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Client: Texarkana, Texas
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Chamber to Unveil Brand New Brand for City
By: Aaron Brand - Texarkana Gazette
Move over, "Twice as Nice." Take a back seat, "Gateway to the Southwest."
Make room for .... Texarkana's new image?
This week, Texarkana will get a look at a new branding image, which the Texarkana Chamber of Commerce will unveil during its monthly First Friday breakfast at 8 a.m. at the Four States Fairgrounds' Barbara Gleboff Fine Arts Building.
Debbie Stewart, the chamber's vice president of economic development, said a company hired by the chamber will present a "brand print" with a logo and other marketing ideas for Texarkana.
"This is something that we felt like would help promote and market Texarkana if we had a professional brand for our area," said Stewart. "We're wanting it mainly for marketing tourism and economic development in Texarkana."
North Star Destination Strategies of Nashville, Tenn., was the company tapped by the chamber to create the new Texarkana branding. North Star will be here Friday to present its work.
Chamber President Jim Cherry said the project has been about a year in the works.
He said North Star interviewed focus groups to see how both Texarkana perceived itself and how outsiders saw Texarkana and also surveyed occupancy demographics for local hotels and motels. The company then came up with a proposed image and slogan and tested their appeal in certain areas, he said.
"I think when an outsider looks at this thing they will be more geographically attuned to where Texarkana is," Cherry said. "I'm real excited about it."
He said it's a new branding image that will hopefully be adopted and replace the old branding image of "Twice as Nice," which has been around for decades.
Texarkana, Texas, Mayor James Bramlett recalls a previous slogan meant to plug Texarkana: The "Dynamic Duo" phrase meant to indicate the two cities were really one with both communities working together.
He said he believe it's time for "a new, fresh label for our community."
"It shows that we're one community working together," Bramlett said. "It will give us a label for Texarkana, USA."
Texarkana, Ark., Mayor Horace Shipp remembers the days when a sign proclaimed Texarkana the "Gateway to the Southwest."
He said light bulbs proclaimed that message on the sign that hung above Nix Creek where it intersects Broad Street, which, as part of U.S. Highway 67, was once a main east-west thoroughfare through the Twin Cities.
Shipp believes that "Gateway to the Southwest" slogan goes back to the 1930s and '40s, with Texarkana as a symbolic and literal jumping off point for destinations west.
While he, like others, anticipate seeing for themselves the new branding image for Texarkana, he thinks it's a good idea to explore.
For more information about attending, contact the chamber at 903-792-7191. Chamber members and their guests are invited.
