Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan by Moosehead Lake

Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan July 2015

PREFACE This Branding, Development and Marketing Action Plan was developed through a collaborative process between Roger Brooks International, Inc. (RBI) and stakeholders throughout the Moosehead Lake area of Maine. We would like to thank the Moosehead Lake area volunteers and others who devoted many hours to the process of making this plan a reality by participating on the Brand Development Team, as well as the many business and property owners, residents, and others who contributed their time and valuable input of ideas, resources, and feedback. The recommendations made in this Plan are based on the information provided to Roger Brooks International by many caring and concerned citizens, research, best practices in other locations, and the findings of previous plans and studies, as well as our experience and expertise in the field. The results from implementation of this Branding Plan are dependent upon many factors, including the time, effort, funding availability, and cooperation of those involved in its implementation.

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Recommendation checklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Primary goals of this effort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 The 10 things you need to know about branding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 The branding process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 The Maine brand story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 The look and feel of the brand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Marketing materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Recommendations 1.

Form a Brand Leadership Team (BLT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Review the plan every month and update it every year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Establish a BLT speaking engagement calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Follow the Brand style guide, secure domain names and register your brand logo and tagline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Trademark the Moosehead Lake brand identities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Recruit additional retail, dining and outdoor experiences into Greenville and Rockwood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Design and build a Moosehead Lake regional vehicular and pedestrian wayfinding system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Design and build a Moosehead Lake regional trail wayfinding system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Design print and distribute “The Best of Moosehead Lake” rack brochure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

10. Develop a “Community Profile and Opportunities” brochure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 11. Create a “Guide to Event Production at Moosehead Lake” brochure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 12. Develop free, robust Wi-Fi access at the pavilion and a downtown radius of ¼ to ½ mile radius of downtown Greenville . . 37 13. Develop a Greenville zoning ordinance for first floor uses in the downtown core . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 14. Improve access to public restrooms in downtown Greenville and in Rockwood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 15. Add Moosehead Lake businesses to GPS services, web-based applications and smart phones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 16. Create a structural organization for the Brand Action Plan development effort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 17. Raise $7 million dollars for development and marketing of the Brand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 18. Develop a Master Development Plan for Greenville and Rockwood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 19. Develop a business plan for the Greenville pavilion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 20. Create a Moosehead Lake destination marketing organization (DMO) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 21. Begin the transition to the new brand identity (logo and tagline) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 22. Integrate existing assets, tours and experiences to the brand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 23. Contract for professional video and still photography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 24. Contract for graphic design and travel writing capabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 25. Design, print, frame and distribute brand awareness posters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 26. Enter into a public relations/marketing contract for national coverage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 27. Contract for the manufacturing and sale of branded logo gear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

28 Build a new destination marketing organization website, brand the Greenville and MLEDC websites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 29. Locate the Greenville Visitor Center in the center of downtown Greenville. Build a mobile visitor information center . . . . . . 60 30. Invite clubs to hold events in the pavilion once it is built . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 31. Set adequate but reasonable liability insurance requirements for events and tour operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 32. Create a Main Street Program to execute recommendations 31-39 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 33. Install retail blade signs in downtown Greenville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 34. Add benches and downtown beautification in Greenville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 35. Organize and fund a robust faรงade rehabilitation program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 36. Implement a merchandising assistance program for business and property owners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 37. Allow, encourage and budget for street artisans, musicians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 38. Create an ordinance to allow sidewalk dining with alcohol served . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 39. Work with property owners on lease agreements - open days and hours with an evening focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 40. Create a hospitality training program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 41. Install decorative sidewalks in downtown Greenville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 42. Improve visitor access and convenience to existing outdoor recreation resources, both individually and by guiding . . . . . . 72 Supporting Documentation Additional BrandGraphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 ESRI tapestry report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Street vendor/busker sample agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 The Best of Alpena, Michigan quide sample . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 The Best of Bracebridge, Ontario guide sample . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Sample community profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 Sample opportunities brochure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 Seven-question itinerary exercise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 RBI video library viewing order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

RECOMMENDATIONS CHECKLIST q q q q

1. Form a Brand Leadership Team (BLT) 2. Review the plan every month and update it every year 3. Establish a BLT speaking engagement calendar 4. Follow the Brand style guide, secure domain names and register your brand logo and tagline

q 5. Trademark the Moosehead Lake brand identities q 6. Recruit additional retail, dining and outdoor experiences into Greenville and Rockwood

q 7. Design and build a Moosehead regional vehicular and pedestrian wayfinding system

q 8. Design and build a Moosehead regional trail wayfinding system

q 9 . Design print and distribute “The Best of Moosehead Lake” rack brochure

q 10. Develop a “Community Profile and Opportunities” brochure.

q 11. Create a “Guide to Event Production at Moosehead Lake” brochure

q 11. Develop free, robust Wi-Fi access at the pavilion and a

downtown radius of ¼ to ½ mile radius of downtown Greenville

q 13. Develop a Greenville zoning ordinance for first floor uses in the downtown core

q 14. Improve access to public restrooms in downtown Greenville and in Rockwood

q 15. Add Moosehead Lake businesses to GPS services, web-based applications and smart phones

q 16. Create a structural organization for the Brand Action Plan development effort

q 17. Raise $7 million dollars for development and marketing of the Brand

q 18. Develop a Master Plan for Greenville and Rockwood q 19. Develop a business plan for the Greenville pavilion q 20. Create a Moosehead Lake destination marketing organization (DMO)

q 21. Begin the transition to the new brand identity (logo and tagline)

q 22. Integrate existing assets, tours and experiences to

q 23. Contract for professional video and still photography q 24. Contract for graphic design and travel writing capabilities

q 25. Design, print, frame and distribute brand awareness posters

q 26. Enter into a public relations/marketing contract for national coverage

q 27. Contract for the manufacturing and sale of branded logo gear

q 28. Build a new destination marketing organization

website, brand the Greenville and MLEDC websites

q 29. Locate the Greenville Visitor Center in the center

of downtown Greenville, and build a mobile visitor information center

q 30. Invite clubs to hold events in the pavilion once it is built

q 31. Set adequate but reasonable liability insurance requirements for events and tour operators

q 32 Create a Main Street Program to execute recommendations 31-39

q 33 Install retail blade signs in downtown Greenville q 34. Add benches and downtown beautification in Greenville

q 35. Organize and fund a robust façade rehabilitation program

q 36. Implement a merchandising assistance program for business and property owners

q 37. Allow, encourage and budget for street artisans, musicians

q 8. Create an ordinance to allow sidewalk dining with alcohol served

q 39. Work with property owners on lease agreements open days and hours with an evening focus

q 40. Create a hospitality training program q 41. Install decorative sidewalks in downtown Greenville q 42. Improve visitor access and convenience to existing outdoor recreation resources, both individually and by guiding.

the brand

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

INTRODUCTION Billions of dollars each year are spent marketing communities for economic, residential, business and tourism development, yet 97% of that marketing is ineffective. Why? People are exposed to 5,000 marketing messages a day – far more than the mind can absorb – so they automatically filter out generic marketing messages and those that don’t cater to their individual needs or desires. The days of being “all things to all people” are over. To be successful – in business or as a community – you must differentiate yourself from everyone else. After all, there are more than 490 cities and towns in Maine and every single one is instantly accessible via the web. To win you must find that one “unique selling proposition” that really sets you apart from everyone else and then build on that as a foundation. This is the art of branding. In this new reality of shrinking federal and state funding for communities, each city must think and act like a business: Find new ways to import more cash than is exported when locally earned money is spent elsewhere. Communities have been forced to get into the branding game to be successful. Find your niche, create new business opportunities within that niche, and then promote it like crazy. Moosehead Lake is faced with several challenges: 1.

A need to extend the visitor seasons

A lack of living wage jobs

A gap in mid-scale accommodations

A need for more accessibility and convenience to recreation resources

A precipitous decline in school enrollment

Lack of activities at the end of the day when most visitor spending takes place

On the positive side, Moosehead Lake has some great assets it can build on: 1.

World-class scenery and outdoor wilderness areas

Outdoor recreation and adventurers’ paradise in summer and winter

Good mix of downtown retail shops

A good ski mountain

Over an eight-month period, the Moosehead Lake Brand Development Team spearheaded the area’s branding efforts. This culminated in a week-long “Brand Camp” the week of April 6th, 2015, when the Brand Development Team solidified the direction, key marketing messages, and supporting product that will make Moosehead Lake one of the country’s most desirable recreation and retreat destinations.

THE PRIMARY GOALS OF THIS EFFORT The Brand Development Team set forth the following goals for the Moosehead Lake branding effort: 1.

To put Moosehead Lake “on the map” as a terrific place to live, raise a family, own a business, and to visit.

To differentiate Moosehead Lake from the other 490+ communities in Maine - and throughout New England.

To encourage families to move to Moosehead Lake

To develop a year round, sustainable economy (tourism based)

To bring back the prosperity and population that was here in the early 70s

Bottom line: This is about jobs and bringing the community back to prosperity.

