses geo-demography to generate reports which allow the user to compare consumer expenditures in your community and competitive markets. These reports supply invaluable data for economic development efforts, and include a graphic market profile report, consumer expenditure reports, retail goods and services expenditures, retail marketplace profile, and a business summary.

What do prospective and past visitors think about your destination?
Consumer Perception Study

Consumer Perception Study

What do your neighbors think of your community? Of your competitors? What is your reputation in the region and area? What attracts most visitors to your community? What perception do visitors have before they visit? After they visit? What are the drivers and trends of visitation patterns? What are your perceived strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats? What are some outsider opinions on how to improve your community?

This quick study is used to gain an in-depth understanding of the brand perceptions of the community among important target audiences. It uses a standardized survey instrument which assesses the perception and reputation of the community by outsiders, visitors and potential visitors. Knowing the perceptions of your community by others helps provide marketing direction for correcting false impressions and points to what could be improved upon.

Have past marketing/branding initiatives been successful? Cost-effective?
ROI Study

ROI Study

How successful have your marketing efforts to attract visitors been? What is your return on investment (ROI) for marketing expenditures? What do business and leisure travelers’ visits look like respectively? Which community assets have been utilized the most/least?

This quantitative measurement acts as a report card to evaluate your Return on Investment (ROI) following various stages of the brand implementation process. Records and survey based, the ROI study provides both hard and soft data on the effectiveness of your recent marketing and branding efforts, putting success in dollar terms that easily backup and help fuel budget decisions.

Does your destination marketing convert inquiries to actual visits? How do visitors rate their experience?
Conversion and Visitation Study

Conversion and Visitation Study

How many people visited your community after receiving visitors’ material? How many stayed overnight, and how long did they stay? What attracts visitors to your community and how do they rate these attractions? How does this score compare to the scores of your competitors?

This quantitative measurement tool looks at various advertising mediums, including visitors guides, to determine the conversation rate between inquiries and visitation. It’s a great way to gauge the effectiveness of community advertising in all forms of media as well as requested print materials.

What type of person is most likely to visit your destination? How can you best reach them?
Inquiry Origin and CBSA Analysis

Inquiry Origin and CBSA Analysis

What kinds of people are attracted to your community for a visit? Where are they from? What are they like, and what do they like to do? What other places have a similar makeup that would allow you to attract more visitors? How are your visitors different from your residents? In what forms of media are you likely to find your target market for visitors?

This geo-demography based tool maps out where your visitor inquiries are coming from to the end of improved targeting of visitor markets. It also describes those people and the reasons for their visit, and identifies other markets in the US with similar makeups. The result is a great way to find new target markets for community marketing and advertising efforts.