Did you know that the city of North Port is the largest city in Sarasota County – and the fourth largest in the state of Florida? The median resident age is 38.7 years. The city comprises 103 square miles, has 55,759 residents and is only 50 years old.
In July the North Port City Commission approved the City’s new brand initiative, which included a new logo and strap line, “Achieve Anything.” Did our community need to be “branded?” The answer appears to be “yes” – so that North Port can stand out in the market place and the world.
North Star Destination Strategies came to the City of North Port with a branding package – to define North Port to our residents, visitors and businesses. Our new logo is bright, eye catching and was chosen by a branding committee of city staff members and residents out of 20 possible logo designs. All agreed that the logo be colorful, fun, easy to replicate and youthful in nature. As Steven Crowell Jr., City Manager, says, “it’s not what the logo looks like that matters, it is what the logo represents and the consistent story that will be told about North Port that matters.”
Crowell added that “the branding project was about creating a research-based identity to use when positioning ourselves in the market place. The logo is a tool to help us relay that story.” North Star began their research in late 2008 of our city and came up with several findings that they felt make North Port attractive to the marketplace: affordability, location, a youthful attitude, available land, aggressive economic development and unique natural environment.
Three hundred surveys were sent out in early 2009 to what were considered key stakeholders, community members and city employees, and on the city website, to find out what people thought about North Port and its future. North Star representatives did man-on-the-street interviews at retail locations like Home Depot and Abbe’s Donuts, visited a high school class, conducted one-on-one interviews with several people in the community, toured with city planners and met with city department directors. They also hosted several public forums. A second survey was distributed and posted online so that anyone could respond. North Star looked at the ways that communities around us market themselves in the market place – Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte, Sarasota and Venice. They also cold-called about 200 residents who live outside the city limits about how they felt North Port should position itself in the marketplace.
According to Erin Bryce, Community Outreach Manager for the City of North Port, there are four phases to this branding project: research, insight (what does the research mean? what are the benefits of living here?), creation/imagination, in which North Port takes the key points and makes them real, which is a two-year process. The last phase is evaluation, whereby the city will be assessed as to how it’s doing.
Bryce, who was the project manager and a member of the branding committee, said that selecting the logo “wasn’t an easy decision. The new logo reflects our assets. We know from the branding research that we have a youthful mindset, our adults are very young at heart. The logo has a vibrant, youthful look. It speaks to our natural environment. The fact that you can build your own path, whether [in the logo] you see a golf cart pathway, bicycle trail, path, river, stream or a sidewalk, it’s that thought that’s uplifting. The logo highlights all of our brand message points, and it’s an important tool in our toolbox.”
Bryce added that, “because we have this brand, we know more about our community and we know more about the perceptions around us. We’re hoping to attract new residents, visitors and businesses, recognizing that they will help the local economy. This branding project really nailed down who we are. Now the real work begins – making it come to life, putting it to use, presenting it in the marketplace. I’m hoping that it will be a great conversation piece and get people to start thinking about North Port.”
She said,” Our goal was to shape what North Port is in people’s minds. We’re one of the fastest growing cities in this region and yet people don’t know much about our community at all. That’s what we’re trying to do: shape why people should move here, visit here, work here, and create a stronger sense of community and pride.”
In North Star’s research, the conclusion was made that “North Port is one of those rare communities whose past is so recent, whose present is so fresh, and whose future is so wide open, that the average citizen or business can have a huge impact on the shape that future takes.”
Those who live here believe that in North Port, you can ‘achieve anything.’ And with the City’s new branding initiative, so will countless others, as our future potential grows and develops.
For more information on the City of North Port branding venture, contact Erin Bryce, Community Outreach Manager, at (941) 429-7165 or visit www.cityofnorthport.com.