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

THE TEN THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BRANDING Branding is the art of setting yourself apart from everyone else. Being a place that has “something for everyone” can be anywhere and says nothing about you. A brand is a perception – what people think of the area when they hear Moosehead Lake mentioned. It’s also a promise that Moosehead Lake will deliver on the perception. Logos and slogans are not brands. They are just marketing messages and graphic images used to support and reinforce your ownership position. After all, brands are about owning your niche in the marketplace. Never use focus groups for brand development unless you want a watered down generic brand that can fit just about anyone, anywhere. Moosehead Lake’s Brand Development Team was not a focus group, but a group of local businesses and organizations whose primary purpose was to develop this plan that will reinforce and support the perception and promise being developed and marketed. A great brand evokes emotion. It’s a feeling someone has about you. This is why you must focus on activities and emotional benefits more than physical attributes such as historic buildings, parks, and other public facilities. All successful brands are built on product, not marketing. You can develop new advertising, graphics, websites, mobile apps, signs, and posters, but if the product doesn’t change or improve, what have you accomplished? Any increase in sales will not be sustainable. You never “roll out” a brand. It’s earned – good or bad. The good news for Moosehead Lake is that the community already has a strong foundation on which it can build its brand, through the extraordinary scenic and natural assets available for rest and recreation. You cannot do branding by public consent. Yes, we did ask local area residents to weigh in on the brand direction, but in the end, the idea found to be most feasible is the brand direction being used and detailed in this plan to push the agenda forward. This has been a grassroots effort. The Brand Development Team facilitated the process, and through the public poll, the whole community has played a vital role in the brand’s development. You build the brand on feasibility, not just local sentiment. Typically, the most feasible brand direction is built on a foundation already there. In the case of Moosehead Lake, that foundation is the energy and commitment of its residents, the town retail, and recreational resources. Now it’s time to take it to the next level. Brands are built on public relations – advertising is used to maintain your ownership position. A brand is a feeling we have of you – and feelings are communicated by word of mouth, press coverage, articles and, these days, social media.

THE BRANDING PROCESS The process used to develop the Moosehead Lake brand has been tested over a number of years and has, to date, met with a 100% success rate. The process is as follows: 1. Creation of the Brand Development Team (BDT) Moosehead Lake stakeholders were selected from a wide array of organizations and businesses to become the Brand Development Team for this branding project. An outside facilitator (RBI) was brought in to guide the community through the process. Included on the BDT were the following people:

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

•

Angela Amo – Chamber of Commerce

•

John Cobb - East Road Electric

•

Stacey Duncan – Stress Free Moose

•

Abby Freethy - Northwoods Gourmet Girl

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Mark Gilbert Jr. – Moosehead Marina

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Carol Goetz – Evergreen Estate

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Jen Goodrich – C.A. Dean Hospital

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Amanda Hunt – Northwoods Camp Rentals

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Sally Johnson – Moosehead Hills Cabins

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Amy Lane - Gray Ghost Camps

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Donna Moreland - Maine Office of Tourism

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John Morrell – Morrell’s Hardware

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Luke Muzzy – Plum Creek

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Carolann Ouellette – Maine Office of Tourism

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Dan Rinard – Appalachian Mountain Club

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Candy Russell - Moosehead Historical Society

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Karin Tilberg – Forest Society of Maine

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Bryan Wentzel – Appalachian Mountain Club

•

Beth Young – Young’s Guide Service

Roger Brooks International was retained to facilitate the process, led by Roger Brooks, Jordan Pogue, John Kelsh and Creative Director, Greg Forsell. Competitive analysis, research and feasibility work was a team effort between the Moosehead Lake Brand Development Team and the Roger Brooks team. 2. Education and outreach In October of 2014, RBI conducted an Opportunity Assessment of Moosehead Lake, Maine, and the findings were presented in a two-and-a-half hour workshop. The assessment provided an unbiased overview of Moosehead Lake – “how it is seen by a visitor”. It included a review of local marketing efforts, signage, attractions, critical mass, retail mix, ease of getting around, customer service, visitor amenities such as parking and public restrooms, overall appeal, and the community’s ability to attract visitors. At the same workshop, Roger Brooks presented “The Art of Branding a Community”. In October of 2014, RBI developed an online questionnaire soliciting thoughts and opinions from residents in and outside of Moosehead Lake. Using the questionnaire, over a month-long period 1,428 people weighed in on nine questions including what they thought Moosehead Lake should be known for – its brand. They also provided feedback on what they saw as major challenges and best assets. They answered other questions including what they thought was missing from the Moosehead Lake mix that would get them to spend more time (and money) in the community. The responses were very enlightening. The different locations of respondents allowed us to see the perspective of locals residents, and those living in nearby communities. The research poll result files have been given to the BDT. Some of the top comments were as follows:

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

Places we go: Greenville, Rockwood, Monson…

Greatest assets: The Lake, Squaw Mountain, Mt. Kineo

Missing: details, details, details! Wayfinding, Marketing

Lacking: Activities & events, ski hill development, shopping

Challenge: Jobs, transition to a tourism-based economy

Brand: Moosehead Lake, wellness, recreation, arts, resorts

Feeling: Friendly, healthy, unspoiled, pristine, serenity, relaxing, beautiful, fun, festive

In November, 2014, nearly 80 individuals were interviewed during eight group interview sessions held in Greenville. Representing many local organizations and points of view, they had an opportunity to weigh in on Moosehead Lake’s future and share their information and opinions. 3. Identification of the markets It’s important to know who it is Moosehead Lake hopes to attract as a result of the branding process in terms of location, demographic and lifestyle. Working with the Brand Development Team and using socio-economic research, the markets were identified as follows: Geographic: •

Population within 25 miles: 5,400 residents (full-time)

•

Seasonal and part-time residents

•

50-mile radius: 80,600 residents

•

100-mile radius: 650,000 residents

•

Visitors coming to Maine – adding Moosehead Lake to the itinerary

•

Atlantic states and New England

•

Select & extended-stay visitors from around the world

Demographic: •

Young families (late 20s, 30s, early 40s – the Millennials)

•

Active boomers

Psychographic: •

Artisans, free-thinkers, risk takers, entrepreneurial spirits

•

Adventure-seekers looking for unspoiled, natural beauty

•

People looking for an escape – a chance to “reset” & “unplug”

4. Narrowing the field through research and outreach The Brand Development Team spent several days reading through the local feedback and applying it to the “Feasibility Testing” process. Here are the ten questions we asked for each idea that came from local and area residents: 1.

Is this something the markets we are hoping to attract can’t get or do closer to home?

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

Is this something the community can buy into? We’re not asking for permission but want something they can take ownership of. “We’re okay with it.”

How much will it cost and when will we see a return on our investment? This applies to both public and private investment.

Can the private sector buy into it? Are there investment opportunities? After all, this is about tax base.

Does it have legs? Can we start with a small niche and add “extensions” to the brand? If we want to be a sports capital, can we start by being the soccer capital, then add softball, then disc golf…?

Can we make it obvious and pervasive throughout the community?

Do we have those who will tirelessly champion the cause?

How wide an audience will it attract? We want a niche, but not one that’s so small the economic gain is minimal.

Will it extend our seasons? This is why hanging a brand on a three-day festival is rarely feasible. What about the other 362 days of the year?

10. Is it experiential? Based on activities. BMW’s tag line is “The Ultimate Driving Machine.” It’s based on the experience – not the physical attributes of the car. The Brand Development Team was able to narrow down the ideas to a few leading brand direction candidates: 1.

Moosehead Lake – boating cruises, fishing, wildlife, photography

Outdoor learning – environment, forestry, wildlife, etc.

Base camp for adventure seekers – lodging, dining, shopping, guides

Recreation: untamed, wild – “freedom adventure”

Health and wellness – rejuvenate, revitalize, balance, “unplug and reboot”

A retreat destination

Star gazing

During “Brand Camp” these concepts were distilled into the essence of Moosehead Lake – America’s Crown Jewel”. The idea is to make Moosehead Lake a household name the same as Lake Tahoe in the West. Moosehead Lake will be branded for its serenity, unspoiled recreation and inspiring atmosphere for adventure-seekers, small businesses and artisans. 5. Creation of the Brand Leadership Team Now that the Brand direction is determined, the BDT is in the process of creating the Brand Leadership Team, which is described in the Action Plan recommendations that follow. The Brand Leadership Team’s primary job is to implement the Branding, Product Development and Marketing Action Plan. These will be the pioneers and champions who will make it all happen. They will never take no for an answer and will move mountains to make a difference for Moosehead Lake.

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

6. Development of Product That Supports the Brand This plan presents the list of product development initiatives to give the brand a solid foundation: what needs to be developed, improved, added to, or changed to reinforce the brand direction. Brands are built on product, not just marketing. In fact, product sells itself. The recommendations in this plan are both product development initiatives and marketing initiatives. All are an INVESTMENT, not just an expense. Every recommendation was included ONLY if it would help achieve the goals of reducing leakage (locally earned money spent elsewhere), increasing tourism spending, and making Moosehead Lake a vibrant place to start a business, raise a family, and become a year-round destination for family, friends and visitors. 7. Write the brand promise Once we knew what the brand would be, and defined the product that will reinforce and support it – leading to ownership of the brand – the brand promise was created. This is the guiding principle for everything the community and its partnering organizations will focus on for the next three to five years. 8. Create the look and feel of the brand This is where the logo, tag lines, concept print ads, pole banners, posters, and other graphic elements come into play. They must portray the feeling that supports the brand promise. Successful brands evoke emotion – they are what we think of you when you mention you’re from Moosehead Lake, Maine. They are more than just what you have to offer. 9. Develop the Action Plan During the first full week of April, 2015, the Brand Development Team donated many hours of their time to meet as a group to come up with the major initiatives that will drive the brand forward. After all, a brand is something that lasts for generations. The recommendations outlined in this plan came as a result of meetings during the week in April along with follow-up research. This is NOT a Strategic Plan outlining general goals, strategies and objectives. It is, in essence, a “to do list” that details specific assignments, by organization, approximate costs where and when available, and they are placed in chronological order of when they would be implemented. It’s important to point out that an Action Plan is like a jigsaw puzzle – there are many pieces and you cannot reshape them, toss some aside or alter them without ending up with a worthless puzzle or plan. Branding, product development and marketing recommendations are all intermingled in this plan, making it easy to simply work your way, by organization, down the list. 10. Make something happen As you read through the recommendations you’ll see that this is an aggressive plan. It requires digging deep to make some very specific things happen over the next two to three years. The work has already begun but won’t end for perhaps a decade. In fact, you can never rest on your laurels, so the brand (including this plan) must always progress and grow. Once you cement ownership of your brand, other communities will try to emulate the success – they will be gunning for you. Once the town and its partners have implemented most, if not all, of the recommendations in this plan, they will come back together and develop the next list – always with the same goals and the same brand promise as a guiding light. Product development is an ongoing process – not a one-time thing.

