Firm Developing Image for City's Use to Promote Tourism
By: Thomas R Tingle
May 04, 2005
For the Madison Spirit thomas67@knology.net
The city of Madison has hired a Nashville-based firm whose task will be to develop a brand image for Madison, one that will be used to promote tourism.
Mayor Sandy Kirkindall said the firm, North Star Destination Strategies, was actually selected by the previous administration and he had requested that the firm not be awarded the contract until the new City Council had an opportunity to decide whether or not they wanted the contract.
"The current council did vote to go ahead and award the contract to North Star and the contract is for an indefinite term," Kirkindall said. "We expect that this job will effectively be completed in six months.
The firm, founded in 2000, provides extensive background in tourism and economic development. Clients in Alabama include the cities of Anniston, Dothan and Mobile. Council member Jerry Jennings said he contacted the Lawrence County, Tenn., Chamber of Commerce, who was also a client of North Star, to get an idea of how the firm performed.
"After talking to representatives of the chamber up in Lawrence County, they provided favorable comments about North Star," Jennings said. "The firm also gave a good presentation to the council and I was impressed with what they can do."
Jennings said North Star will also meet with local tourism officials to get a feel for what Madison needs in a brand image for the city.
"North Star has already sent out surveys to Madison residents in an attempt to baseline a perceived image for the city," Kirkindall said. "They will develop a brand image for the city for use in promoting tourism.
Kirkindall said North Star will determine what tourist opportunities Madison can offer.
"They will also determine how those opportunities best can be exploited to yield sales and lodging taxes for the city," Kirkindall said.
