Key Challenge
The County Conundrum:   County names carry a lot of weight when it comes to attracting residents. People know which counties have the best schools, the lowest taxes, natural beauty or housing stock. But unless you’re local, county names don’t have much pull for visitors.  Consider the case of Williamson County, TN.  The cities and unique communities that comprise the county – particularly Franklin, Cool Springs, Brentwood, Leiper’s Fork and Nolensville – form one of the crown jewels in Middle Tennessee’s tourism treasure. From a tourism perspective, perhaps the best known community is Franklin, famous for its historic downtown and hip shopping.

Rather than leading with the Franklin name loaded with tourism equity, the region was being promoted as simply Williamson County, which research showed carried little weight in the minds of visitors. Because Williamson County did not have much tourism name recognition, it had to be anchored by its geographical proximity to Nashville.

Critical Insight
North Star research found that each community in Williamson County tells a completely unique story. When woven together these stories form a romantic historic fairy tale full of intrigue, song writing, quirky characters, suspense, providence and a lot of happy endings.  So it was critical that each be given the stage in some capacity.  However, the resulting brand also needed to immediately capture the visitor’s imagination, making them want to learn more.  North Star recommended a county-wide tourism strategy that leveraged the hospitality gravitas of well-known Franklin to pique people’s curiosity in the region as a whole.  The individuality and personality of each of the cities and unique communities could then be showcased based on the abundance of textured and varied stories that radiate from each.    

Brand Strategy
The resulting brand platform targeted those in search of a higher quality, storied visitor experience.  It defined Williamson County as a gathering of eclectic communities just south of Nashville, united by scenic beauty and charm. The area’s singular difference is the way that history and traditional values are made distinct by an environment that is “graciously cool”.

The resulting creative work simultaneously conveys a sense of history, beauty and the area’s almost indefinable aura of history and hip.  The line “Find Yourself in Our Story” elevates the visitor and Franklin—Williamson County to a shared plane of discovery.

 

Initial Concepts

One of the ways North Star brings your brand to life is with a Brand Identity package, which is the creative representation of your identity. Creative goodies include recommendations for a logo, strap line, color palette, print ads, outdoor boards, t-shirts, websites and more!  (Note:  The “initial concept” is North Star’s recommendation.  As our client’s brand implementation progresses we will provide their “evolution of the idea”!)

Evolution of the Idea

 

Brand Action

Bringing a two-dimensional brand to life in a three-dimensional community takes a strong brand action plan. Following are a sampling of action ideas from the hundreds developed specifically for Williamson County. All were designed to help them wear their brands like a second skin.

• Create a physical story trail - Identify all the best stories from Williamson County and develop a physical story trail that takes visitors from site to site where the stories occurred. There are a number of ways to approach this initiative. A few ideas:
  • Identify each story site via historical markers bearing a brief synopsis of the tale. Or, consider commissioning local artists to create a piece of public art that symbolizes the story which can be displayed on the various story sites.
  • A literal ―story bus can take visitors from site to site while a trained storyteller shares the tales. Tours can be made shorter by packaging together a shorter selection of similar stories.
  • Develop two types of maps for the story trail. The first should be an interactive map housed on the CVB website. When visitors click on the icon for a specific story site, in-depth info about pricing, location, tours and history should come up.
• Score with original music - Hold a contest among local songwriters to create an original score of music to represent the Williamson County story. Feature the score in the Welcome Center, on the informational CD and on the website. Hold another contest encouraging visitors and residents to put lyrics to the music.
• Offer custom cards - Create a series of customized Williamson County greeting cards that visitors (and residents) can send to family and friends. The cards should feature pictures of various Williamson County attractions and events and allow visitors to record a custom message for the recipient (the story of their travels or a quick song).
• Act out the stories - One of the most fun and intriguing ways to bring your stories to life is to act them out for visitors. Give your visitors a specific role in the drama and you are guaranteeing an experience they won‘t forget. In Johnstown, Pennsylvania visitors pick characters and wear a badge identifying them as that character. They are treated like that individual throughout the re-enactment of the great flood that hit that area. Visitors to Williamson County could pick characters off the website based on brief descriptions; their story itinerary could then be based on the experiences of that character.

Results

• Go HERE to watch a video on the impact of tourism for Williamson County Tennessee in 2010! Here are some of the highlights:
  • $295,000,000 in visitors spending in 2010
  • 7,621 inquiries in 2010
  • Visitors Center visits up 52% from 2009 to 15,484 visits in 2010