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

11. Keep the energy high This is why true champions must lead the effort. Their unbounded enthusiasm will push the agenda forward. There are ONLY three killers of any branding effort: 1.

Local politics, which are typically worse with membership organizations than with elected officials.

Lack of champions who push the agenda forward.

Lack of money (both private and public).

The bottom line: If you have true champions, they will ALWAYS get through the politics and they will find the money. ALWAYS. 12. Tell the world 2015 and 2016 are the “getting ready years,” which includes securing funding for several projects, working as the Brand Leadership Team organization to help the Moosehead Lake Economic Development organization implement the plan, and gradually reworking all marketing materials from business cards to websites, etc. Let the fun begin! One word of caution: As you start to implement the new brand graphics and key marketing messages, make sure you will be able to “deliver on the promise” they represent. A brand is a promise, and if you don’t live up to that promise the branding effort will fall flat. In the case of Moosehead Lake, to become a truly vibrant and active recreational destination and “America’s Crown Jewel” where there is “always something going on,” it will be mandatory to live that mantra – meaning the recommended pavilion should be full of life and activity at least 250 days a year. And that still leaves 115 days of inactivity. 13. Revisit the plan every month This Action Plan is a “to do list”. Not a plan you read once and then place on a shelf. Start working down the list. Write notes in the margins; check off items that have been accomplished; put peer pressure on your partnering organizations: “How are you doing with your list?” Once a year go through the plan and update it. Plans like this are fluid, and some things may need to be rearranged or may alter the timeline, and so it’s very important to update the plan once a year. Likewise, as you implement items in the plan, each year you’ll add several new initiatives to the plan to keep the brand moving forward and to keep it growing. 14. Never, ever give up Stay determined in creating the Moosehead Lake brand and you will succeed. As Calvin Coolidge stated: “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” Persistence sets the stage for never taking no for an answer. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. It will be impossible to make everyone happy, so just keep pushing forward. Dr. Robert Anthony once said, “Forget all the reasons why something may not work. You only need to find one reason why it will.”

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

THE MOOSEHEAD LAKE BRAND STORY From its early days as a visitor destination in the heart of the wilderness, Moosehead Lake has had many enthusiastic admirers from the cities to the south. In the 1870s the little steamer “Lady of the Lake” moved visitors from Greenville to Mount Kineo House as a “magnificent panorama of mountain scenery unfolds itself.” Its proprietor “saw farther into the millstone than the backwoods Yankee when he anticipated the interest of artists, and doctors and lawyers and ministers and hard-working people generally in coming up here to breathe fresh air and catch fish and enjoy themselves.” And so it still is a remarkable place that offers the same solitude and recreation among the jeweled islands and full wilderness of continuous forest.

THE VISION: POSITIONING Over the past 35 years the Roger Brooks International team has had the pleasure of working in 45 U.S. states, every Canadian province, and overseas in Western Europe, Asia, and Scandinavia. During this time the team has assisted more than a thousand communities with their branding, product development, and marketing initiatives. And after visiting so much of the world, we strongly believe that Moosehead Lake deserves and can claim the title of “America’s Crown Jewel.” That being said, all brands are built on product, not just marketing. “America’s Crown Jewel,” with an effective marketing, advertising, and public relations program, will put Moosehead Lake “on the map” across America, Canada and Europe, and will attract visitors, but once the visitors arrive the product and programming must be in place to convince them to: -

Come back time and again

Spend more time (and money) in the area

Think of purchasing a primary or secondary home in the area

Start a business in one of the Moosehead Lake communities

Share their exceptional experience with friends and family, thus spreading the word

“America’s Crown Jewel” leverages the lake, surrounding lakes, forested areas, a myriad of activities on land and on water, but this message does not monetize the region beyond what you see today. To accomplish that, it will take some major public and private investment into product development initiatives, as outlined throughout this plan. The number one activity of visitors in the world is shopping, dining and entertainment in a pedestrian-friendly, intimate setting. This is where 80% of all non-lodging visitor spending takes place. And this is why Disney built Downtown Disney next to each of its parks. This is the major missing ingredient in Greenville and its surrounding communities. Visitor spending occurs primarily after 6:00 pm. In fact, a full 70% of all consumer retail spending takes place after work and on weekends. Consider the fact that during the day, visitors are out enjoying the lakes, the trails, wildlife viewing, hiking, photography, boat cruises and scenic flights, as well as a number of other outdoor recreational activities, but at the end of the day they come back into Greenville or other local communities. When they find that virtually all retail shops and even many restaurants are closed, their opportunity to spend money disappears. And visitor spending is where the primary benefit of tourism is realized; it helps local businesses thrive, creates jobs, and enhances the community. To really “own” “America’s Crown Jewel,” and to accomplish the goal of creating new jobs, and thus increasing the population base, the following key ingredients must be developed: -

Creation of a major pavilion that can house special events, trade shows, exhibitions, artisans in action, a farmers market, and home to full-time shops, rotating vendors. It will act as a business incubator with the goal of enabling new businesses to outgrow the Pavilion, moving into street-front retail locations. The Pavilion will bring people to the area regardless of weather or time of year, which is very important to long-term success. This is the “big ticket” recommendation that is core to the success of this plan.

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

Programming of the Pavilion so that it, and your communities, are alive with activities at least 250 days a year. That might include a plaza next to the pavilion that would include an ice rink during winter months (120 days) and a splash pad during the summer months (120 days), movies on the square (12 summer nights once a week), concerts, quilt and art shows, food truck and busker events, etc. If area residents and visitors are motivated to come downtown for dinner and evening activities, there will be more incentive for businesses to remain open during the evening hours, particularly during the shoulder seasons.

Another missing ingredient in the area is the lack of mid-quality lodging facilities. The area has some exceptional highend rooms (but very few at that) and an abundance of camps and more rustic accommodations, but virtually nothing in the middle. These don’t need to be chain hotels, but should have the quality you might expect at a Hilton Garden Inn or Courtyard by Marriott. Once again, hopefully these will be boutique properties that will fill a strong need.

Redevelopment of the ski area is also a priority for the region. It will be a primary draw during the winter months. While this may be a challenge, the site can easily become a year round destination with single-track mountain biking during the summer months, a retreat destination during the shoulder season, and downhill skiing during the winter months.

Finally, there is simply no reason why the Moosehead Lake area should be a summer-only destination. By bringing just 300 to 500 visitors to the area eight to nine months of the year, every day (not just weekends), every lodging facility would be full, restaurants and retail shops will do five to ten times the current business, and all will be able to stay open year round. They will be able to hire full-time, year round employees, and activity vendors (guides services, the Katadin, scenic flights, etc.) would be promoted and would be able to extend their seasons as well. This will attract new homebuyers, new small business start-ups, and help repopulate the school system.

The bottom line: There are 19,500 cities and towns in America, and all but 1,000 have populations of less than 40,000 residents including just about every city and town in Maine. The Millennial generation is gravitating to the urban areas, creating a slow but massive migration from the rural areas to urban cities. In fact, there are more ghost towns in the making today than at any other time in North American history. This has been happening in the Moosehead Lake area. You have one chance to really turn the future of Moosehead Lake around and point it in the right direction – without overrunning it with visitors and commercial development. This plan accomplishes these objectives. Think of Moosehead Lake as you would think of Lake Tahoe, that straddles the Nevada and California borders. Virtually everyone has heard of Lake Tahoe, while few people, even in nearby Massachusetts, have heard of Moosehead Lake, which is equally as scenic and spectacular. Lake Tahoe’s two communities of South Lake Tahoe (or Stateline) and North Lake Tahoe are primarily residential (many just part time residents) and now include skiing, boat cruises, destination resorts (higher end) and literally thousands of year round jobs. This is not to say that Moosehead Lake should be the “Eastern Lake Tahoe,” but Lake Tahoe is a good example to follow. What you have in Moosehead Lake is simply spectacular and incredible. It’s time to better monetize it, and let the world know you exist. BUT in that effort, it is best to attract smaller numbers over more days of the year, and to be selective of the visitors you draw. You want visitors that will help maintain a pristine environment, who will want to invest in the area (a second home, primary residence, a new business), and who will fall in love with the area, spreading the word to their friends and family. This is the best and most effective way to build a brand. Implementing a plan like this is never easy, but it is critical to the success of “America’s Crown Jewel: The absolutely beautiful Moosehead Lake area of Maine.” Let’s get to work!

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

Brand Character / Brand Voice: This articulates the feeling of the brand. If Moosehead Lake were a person, what would it be like? This should translate into the execution of all elements. Communication, advertising, marketing tools, product development and even customer service programs should be consistent with the brand’s character. •

Outgoing, active, youthful

•

Caring, dependable, family-centric

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Friendly, jovial and generous

•

Forward thinking, hard-working

Brand Promise: The Brand Promise is the simple statement and guiding principle that should be placed on every wall in every area visitor industry business and Greenville town department, on the front page of the town’s comprehensive plan, and in the offices of every partnering organization. It is your guiding principle for everything you do as a community. Every initiative, marketing effort, event, and development project should help reinforce the “ownership” of the Moosehead Lake brand – the goals and feelings it stands for. Moosehead Lake – America’s Crown Jewel Moosehead Lake’s Brand Credibility, Reasons to Believe: This is the evidence that will be developed and communicated over the next several years for Moosehead Lake’s positioning. It is the reason why people will believe Moosehead Lake offers the best opportunity to realize success in raising a family and starting a business. It makes the claimed benefits compelling. •

An all-weather pavilion programmed with 250+ days of activities and events

•

New mid-range accommodations

•

Greater accessibility to recreational equipment vendors, tour guides and additional ones

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Improved accessibility to wilderness

•

Vehicular and pedestrian wayfinding system

•

Retail and dining open at night

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Downtown open public restrooms

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Downtown public Wi-Fi

•

Downtown beautification

Key Messages: Primary messages consistently support the Brand Promise and are repeated in press releases, advertising copy, website copy, photography, etc. Secondary messages support other strengths and can be used for more sector-specific marketing and promotion.

