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Client: North Port, Florida
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North Port is ready to market new image
BY John Davis
NORTH PORT - Opinions about North Port's prospects are often positive or negative, but rarely ambivalent, according to information gathered by a firm hired to help North Port develop a marketing identity
When North Star Destination Strategies asked people to compare North Port to a celebrity, responses ranged from Miley Cyrus -- "a rising young star that has an uncertain but promising future."
North Port recently settled on a brand proposal, including a logo and tagline, to help the city stand out among its Southwest Florida neighbors in the competition for business and tourist dollars. The brand plan outlines two years of work by the city and North Star.
The firm polled and interviewed hundreds of people in and outside North Port to establish North Port's new brand and a strategy for gaining recognition. The proposal, approved by the City Commission, includes a 147-page report that includes details ranging from templates for stationary and business cards to what North Port should do in coming months to get noticed.
"You're going to start seeing it in all of our ads and all of our marketing," said Erin Bryce, North Port's community outreach manager.
The catchphrase "Achieve Anything," reflects North Port's aspirations as well as missing amenities. Even though North Port is Sarasota County's largest city in both land area and population, it lacks a movie theater, mall or bowling alley.
The city has also been hit hard by the recession and many in North Port are eager to diversify the economy and attract new businesses that will bring jobs. But North Port will have to distinguish itself from other cities, such as nearby Venice and Sarasota, the area's long-established economic engine.
North Star characterized such areas as "highly defined and built-out neighbors" when compared with North Port, a city in its "infancy," "ripe with opportunity" and "unlimited in its potential."
Soon, a new North Port ad based on the "Achieve Anything" brand will be displayed at the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport, featuring a mountain biker in flight with the line: "Land your business in North Port and see how it takes off."
According to City Manager Steve Crowell, defining North Port through the brand "will be used in everything that we do."
