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Client: Marathon County, WI

County logo starting to take off

Advocates of a new Marathon County branding initiative have seen encouraging signs that it’s catching on, and they say the campaign scored one economic development victory this week.

The Marathon County Board in July approved a circular, multi-colored graphic and “Central Time” slogan as the county brand and seal. The Marathon County Economic Development Corp., or McDEVCO’s campaign was developed by North Star Destination Strategies of Nashville, Tenn.

McDEVCO owns the logo, but the county and its municipalities, the Wausau Region Chamber of Commerce and an entrepreneurial center in Wausau are encouraged to incorporate the logo and variations of the Central Time slogan into their own marketing materials.

Among its uses so far:

• Marathon County now has the graphic on its stationery, plans to affix it to county vehicles as they are replaced and redesigned its website to include the “Wisconsin Central Time”
  
  
• McDEVCO redesigned its website to emphasize the brand, but added its own slogan of “Growing Business,” “Building Communities” and “Improving Quality of Life” on the logo.
  
  
• The Chamber tweaked the slogan slightly to “Time to Grow,” which Karen Nerison, its marketing and programs director, said distinguishes the Chamber from other groups.