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

Primary: •

America’s Crown Jewel

•

One of the most stunningly beautiful places in America

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Serene, breathtaking, an American Treasure

Secondary: •

Unplugged recreation

•

•

The place to reset and reboot

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Pristine solitude and unspoiled wilderness

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Here is your chance to earn a living and have a life

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Live your passion while helping others find theirs

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Independent thinkers & artisans | risk-takers

•

Vast | open

Marketing Text Samples Sample ad copy for local business development opportunity: “It’s not often you find the chance of a lifetime – a place where you can earn a living while actually having a life. And this special place is Moosehead Lake, America’s Crown Jewel. We’re looking for adventure-seekers, artisans and free-spirits who want to live their passion while helping others find theirs. Wilderness guides, photographers, kayak and canoe rentals, tour operators, and a host of other amazing, life-changing opportunities are right here, right now. So log on today to find the opportunity that will help you have the life you’ve dreamed of having.” Sample ad copy for attracting visitors: “Worth a trip from anywhere, spending time in this special place will leave you transfixed and forever changed. The pristine beauty, solitude, and unspoiled wilderness provides for an incredibly inspiring atmosphere whether you’re on the lake, in the mountains, or hiking the vast forest trails that have cemented Moosehead Lake’s place as America’s Crown Jewel.” “Just three hours north of Portland, Maine, there’s a special place that needs to top your list of “must visit” destinations. America’s Crown Jewel, exceptionally beautiful Moosehead Lake is THE place for adventure-seekers, free-spirits, and artisans looking for solitude in an unspoiled and absolutely incredible setting.” Sample ad copy for attracting new residents: “Perhaps reverend and social activist Henry Ward Beecher, summed it up best when he noted, “Children are the hands by which we take hold of heaven.” And your home should be that little piece of heaven - full of memories your little prince or princess will carry with them their entire lives. You see, finding the perfect home, in the perfect location, for young families, is my specialty and what makes Folsom Realty Group the premier “happily ever after” real estate company in Greenville on the shores of Moosehead Lake, America’s Crown Jewel. So call today to find your piece of heaven.”

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

THE LOOK AND FEEL OF THE BRAND The Moosehead Lake Logo:

3-Color Standard Logo

1-Color Standard Logo

2-Color Reverse Logo

3-Color Shield Icon

1-Color Shield Icon

1-Color Solid-Black Logo

3-Color Reverse Shield Icon

Primary Color Palette

1-Color Shield Icon

Secondary Color Palette

1-Color Reverse Logo

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

The Moosehead Lake logo type (font) projects a natural, yet forward thinking style. The area’s name itself is central to the graphic logo so that the destination will become more familiar with every use. “Maine” is added to indicate its location to consumers everywhere. The strong moose profile and lake reflection projects a strong, water-oriented, wilderness image. Throughout this plan you will see the initial concepts used to convey the brand to the major market areas. You’ll notice common elements and color palettes that would always be used to create continuity of the visual brand expression with everything you do.

The Moosehead Lake Tagline: The Moosehead Lake tagline “America’s Crown Jewel” is declarative. This means you cannot use it until you feel you can deliver on that promise. It says, “Moosehead Lake is one of the most stunningly beautiful places in America.”

“America’s Crown Jewel”

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

MARKETING MATERIALS The recommendations in this plan include creation of the following marketing materials: -

“The Very Best of Moosehead Lake” rack brochure

“Moosehead Lake Community Profile and Opportunities” brochure

New DMO Destination Website, MOOSEHEAD LAKE EDC website

Social media programs

Brand posters

Monthly newsletter

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

“America’s Crown Jewel”

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

Recommendations

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

MOOSEHEAD LAKE RECOMMENDATIONS This plan is an “Action Plan” (not a Strategic Plan) with general strategies, goals and objectives, which are included in the plan as part of the Vision statement. Every recommendation is listed in chronological order and each includes a description, identifies who would take the lead, the approximate cost to implement the recommendation, possible funding sources, and the rationale for making the recommendation. This is a plan that is meant to sit on your desk, NOT on a shelf gathering dust. It is a living, working plan. Right after the Table of Contents is a list of every recommendation with a check-box next to it. As each recommendation is implemented, simply check it off the list. Because this is a fluid plan, it should be reviewed every month – or two months at the very least – and should be updated as implementation progresses. You will add items, change orders but do NOT eliminate any recommendation made herein. Remember, this plan is much like a jigsaw puzzle. It you alter the shape of some of the pieces (make changes to the recommendations), toss some out, and ignore others, you end up with a worthless puzzle. This plan was nearly a year in the making and every recommendation is integrated into all other recommendations. It is the sum of all the parts that will make Moosehead Lake a terrific destination for new residents, business, and as a place to visit – and a place people will cherish as America’s Crown Jewel.

1. Form the Brand Leadership Team (BLT) Timeline: June, 2015 Who takes the lead: Moosehead Lake EDC Approximate cost: None Possible funding idea: None required Rationale and/or details: This is the first and most important recommendation of the entire effort. Without strong champions, this effort cannot succeed. After working with more than a thousand communities around the world, the only time we’ve seen that an effort like this has failed is when strong champions weren’t in place to push it forward. The Brand Leadership Team must be composed of doers – not simply directors. The BLT should be comprised of those individuals committed to “championing” the brand and making it happen. This means that even in the face of some adversity, they will push the agenda forward, they will not take “no” for an answer, and they will continue to “sell” the brand hoping to attract additional champions to the cause. The members of this team will also be the “voice of the brand,” working in a hands-on capacity as advocates for the brand vision, being instrumental in fulfilling all of the recommendations set forth in the Action Plan. The BLT will work closely with the MLEDC. The BLT should include key “movers and shakers” from the community: business and/or property owners, downtown or business association members, Town Council and staff, tourism and economic development representatives, chamber of commerce representatives, and others who are good communicators and committed to the brand vision. Keep the BLT to 13 or fewer people. The bigger the committee the less likely you are to get things accomplished. This is about making something happen. Typically you’ll find 13 great champions, but after a month or two the “real” champions stand out after the initial enthusiasm has waned. You can end up with between five and seven true champions, and they will work to bring others onboard – acting as “pied pipers” for the brand.

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

Local organizations and town officials should read through the Action Plan and then decide whether or not they feel passionate about the objectives and projects detailed therein. Characteristics of a good BLT member include: • A willingness to invest time (and in some cases, money). • An ability to take a few hits along the way: They need to have thick skin. Not everyone will agree with the brand direction. You simply cannot be all things to all people, and you can’t let local politics kill the branding effort. • Good speaking abilities: The BLT will be asked to sell the brand direction to various groups, boards and state/regional organizations. They should be good public speakers and be 100% behind the brand. • Enthusiasm: Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” This must be the motto of the Leadership Team members. Enthusiasm is contagious! • A willing doer, not someone who just wants to direct: Each member will be expected to dedicate two to four hours a month to this cause, attending meetings, speaking to various groups, coming up with great ideas and pushing the effort forward. • The Team will also be the “brand police” when it comes to key marketing messages, use of the brand identity and tag lines. They are also charged with making sure the brand stays narrow – to resist “brand creep,” as there will be a desire to keep broadening it until it becomes more and more generic, and thereby less and less effective. In addition, individuals with something to gain from the implementation of the plan also make good BLT members. They’ll work all the harder to see it succeed. This entire effort will rest on the shoulders of the BLT. Without champions, the branding and product development process cannot succeed and nothing will come of this plan. Who can benefit from the brand and should be strong champions? -

Downtown property owners

Downtown businesses: particularly retailers, restaurant and entertainment venues

Event producers, caterers, audio/visual companies, marketing firms, event management firms and individuals

Public market vendors (part of this plan includes the development of an indoor, year-round public market)

Hoteliers and tourism industry operators

The first order of business is to set up some ground rules. This is a group dedicated to working with the organizations that can make things happen. You might consider this a “booster club” but with some heavy hitters and the ear of key organizations. Ground rules might include: •

Number and frequency of meetings. Some meet every other week for the first six months as assignments are fleshed out and implemented, then they reduce the schedule to one meeting a month – and additional meetings as needed for consultant selection or other special to-do items.

• Assignments:

Have one person take minutes and act as the BLT secretary.

One would organize and remind members of meeting times and dates.

Another would be charged with setting up the speaking engagement calendar: Developing a list of organizations, contacting them with times during the year they’d like to see what’s happening. This person would hand out assignments to fellow members – such as which event they would individually speak at.

A BLT member would be charged with the PowerPoint and graphics so that everyone is using the same resources. A unified message is very important. Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

One would work with the town or other funding organizations to set up times to review proposals, Requests for Qualifications, and to set up meetings for interviews or the selection process.

The “BLT Chief of Police” would be the lead “brand cop” gathering marketing pieces created by partnering organizations and materials generated using the Brand Style Guide, and then presenting them to the BLT for approval.

•

If a member misses more than two meetings in a six-month period, they are removed from the team. This effort, particularly in the first year, requires a commitment to be a doer – including attending meetings and playing an active role in the effort.

•

Generally, BLT members would serve for two years, and then among themselves would invite new members to come in as needed. So the entire BLT is not changed over at the two-year mark; there will be some natural attrition. What you don’t want is the BLT to think their job is finished at the two-year mark. This could result in the disbanding of the BLT. So the two-year rule is simply a guideline. Some champions would stay for the long haul, and as long as the enthusiasm doesn’t wane, bring them on!

