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Promo group hones in on final package to ‘sell’ WB
by Gregory R. Norfleet · News · October 27, 2016
How do you want to pitch West Branch?
Some ideas:
• Come Grow With Us
• Enriching past. Lively future.
• Unbounded growth
• Historical Roots. Lively Growth.
A group trying to brand the City of West Branch appears close to a logo, agreed to establish a centralized online community calendar, and a mechanism for alerting businesses when tour buses visit the Hoover complex and a”story.”
But a tagline eludes them.
The group met Oct. 12 at the Brick Arch Winery to shore up of a couple of other points before Jonny Stax Presents Inc. President Jonny Stacks announced he wanted to hurry the discussion to the state line.
The short list above includes some from their previous meetings and a couple suggested that night. But by the end of the meeting, the list had changed significantly.
The discussion did find agreement on concepts, if not wording, like trying to capture direct references or allusion to home/family, the vibrancy/growth, and history.
Connie Laughlin, who is spearheading a fundraiser to put a bronze statue of president Herbert Hoover at the elementary school, said West Branch is rare as hometown to a president.
“We’re very special,”she said.
One suggestion to reference history, “Deep Roots,” lost some support after participant Cory Nalan said some might interpret it to mean”stagnant.”
Stacks said he wants to present a final promotions package to the West Branch city council soon, and the group discussed meeting again to further pare down ideas and details.
He passed out a draft story that includes a summary paragraph on the city’s character to add to the end of a press release.
The story also elaborates on the points in that summary, like proximity to large cities, its history and culture, Hoover’s legacy, quality of education and promotion of business and housing growth.
“As we sing the same song,” Stacks said, “everyone sings the same song.”
The group also reviewed the results of a survey of 90 people taken during Hoover’s Hometown days. Some of the findings:
• Of the 90, 58.9 percent lived either in West Branch or just outside the city, 29.5 percent lived within 20 to 30 miles, 10.3 percent lived farther than 30 miles, and 2.9 percent lived in Iowa City.
Of those who did not live in West Branch, 61.8 percent said they visit the city monthly, 17.1 percent visit every couple months, 15.8 percent visit rarely, and 5.3 percent had visited for the first time.
• Racial makeup: 97.4 percent white, with the remainder Latino or Pacific Islanders
• 30 heard of Hoover’s Hometown Days by word of mouth, 29 through other means, 26 through the newspaper, 16 by seeing the downtown banner, 11 by social media, five by radio, three by email and two by reading a calendar.
• 55.3 percent considered themselves somewhat involved in the community, 29.8 percent said they are very involved and 14.9 percent said they are not very involved.
Ask where they look for things to do in West Branch, eight said online, seven said the newspaper, five said school events, five said Facebook, five said around town, three said family/friends, two said National Park, and seven said by other means.
• Points of interest include the Hoover Complex (5), eating/winery (5), supportive and friendly community (4), schools and activities (3), good place to bring kids and visit family (3), businesses/antiques (3), clean town (2), not far from Iowa City (1), good marketing (1) and fun (1).
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