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Client: Warrensburg, Missouri
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Warrensburg Brand Featured in National Magazine
By: Ben Pierce
Jun 12, 2006
WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- Public Management magazine featured the city's "Made Fresh Daily" brand along with several other notable communities in the June 2006 print edition article. PM is the International City/ County Management Association's publication.
Don McEachern, president of Northstar Destination Strategies, the company that branded Warrensburg, wrote the article for PM. The article excluded any reference to Warrensburg, Mo. in the web version.
McEachern writes that understanding, insight, imagination and evaluation serve as the four cornerstones to effective branding. Marketing a destination, however, only promises fun; the destination must deliver.
The city may also be following McEachern's admonition that municipalities should help manage but not own the brand.
"A number of problems are inherent in the idea of a locality wholly owning and controlling its brand. First, that type of control may affect buy-in from the bigger group, including the private sector. And buy-in is mandatory, from the perspectives of both implementation and financing," McEachern writes.
He goes on to cite experience with turnover of elected officials where the newly elected attempt to put their own stamp on an established brand.
The Warrensburg Chamber of Commerce has been given brand management authority, and implemented the brand through Northstar. Although the Chamber receives financing through a room tax to assist in its activities, the city provided a $5,000 annual commitment over three years to assist in the branding effort. This was part of a much larger funding effort assisted by other organizations and businesses in the community.
In addition, the Chamber will request at the City Council meeting at 7:30 p.m. tonight that the city participate as a trustee for Chamber events.