A brand cannot be built without investment, and the initiatives in the plan require both public and private investment. Therefore, this team must be willing to take a stand and be the voice of reason. The key is to have a small enough team so that things can actually get done, since this is about implementation. There may need to be additional people on the team – it’s good to allow some flexibility. If it is possible to develop a larger BLT without politics and personal agendas interfering with progress, then the more people on the ground, the more effective the effort will be. With a strong implementation program, once the brand starts moving, it will take on a life of its own. Generally, the idea is to have the BLT work itself out of a job after five to seven years. Once again, this is not a steadfast rule, but at some point perhaps an organization will take on the role of brand cop and another take on product development, etc. The life of a BLT typically ranges between five and twenty years. As the brand takes hold, meetings can be less frequent. In some cases, the BLT becomes a registered non-profit agency with some funding mechanisms to take on specific projects tied to the brand development effort. It is important to point out that branding is never done. You cannot rest on your laurels. If you are the best, people will be gunning for you. Just think about Napa Valley. How many wine regions in California alone are looking to topple Napa as the wine capital? Likewise, Disney doesn’t remain static, but adds new attractions and events all the time. Winners can never rest, so this is not something you start and then walk away from. There will always be a need for champions of change. Finally, there are only three killers of any branding product: 1.

Local politics

Lack of champions

Lack of money, both public and private

If you have great champions, they will get through the local politics and find the money and/or the development interests to make it all happen. No brand can succeed without tireless champions who pioneer the effort. This is the BLT’s mission. Once again, this is the most important decision in the entire Action Plan. Read the plan, adopt it, then become Champions for Change – active pioneers in bringing it to life. If you ever want to create a lasting legacy, this is the perfect vehicle. The importance of the BLT with committed brand champions cannot be overstated. We surveyed 400 well-branded towns in North America, and in 397 of those communities, development of the brand was a grass roots effort. Rarely will a top-down Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

effort yield success. Why? Elected officials are voted into office to be all things to all people, yet brands are about being known for something specific. The days of “we have something for everyone” are over. In this age of specialization, you must jettison the generic. A generic branding effort yields a watered down, mediocre, ineffective brand. These individuals will do the work to see that the product is developed that will bring the brand to life, fulfilling the brand promise. The concerted effort by these people will be the force of the entire branding effort, keeping the brand image in focus, keeping the plan on track and overseeing the successful development of the brand. Typically we recommend a group of approximately 13 individuals, making sure that more than half represent the private sector. As noted earlier, top-down branding doesn’t work. The best branding efforts in North America were grassroots efforts and include Nashville’s country music brand, Napa Valley and wine, Orlando and Disney World, Branson, Missouri and music theater, Hershey, Pennsylvania and chocolate, even Frankenmuth and its Bavarian brand. For more about organizing for Brand initiatives, view Roger’s video entitled “Getting Everyone on the Same Page, Pulling in the Same Direction.”

2. Review the plan every month and update it every year Timeline: July, 2015, Ongoing Who takes the lead: BLT, MLEDC Approximate cost: None Possible funding idea: None required Rationale and/or details: This document is not a comprehensive plan or even a strategic plan. As an Action Plan it is fluid and needs to be looked at continually, massaged, and updated. You want to avoid this becoming a plan sitting on a shelf gathering dust. It is your reference and guidebook for the next two to three years. It should be reviewed every month and updated at least once every year. You will add things to it, rearrange things, add case histories or new ideas, and use it to determine budgets. It should be a guidebook for the town’s comprehensive economic development effort. It should be used by Planning & Zoning, Finance, Public Works, Economic Development, and Police Departments, the Town’s budget office, the Chamber of Commerce and by the Town Commissioners in terms of setting policy and goals of the town. If you need assistance in updating it, contract with Roger Brooks International or another firm to take a hard look at the recommendations, costs, projects and what’s happened to date, what can be checked off (already completed recommendations) and what should be added to it. The more often you review and update it, the easier it will be to keep your focus narrow and all of your organizations on the same page and pulling in the same direction.

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

3. Establish a BLT speaking engagement calendar Timing: August, 2015 Who takes the lead: Brand Leadership Team (BLT) Approximate cost: None Possible funding idea: None required Rationale and/or details: From the presentation provided in Apple Keynote and PowerPoint formats, each BLT member charged with promoting the brand should take that one-hour presentation, modify it, and make it their own. In most cases you’ll only have 20 minutes to speak. Here’s what we’d suggest take place during that presentation: •

Two minutes to let the audience know that branding is more than logos and slogans. It’s the essence of who you are and what you want to be known for.

•

Three minutes to explain why branding is important: We have every city and town in Maine at our fingertips (there are almost 500 in the state) via the web, so what sets Moosehead Lake apart from the others? Why should someone live, establish a business, or visit the town? What sets you apart and makes you the destination of choice? And make sure you mention growing the local population: This is about attracting families and entrepreneurs, and keeping the local school and hospital viable. This is about tax base and community development.

•

Two minutes about the process: More than 1,400 locals weighed in and the brand direction was founded on feasibility, not just local sentiment.

•

Ten minutes selling them on the product that backs up the brand:

•

A year round all-weather space (pavilion) for public gatherings and activities in downtown Greenville.

Clubs and organizations will be invited to host their events at Moosehead Lake.

Improved retail and dining options especially in the evenings.

The pavilion will host 250+ days of activities with a concentration on evening hours from 5:00 to 9:00 each night – THE place to come after work and hang out with friends and family.

And then, just three minutes showing them the look and feel of the brand. Do NOT concentrate on logos, but show them the concept ads, pole banners, wayfinding signage, so they can see what the brand looks like.

Once again, the big focus is on education (so people understand why you’re doing this and why it’s important) and sales: You are ALWAYS working to bring in more champions. The more people you have buy into the brand, the stronger and more ingrained it becomes as the heart and soul of the community. Finally, create a yearlong calendar, pick your four or five or six BEST speakers on the BLT, remember, “nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm,” and then schedule them to speak at the various events. And don’t just keep it within Moosehead Lake. If you can find opportunities to speak to clubs and organizations in the greater area, or in places such as Bangor, Waterville, or Augusta – then, by all means go there! Think of statewide organizations, rural development, economic development, etc. Also, develop a list of statewide conferences where you can share your branding experience with large audiences, and tell them what you’ve done to revitalize Moosehead Lake. When you do this, you are also selling them on why they MUST pay a visit to the town, and once they do it, chances are they’ll be back to see your progress. While this takes time, it’s free and will spread the word throughout the state. You should also, on the last slide, place a URL where the audience can sign up for your free monthly e-newsletter that will showcase upcoming events in Moosehead Lake. This is an easy way to create “top of mind awareness” and to start building your database. Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

4. Follow the Brand Style Guide, secure domain names and register your brand logo and tagline. Timing: August, 2015 Who takes the lead: Moosehead Lake EDC Approximate cost: $2,500 Possible funding idea: Downtown Tax Incremental Financing proceeds Rationale and/or details: Domain Names: With any branding project one of the first priorities is to secure the domain names that will help promote the brand. The MLEDC already owns several that were created during the Brand Camp week. We recommend the BLT brainstorm other ideas for domain names that should be reserved. All of these would point to the home page of the new tourism-based website, one of the recommendations included in this plan. Securing domain names costs between $5 and $7 a year and hosting each may be in the $5 a month range, so it’s not a big expense. Keep in mind that the domain name should help sell the experience – it’s actually part of the marketing effort. Style Guide: Before people start redeveloping brochures, websites, new letterhead and business cards, the top priority is to review and adopt the Moosehead Lake branded community-wide “Style Guide” or “Brand Standards and Practices Manual.” The Style Guide will be the “bible” every organization (Town and town departments, Chamber of Commerce MLEDC, any Main Street program, and visitor industry private marketing) will use to create continuity with your brand direction. The Brand Style Guide, or standards and practices manual contains graphic design standards for logo and slogan use, guidelines for website development, guidelines for the production of printed sales and marketing materials, as well as the proper use of key marketing, advertising and promotion messages. The BLT will be responsible for overseeing proper use of the graphic identity. The Style Guide will provide the official guidance for how to use the brand’s graphic identity. Examples of approved logo and brand use are provided in the guide. This includes dimensions and minimum sizes, as well as fonts and colors. Logo colors must be identified as specific Pantone colors and/or as percentages of the four process colors: cyan, magenta, yellow and black (CMYK). Guidelines for reproducing the logo in black and white and in one color need to be included. Wrong usage of the logo (in structure, color or fonts) will be spelled out. Combining the logo with other logos or branding elements should never be permitted. Web design concepts show use of the logo, color palette, and structure. RGB and HMTL colors are listed. Continuity and consistency are critical when developing a strong branding program that creates top of mind awareness of the brand. The logo and brand design should give the community an easily recognizable identity – a symbol and message that represents the community and the experiences it has to offer. Whenever the logo is used, it should bring to mind images of enjoying that community. Repetition helps reinforce the viewer’s perception, but consistency is the only way to ensure logo and brand recognition. That is why the Brand Style Guide is a detailed document, providing specific instructions on how to use the graphics – font sizes, colors, guidelines for reproduction, guidelines for web design, PowerPoint presentations, and advertisements. Examples of logo use are provided for the town and local organizations that will utilize the logo, as well as for signage and wayfinding. All organizations that market the community need to do so with consistency in the look and feel of their marketing. The Style Guide helps get everyone on the same page, pulling in the same direction. The BLT should work with all marketing 26

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

organizations that promote the community on proper use of the logo and other graphic elements to create a unified, consistent look and feel. Trademarking/Registration: We recommend that you register your logo and tagline. A “trademark” or “TM” is used when people have sent in an application to have something registered with the Trademark Office. It basically says “hands off – we’re applying for ownership. A “registered trademark “R” means it is registered with the federal government and the applicant owns it. A registered US Patent Attorney can accomplish this for about $2,500 or so depending on what all you are registering. If you wish, we can recommend an attorney.

