WHAT'S IN NORTH MANKATO'S DNA

Pretty Darn Nice!

BY ASHLEY HANLEY

PHOTOS BY MICHELLE ISEBRAND PHOTOGRAPHY

For those of us that have grown up and lived in North Mankato, we all know it's a pretty darn nice area. But now, the City wants the region, state, and world to know that, too.

That's why they've launched a new campaign called North Mankato, a Darn Nice Area. The goal of the campaign is to highlight all that North Mankato has to offer, from culture to parks to recreation and the thriving business community.

Katie Heintz with the City says, "We decided that we wanted to identify our region and our town with all of the amazing things we are doing and have going on. So we reached out to Presence Maker to get this vision going."

A vision that highlights the strengths, beauty, and economic vitality of the city.

To come up with this campaign, the City reached out to Presence Maker, a company based in Mankato that is an integrated branding firm.

Presence Maker's Digital Manager Stacy Straka says, "The campaign is very multi-faceted. It's rooted in North Mankato's culture, its future, its economic future, its citizens, and what's important to them. We have not only the main positioning of the campaign, but a big group of sectors that help us talk about what's really authentic about North Mankato: Happiness, fun, neighborly, beauty, progress, togetherness, and kindness. And then we've connected those sectors with individual audiences. And I think over the next 18-24 months you'll start to see how those apply to each of those individual audiences whether it be economic development, visitor attractions, citizen engagement, social culture, and all of those things and those stories we want to tell."

Straka says they've been working on the campaign for about the last eight months. She says when the City approached her, they said they wanted something authentic.

"North Mankato has a great personality. And its got many valuable assets and genuinely interesting stories. It's all in their DNA and I'm really excited to launch this campaign and tell people about it, whether it be the visitors, the citizens, or the investors.

I think the past 18 months have shown that people are changing the way they choose to travel, live and work.

And we're looking to attract new visitors and residents and engage citizens who already call North Mankato home. Just from an economic development standpoint, we have great old and new businesses alike that truly thrive, North Mankato is a great place to do business. And we have a very open-minded and responsible leadership in North Mankato and a well-planned infrastructure that is a great place to help businesses grow and flourish.

A great place for those who have called this place home for decades or for those who are new to the community.

City Administrator John Harrenstein says, "North Mankato has also been a proud community and has always had a distinct identity, and we moved into a new phase a few years ago with a lot of cultural and recreational opportunities, and we're trying to share that message and describe what we are really offering to visitors and residents and other regional residents and we felt that we needed to bring together a lot of different pieces, such as the business, culture and recreational divisions."

"We have a booming industrial park, great parks, and rec system, and we were having a hard time bringing that all under a cohesive tent where we could describe the strategy, so we felt that we needed to create a brand to not only help us communicate what we're doing, not only our vision but also our value that we bring to the region," Harrenstein says.

The campaign started this fall and the hope is to bring in more things that make this area great. Harrenstein says he hopes the return on investment will help to boost the local economy and bring in more great businesses to the community. Harrenstein says they'd also like to partner with businesses that would like to sponsor some of these initiatives as well.

"We know businesses are critical for this being a darn nice area, and we're hoping this can create a tent where we get a coordinated city and business effort."

And that's not all the City is hoping to see as a result of this campaign.

"It gives us an opportunity to share our community's personality and tell our story and talk about the value we

bring to residents and visitors. It's a chance to genuinely talk about what we believe about our community and who we are as a community. It's connected to our history, our future, and our culture. It really incorporates a wide audience that is affected by our strategic vision and our plans for North Mankato," said Harrenstein. "I think for me, it kind of talks about how fun a place it is. And this fun, playful description of this being a darn nice area, I think it really does a nice job of capturing what people think of North Mankato."

Heintz says they will incorporate this campaign in all of the branding that they do, including social media and magazine ads.

“Some of the signs might say, ‘Happiness’, it's the way we live in North Mankato. ‘Fun’ is the pool and rec areas as well as the events we put on. ‘Success’ is all of the businesses we help and want to come to North Mankato. All of those things make this community. Like for Christmas, we're doing a kind of merry-ment message that highlights all of the holiday events going on,” says Heintz.

All of those things that make up North Mankato's DNA.

"We're going to change up some of the banners that you see going up Lookout and Lee Boulevard and Commerce Drive. We will do kind of an informational brochure and such. And eventually, we'd like to take it statewide with some of our billboards with the same kind of theme, just everything that will draw attention to the city and what we're doing here," Heintz adds. "We went with this campaign because it is bold and engaging and fun, and you can't get more Minnesotan than that."

Residents and businesses may have already received some flyers in the mail detailing the campaign. Harrenstein says people can immediately start seeing these things in their promotional materials.

"Really it's an umbrella for everything the city encompasses and is involved in," Harrenstein adds.

"We're just really excited and think this will be fun for everyone in the community," Heintz says.

Fun for a darn nice area that will soon have others finding just what's in our DNA. •