5. Trademark the Moosehead Lake brand identities Description – As part of the branding process, logos (brand identities), tag lines and other marketing materials were developed. This recommendation makes sure these become Trademarked through the U.S. Trademark office. Timeline for implementation – Summer 2015 Taking the lead – MLEDC Approximate cost – $5,000 Funding idea – Donations, grants, existing marketing funds Rationale and implementation details – As part of the branding process, a Moosehead Lake logo was developed including the marketing logo and a logo “bug” – in this case the moose shield. More importantly is trademarking “America’s Crown Jewel” so that no other destination can use this or can claim to be America’s Crown Jewel. Once the application has been submitted, each logo – and the tagline - can add the ® Registered symbol, which would be replaced with the Trademark symbol, once the trademark has been accepted. Trademarks, copyrights and patents require special expertise, so contract with an attorney that specializes in this type of work. If you’d like, we can recommend attorney Thomas W. Galvani, who Roger Brooks International (RBI) has worked with many times. He is located in Phoenix, Arizona and his cost for applying for each trademark is approximately $1,000 including the federal filing fees. He is located at 3519 E Shea Boulevard Suite 129 in Phoenix, AZ 85028. His contact phone number is 602.281.6481. He goes by Tom, and he is a Registered U.S. Patent Attorney. His e-mail address is: tom@galvanilegal.com. Website address: www.galvanilegal.com. The $5,000 in funding allows for the trademark registration of the following brand identities and messages: -

Moosehead Lake, Maine logo (moose standing in water)

Moosehead Lake shield

“America’s Crown Jewel” in its Trajan Pro-Bold font

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

6. Recruit additional retail, dining and outdoor experiences into Greenville and Rockwood Timeline: September, 2015 ongoing Who takes the lead: Moosehead Lake EDC, BLT Approximate cost: $50-80,000 per year Possible funding idea: Community Development Block Grant Rationale and/or details: The Moosehead Lake area is an awe-inspiring natural recreational and restful resource, but in order for visitors to leave more money in the local economy entrepreneurs need to do a better job of marketing their services as well as increase accessibility to the area’s natural resources, improve visitor convenience, insure dependability and consistency of services, and present hospitality at the front line of employee/visitor contact. Visitors can get to Moosehead Lake, but may have a difficult time learning about or accessing the amenities that turn Moosehead Lake’s potential into amazing experiences AND create opportunities for visitors to spend money in the local economy. These additions don’t need to necessarily be provided by new people. Existing proprietors can expand and offer these services as well. Existing retail in Greenville does a pretty good job within their stores. The merchandise is a good mix. The curb appeal needs upgrading and façade improvements would be a great benefit. First impressions are lasting impressions, and with retail we tend to judge the book by its cover. Additional stores, and the right mix of stores would greatly benefit every retailer in downtown Greenville (and Rockwood) because the additional “critical mass” of things to do will justifying people staying longer. These are also amenities that will appeal to local residents and attract new residents, but will have to be supported by both visitor and resident spending. Some of the additional specialty retail shops might include: •

Art galleries, particularly of Maine artists

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A toy store

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A wine store

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A microbrewery (one of the camps already has one. Bring it downtown!)

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A non-chain espresso store

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A good bakery (breads, pastries, pies, cakes, cookies, etc.)

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Artisan live/work space

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A full service day spa. (Not just a hair salon, a real spa)

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A bike sales, rentals and service store

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Antiques store (not a second hand store)

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A year-round ice creamery, the new trend, frozen custard.

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A quilt shop (Make sure quilting is the primary focus, more than just fabrics. This niche market draws a big audience that will travel quite a distance. The shop should also offer classes and beginner kits.)

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A butcher shop (these are coming back and are VERY popular). This could be combined with a gourmet foods and gifts shop. Think wine, cheese, meats and a mix of prepared and raw foods. This would be an amazing partner with your fullservice bakery.)

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A kitchen/culinary store

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

There are many camps sprinkled throughout the Moosehead Lake area. Many offer comfortable, well-appointed cabins and rooms to their guests. Others are operating more on the edge, and their accommodations are more basic, or even marginal. There seems to be a mid-level gap in accommodations, particularly in Greenville between the very high-end Bed and Breakfast houses and the more basic accommodations. The additional of a mid-scale hotel would not only offer an alternative to perhaps a new visitor market, but would provide a central place for attendees of small meetings and conventions. Ideally, this should be located on the lakefront or at a minimum with a good view of the lake. The lure that brings visitors to Moosehead Lake is not hotel rooms or camps, or even shopping and dining. These are things they will buy while they are here, but the lure is the opportunity to experience the great outdoors. Almost all of the camps as well as many other guides offer access to the lakes, trails, mountains, streams and natural assets of Moosehead Lake. Many rent boats, rafts, ATVs, snowmobiles, fishing equipment, bikes, canoes, and other needed equipment. But for the visitor walking in downtown Greenville, these are not highly visible or readily apparent. We recommend that in downtown Greenville, there be a “clearing house” where walk-in visitors can learn about their many options, rent recreational equipment and buy guiding services from the various area providers – who are currently invisible because they are in camps miles outside of town. There should also be a lakefront vendor location where the casual day visitor can rent motorized and nonmotorized access to the Lake. Effective recruitment requires not just outreach, but handholding from the sales pitch all the way to opening the doors. Roger Brooks, over his career, recruited nearly $3 billion in new construction projects into rural communities and resorts. The total cost of advertising over his career: $60. Successful recruitment is a one-on-one process. You find the businesses you want and then court them, working with them through the feasibility testing, financing, permitting, right up to the opening of their doors. And even then, you still work with them to help them be successful. You start with a “Ten Most Wanted” list and then recruit right down that list. As one is recruited you add another to the list. Typically this effort is spearheaded by a contracted position, on a three year contract that is reviewed at the end of each year and then renewed if things are going as expected. The idea is to have this person work themselves out of a job. Consider contracting with someone with a commercial real estate background: perhaps a CCIM (Certified Commercial Investment Member) Realtor who is winding down their career, or looking for a way to supplement their income with a non-commission position. Before you contract for this position we urge you to watch the Roger Brooks video “Recruiting Tourism Development Projects.” While this video concentrates on tourism, the principles detailed in the video apply to downtown retail recruitment. This will be a terrific guide on how to find the right person and how to successfully recruit new businesses into Greenville and Rockwood.

7. Design and build a Moosehead Lake regional vehicular and pedestrian wayfinding system Timeline: October, 2015 Who takes the lead: MOOSEHEAD LAKE EDC Approximate cost: $80,000-$90,000 for design. $200,000+ for fabrication and installation Possible funding idea: Economic Development Administration – Public Works Program Rationale and/or details: Issue a Request for Qualifications for professional wayfinding expertise. Wayfinding is about “environmental graphics” and is substantially different than “institutional wayfinding” as you might find in a hospital, college campus or mall. This is part marketing, part branding, part traffic mitigation, and is as much a science as it is an art. Only hire professionals with expertise in developing systems like this.

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

MAYNARDS TRAIL

Miles

Highland Trail

3.5

Mt. Kineo Loop 5.1

PARKING Maynards Trail 2.3 Lake Trail

1.8

2.3 Miles

MAYNARDS TRAIL

2.3

Beginner Intermediate Advanced

Big Squaw Ski Area Highland Trail

Rockwood

3.5

Mt. Kineo Loop 5.1

Big Squaw Ski Area Rockwood

Visitor Information

Lily Bay State Park 1.8 Lake Trail

Lily Bay State Park

Kokadjo

Maynards Trail 2.3

Beginner Intermediate Advanced

A typical wayfinding system includes the following elements: •

Vehicular directional signage on freeways, highways, primary thoroughfares, and community surface streets. It must include attractions, amenities, and local services.

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Pedestrian wayfinding in the downtown core area.

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Marquee or “place identifiers” in front of public buildings, services and parks.

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Community and downtown gateways.

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Visitor information kiosks, with weather resistant brochure distribution, in various locations throughout the community.

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Seasonal pole banners.

When you issue the RFQ, respondents will not be able to provide a cost since they won’t know the community, nor will they know what you have for a budget. You want to find the best, then pay your top three candidates each about $3,000 to cover their travel costs, have them visit with MOOSEHEAD LAKE EDC, the BLT and the Town, and include a tour. Have them describe their methodology, show you their work as it is installed elsewhere, and then send you a price – or have them tell you what they can do given budget constraints. Once they’ve visited, they will be able to provide you with a detailed scope of work, methodology and timeline. Then select the one whose methodology, timeline and cost works best for the region. Once you’ve made your selection, you want to make sure the final product includes bid-ready construction drawings, approximate fabrication and installation costs, and have the system designed to a pre-determined fabrication/installation budget. You can have a community gateway fabricated for a million dollars, or a complete wayfinding system installed for $250,000. Start with a predetermined budget and have the system designed to that budget – including possible phasing over a number of years. 30

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

It should take about 90 days to design the system. If the proposing firms offer to manage the bid, fabrication and installation process, seriously consider having them do this. Sign fabricators speak their own language when it comes to materials, color mixtures and specifications. Some will try to cut corners, and you may end up with a sign that looks very different from the artist’s design. Having someone who speaks their language and knows the ropes can keep the fabrication on track and within budget, while maintaining the quality. View Roger’s video entitled “The Art of Wayfinding” in the RBI Video Library and “The 20 Ingredients of an Outstanding Downtown (Part 2)” for more information.

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

8. Design and build a Moosehead Lake regional trail wayfinding system Timeline: October, 2015 Who takes the lead: MOOSEHEAD LAKE EDC Approximate cost: $80,000-$90,000 (part of the overall wayfinding system design). Fabrication and installation $75,000-$100,000.

Rationale and/or details: When you address the vehicular and pedestrian wayfinding system, consider adding onto the project either at the same time or phased for a later date, a regional trail wayfinding system that is branded to the Moosehead Lake brand. PARKING There are hundreds of miles of trails that accommodate locals and visitors, summer and winter motorized and non-motorized vehicles. These are owned, maintained and managed by a variety of property owners and organizations. Imagine the confusion of the visitor or new resident as to what the regulations are for each trail, how to access them, how far it is to the next watering hole or highway, etc. etc. A wayfinding system along the trails, matched with trail names, not numbers, distances, allowable uses and seasons and linked to companion printed or downloadable maps will appreciably improve the accessibility and convenience for the visitor. You will get pushback from local guides, who will complain that this will cut into their guiding. Keeping visitors confused is not going to increase the number of visitors to Moosehead Lake. They need to understand the product, and they will want a hundred questions answered, BEFORE, they commit to visiting Moosehead Lake. Knowing about the trail system is part of their decisionmaking process as well as a navigational aid once they are here. Not all the trail locations need to be revealed, especially local favorites, hidden secrets, etc. There can be plenty of areas that will benefit from guiding services. But a user-friendly trail wayfinding system will improve the visitor experience, keeping them in the area longer, and spending money in the local economy.

2.3 Miles

MAYNARDS TRAIL

Possible funding idea: Economic Development Administration- Public Works program, or US Rural Development

Highland Trail

3.5

Mt. Kineo Loop 5.1 Maynards Trail 2.3 Lake Trail

1.8

Beginner Intermediate Advanced

9. Design, print and distribute “The Best of Moosehead Lake” rack brochure Timeline: February, 2016 Who takes the lead: BLT, MLEDC’s DMO Approximate cost: $17,000 – split 50/50 with featured businesses Possible funding idea: Downtown Tax Incremental Financing proceeds, or Northern Border Commission grant. Rationale and/or details: Always promote your “anchor tenants.” These are businesses and activities that people would drive 45 minutes to an hour, or more, to visit specifically. You cannot let politics, or membership get in the way of promoting your “best of” attractions, so this is a job for the new Destination Marketing Organization, not the Chamber. The reasons for creating this brochure are many: -

The most asked question at any hotel, B&B or visitor information center is “where’s a good place to eat?” and visitors don’t want to be handed a list. By promoting your best restaurants, retail shops and activities, you ensure a good experience, which is often instantly noted on Facebook, in Twitter posts and in on-line reviews such as Yelp and TripAdvisor. If friends or family were visiting you, where would you take them to eat?

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

Success breeds success. No successful mall was ever developed until the anchor tenants were committed. And most people go to the malls, not because there’s a Hallmark store, GNC Nutrition outlet, or a dozen cell phone dealers, but for the anchor tenants. Chances are good they’ll stop into Hallmark or a number of other smaller shops while they’re at the mall. The anchor tenants attract the shoppers to the mall, and all the other shops benefit as well. Would you go to Orlando if Disney World wasn’t there? If you said no, you just insulted 171 other attractions. But they all know that Disney is the anchor tenant and does the heavy lifting in terms of promotion, and they all benefit from Disney being there. Additionally, Disney is glad Universal Studio, Wild Kingdom and the other attractions are there because, collectively, they make Orlando worth a trip from just about anywhere on earth.

By promoting your very best restaurants, retail shops and activities, you encourage the others to raise the bar so they can be included in future “Best of” guides, which should be reexamined and produced new each year. Note the criteria below, and encourage those not selected to work on those criteria so they too can be promoted in the guide.

“Best of” restaurants, retail shops and activities make Moosehead Lake worth a special trip, particularly from neighboring communities and adjoining rural areas.

One of your recruitment objectives is to have two or three retail, dining and activity anchor tenants in downtown Greenville. Just like malls, few downtowns become successful destinations without those anchor tenants. You need to encourage existing businesses to raise the bar, or recruit them, and then make sure you help market them, specifically, creating an incentive for them to invest in Greenville, or in Rockwood.

The “Best of” guide is a 4-inch x 9-inch rack brochure that can include up to 20 businesses and activities, and is typically made up of 24 panels (12 panels per side). It should include perhaps 12 to 20 businesses and activities, plus front and back cover, a panel explaining how these were chosen, and a panel that talks about Moosehead Lake, the location of Greenville, and what the area is all about (Your brand promise). Here are the criteria you might use to determine who should be invited as a participant: a.

They must be open at least six days a week. The day they can be closed is Monday.

They must be open until at least 8:00 pm all six nights. As an FYI, 70% of all consumer retail spending now takes place after 6:00 pm. Are you open? This is why all successful malls are typically open until 9:00 or 10:00 pm seven days a week.

They must have good curb appeal. They must be inviting.

They must be highly regarded by someone other than themselves. This means that they must have an 80%+ positive reviews on TripAdvisor, Yelp, Urban Spoon and/or have been written up in regional publications such Yankee Magazine, Down East, New England Travel & Life, or Boston magazine.

They must be organic to the Moosehead Lake area. This means you can’t include franchises and businesses that can be found in just about every town. Why drive to Moosehead Lake if I can enjoy the same shop or restaurant right here in Portland?

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

They do not all need to be located in downtown Greenville. While we hope they can be recruited to downtown Greenville or to Rockwood, it’s not a requirement to be included in the guide.

These business folks are each invited to purchase a panel in the guide, making this a public-private marketing partnership. Typically each business or activity would pay in the range of $400 for their panel. The remainder of the cost is covered by the DMO. Many activities, such as recreational or historical attractions and parks have little or no marketing budgets, and their panel would be covered by the DMO or other funds. It’s very important NOT to include businesses just to sell more panels. You should have a good balance between restaurants, retail shops, and activities: Perhaps six of each. But if you only have four restaurants that are truly outstanding (remember you MUST deliver on the promise of it being worth an hour’s drive) only promote four. The same goes with retail shops and activities. We recommend printing at least 15,000 copies and distributing them as follows: -

Every camp or motel should put the “Best of Moosehead Lake” guide in every room or have them available at the front desk. Housekeeping would make sure one is in each room. Guests, of course, are encouraged to keep the copy they pick up. An alternative would be to hand the guest one on check-in.

In your visitor information center or mobile VIC booth, MLEDC office, and at visitor information kiosks designed and installed as part of your wayfinding system. You should have kiosks at the pavilion, at the Katahdin boat dock, the boat dock in Rockwood for Mount Kineo, the Ski Resort, the Indian Hill Store and recreational sites like Lily State Park. All should include brochure distribution where the “Best of Moosehead Lake” guide is included.

One should be sent to every household in the Moosehead Lake area, in a #10 envelope (yes, snail mail) with a small card that reads, “The number one reason people travel is to visit friends and family. We hope that you will hang onto this brochure so that when you host visitors, you will show them the very best of what Moosehead Lake has to offer. After all, every dining room table should be a concierge desk.”

At other state visitor information centers along highways 201,or I-95, and other highway info centers within two hour’s drive of Greenville.

At Town Hall, the County Courthouse, the library and at other public assembly spaces.

This one brochure is a good way to entice regional visitors to stop in Moosehead Lake, a great way to get camp guests to explore downtown, and a good way to educate locals about what you’ve got and where it’s located. For each featured business, include a photo (interiors sell the experience better than exterior shots), their logo, address, phone number, website address and a description of why they are so good and are a “must visit” and “worth the drive” destination. Be specific about some feature, dish or experience that makes it special. Each would get a full panel. You might consider adding a QR code next to the logo or at the bottom of each panel where a person could easily pull up their website or menu. The guide should also be available on the DMO’s website splash page for viewing and for download. The guide should be reproduced every year. Finally, the reason no lodging facilities are included is so that camps, hotels and motels will hand the brochure to visitors without fear of promoting their competitors.

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

10. Develop a “Community Profile & Opportunities” brochure Timeline: November, 2015 Who takes the lead: BLT, MLEDC’s DMO Approximate cost: $15,000 Possible funding idea: Downtown Tax Incremental Financing proceeds Rationale and/or details: Before proceeding with this recommendation, make sure you have excellent professional photography to use and a good copywriter. Create a Community Profile and an Opportunities brochure. The profile should be a simple, straightforward snapshot of Moosehead Lake area that can be used by local real estate agents (commercial and residential), the MLEDC as part of relocation packets, for business recruitment purposes, and to attract festivals and events, and when you get a downtown hotel – meetings and conventions. It should include demographic information, weather, some history, and economic information. Provide copies to your major employers, hospitals, medical facilities, banks, etc.

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

Emphasize your points of differentiation with competing communities and use third party testimony as long as it is not older than five years. Economic development should focus on the outcome, not just be about assets. Use case studies whenever possible. Be sure to include approved or installed new features in Greenville and Rockwood, such as downtown improvements, the new pavilion, public Wi-Fi, new wayfinding signage, programmed event days, awards and designations, industrial utility assets – things that potential retailers, new businesses and future residents will be looking for. These should be updated every year and be available as multi-page downloads in PDF format on every official website. Consider printing 6,000 copies. Distribute perhaps 25 to every real estate office within a 100-mile radius, and then the rest will be available as needed. They should be available in each partnering organization office and at Town Hall. With the “Opportunities” piece, list the top seven retail opportunities for downtown Greenville and Rockwood. Consider the following: -

Additional restaurants – mid-scale, perhaps ethnic, but family-oriented whenever possible

Creative artisan or office space

Professional services building (Class A, small office lease spaces)

Specialty retail shops

Specialty food outlets

Sports and sporting goods store and sporting equipment rentals

Bike shop (rentals, sales, repairs)

Tourism-based vendor space

Make sure you concentrate the marketing on WHY Moosehead Lake– not just what you have or where it’s located. WHY should I move or start a business in Moosehead lake?

11. Create a “Guide to Event Production at Moosehead Lake” brochure Timing: March, 2017 Who takes the lead: MLEDC’s DMO, Pavilion Staff Approximate cost: $12,500 Possible funding idea: US Rural Development, Northern Border Commission grants Rationale and/or details: One of the keys to creating a place where people want to live as well as where visitors want to hang out, is generating activity and “animation” of a central “third place” – a gathering place for the community. This is why the construction and operation of the Pavilion is so important. Another key, is, having created the venue, getting others to do most of the work in putting on events and activities that will draw both residents and visitors downtown where they can spend time with their friends, and importantly, spend money in the nearby restaurants, retail shops and on recreational equipment and tours. Since the goal is to create 250+ days of activities that will draw 200 to 300+ visitors each day, it would be impossible for the Pavilion staff to produce every event. Instead, invite outside producers to put their events on at the Pavilion in Greenville. This is the purpose of the brochure. This would be a tri-fold piece (11 inches x 23.5 inches that folds to 8.5 inches x 11 inches) that would include:

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

WHY they should host their events at Moosehead Lake (exciting venue on the lake and in the pavilion, low costs, and a proactive community that WANTS them there, supporting facilities, plenty of decent nearby accommodations, etc.) An entire page would be dedicated to marketing Greenville as THE event destination.

Information about hosting events at Moosehead Lake, including contact information and local resources available to them: some town, some private-industry like catering or food services, and transportation.

Logistical information like power, sound, lighting, security, fencing for beer gardens, staging, etc.

A two-page spread would include the layout of the pavilion and outdoor surrounding area, the town parks, and what streets can be closed or how events can be physically configured.

Costs for supporting services and event-related equipment (security, trash removal, cleanup, staging, power, sound, lighting, portable toilets, etc.) This could be an additional sheet to be included as an add-on so that prices and services can be changed as the brand evolves.

This marketing piece would be printed in full-color, include lots of photography of Moosehead Lake events, and be sent to potential event organizers, clubs and organizations after they have been contacted or approached by your event recruiter.

12. Develop free, robust Wi-Fi access at the pavilion and a ¼ to ½ mile radius of downtown Greenville Timeline: March, 2016 Who takes the lead: Town of Greenville Approximate cost: $100,000 Possible funding idea: Downtown Tax Incremental Financing proceeds Rationale and/or details: Think of free downtown Wi-Fi as a marketing investment, not a freebie for bored visitors. For today’s traveler, the most credible information they get on an activity or destination is from their friends and family. Downtown Wi-Fi enables visitors to instantly upload “selfies” on location at Moosehead Lake, showing them having a great time. These are sent to their social networks of friends, many who will in turn forward them on to others. Multiply that times hundreds and you have a huge third-party endorsement of Moosehead Lake. That is why we recommend beautification, street entertainers, and why branded wayfinding signage is so important. Create iconic sites where kids and parents can take “selfies” and instantly transmit them to their online “tribes”. There is no marketing that does a better job than third party testimony, and putting images of consumers having fun at Moosehead Lake on thousands of social media pages goes a long way towards spreading the word. Make sure the iconic site (sculpture, sign, artwork, etc.) contains the Moosehead Lake name or logo. Disney has perfected this with their walking animated characters. You can also place QR codes (and in the near future, even easier scans) near event locations, monuments and interpretive signage so that visitors can download audio and video enriched interpretive content. For a destination rich in scenic vistas, history and activity, this will help tell the story of Moosehead Lake, engage the visitors and direct them to additional experiences. Envision a QR code at the new pavilion that downloads a calendar of events to your phone, or even puts the event list on your calendar. Maybe you put the “Best of Moosehead Lake” brochure on your log-in site. An important benefit of public Wi-Fi is that all this Internet activity can be analyzed and controlled from a central location. For example, you can monitor which types of devices are most used to upload photos and text, and tweak the system to maximize their speed and efficiency. You can see which Wi-Fi access points are being used the most, and improve the photo opportunities at those that are lagging behind. You can monitor traffic highs and lows, so you know when visitors are most active downtown, and you can turn access points on and off if you want to restrict or throttle back different sections of downtown. You can even ban local businesses that are using the public Wi-Fi for private business, if it affects overall Internet speed.

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

In this age of central gathering spots and sidewalk cafes, having consistent, high quality broadband Internet access is very important. Particularly in a town where you are trying to attract young families and entrepreneurial types, having free broadband access is a huge selling point. Consider requiring people to formally log in to use the Internet after an initial 15-minute period. They provide their name and e-mail address (no more information than that) after which they are automatically reconnected, and added to your e-newsletter database, so they will receive notices about upcoming festivals and events. They would be able to opt out later if they wish.

13. Develop a Greenville zoning ordinance for first floor uses in the downtown core. Timing: April, 2016 Who takes the lead: Town of Greenville, Moosehead Lake EDC (Main Street program) Approximate cost: None Possible funding idea: None required Rationale and/or details: This recommendation complements the Master Plan with zoning overlays and design standards. Think of downtown Greenville like you’d think of a mall. This is the way lifestyle retail center designers also think: To succeed they must have like-businesses grouped together. This is referred to as “clustering,” and this is why gas stations and fast food restaurants for years have “clustered” on all four corners of busy intersections. This is why malls have food courts. And this is what makes dining districts work. Think Branson, Missouri and 49 music theaters. This town of just 6,500 residents hosts 7.5 million visitors a year. Think Napa Valley and its 200+ wineries. When you visit a successful mall – or lifestyle retail center – you will never find laundromats, architectural offices, tax preparation services, county or town offices, federal agencies, or other non-retail businesses there. Mall developers know they must orchestrate the business mix. In a downtown this doesn’t mean you can’t have an architect’s office, tax preparation services, town or county offices, BUT you must have the necessary “critical mass” of like-businesses grouped together, so you become THE place for local residents and visitors to spend time. To see great examples of a destination downtown, just visit McKinney or Fredericksburg, Texas, both of which have a great mix of businesses. In Greenville, South Carolina, you need to help orchestrate the effort, so you don’t end up with a hodge-podge assortment of businesses that creates “retail chaos” and a downtown that closes at 5:00. This is why cities throughout North America are starting to implement zoning ordinances, because so many individual property owners, each with their own agenda, do not work together to create an outstanding destination, which only happens with an orchestrated business mix. Even in downtown McKinney, TX you’ll see real estate signs that say “Available for a restaurant” – a specific type of business in a specific building. Greenville needs to follow suit. However, it’s important that this be a two-way street. If the town imposes “allowable uses” for street level shops, then it’s important that the town be there to help that property owner recruit a business that fits the retail mix – and that is part of this plan. With regards to existing downtown businesses, none of these are pushed out, but if their spaces become available for sale or lease, then the allowable uses ordinance does come into play. With regards to professional services and non-retail uses, these would be encouraged in other nearby locations, and we recommend that a certain percentage of retail frontage still allow for non-retail commercial use. Even if there are non-retail uses downtown, think about taking the first fifteen feet of the building front and making it retail. Street front space might be home to a small coffee shop, or flower shop, or newspaper stand – retail and food services that can be open into the evening hours, keeping downtown alive and vibrant. 38

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

The highest and best use of any commercial properties bordering a central plaza, or on the water, or with view corridors is always going to be retail on the ground floor and second story office, residential, or lodging. To support this recommendation we hope you’ll watch the Roger Brooks video “Downtown Critical Mass,” which showcases case histories and why this is so important. As the ordinance is being drafted, work with your property owners rather than impose it on them. Most will agree that their investment will realize a much greater return when they work together to orchestrate the business mix in their buildings collectively. Here are some additional notes and examples regarding the regulation of commercial properties. While you will see Manhattan and instantly think, “How can that possibly apply to Greenville, Maine?” Remember that these ordinances are for very small neighborhoods – not for the entire town. In every case you see here, most are as small geographic areas as you have in downtown Greenville. When you get to this point contract with a professional in urban planning. Restrictive Retail Zoning Ordinances Most commonly seen in highly desirable, affluent neighborhoods with low vacancies and high rents. Typical tools: • Mandated/prohibited uses • Size caps • Conditional permitting • Density guidelines • Quota system Manhattan, NY http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/zone/zh_special_purp_mn.shtml Special 125th Street District. To ensure active and diverse retail uses, special regulations restrict the amount of ground floor street frontage that may be occupied by banks, office and residential lobbies, and other non-active uses. Also requires inclusion of arts and entertainment uses for developments over a certain size. Special Madison Avenue Preservation District. Retail continuity is ensured for the famed specialty shops by mandating that the ground floor of buildings on Madison Avenue must be occupied by selected uses. San Francisco, CA http://www.sf-planning.org/index.aspx?page=2839 uses formula retail controls to protect San Francisco’s vibrant small business sector and create a supportive environment for new small business innovations. Applies to retail establishments with multiple locations and a recognizable “look” or appearance. Calistoga, CA prohibits formula restaurants and visitor accommodations, and requires that other types of formula businesses undergo review and apply for a special use permit from the Planning Commission. Intended to preserve the unique and historic character of the downtown commercial district. Bainbridge Island, WA limits large-store retail to three commercial zones, and limits auto-oriented development to two of three of these zones. Does not have an overall cap on retail square footage; however, it does have size limits in certain overlay districts and zones. Also limits the location and size of formula take-out food restaurants. Formula take-out food restaurants are permitted in only one zone and may not exceed 4,000 square feet, nor occupy more than 50% of any building. Westwood Village, CA limits certain uses such as auto repair and pool halls and uses a density-related formula for fast food establishments; they are permitted provided the total along any public street does not exceed one for every 200-400 feet of lot frontage along that street. The Specific Plan has very detailed guidelines for permitted uses (see Section 5: Uses). http:// cityplanning.lacity.org/complan/specplan/pdf/wwdvil.pdf Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

Arcata, CA limits the number of formula restaurants to nine at any one time. Newport, RI and Davis, CA have regulations for various types of restaurants. Berkeley, CA has a quota system limiting the number of food service establishments. Telegraph Avenue Commercial District Provisions are very detailed. Retail Sales section is below; entire table located at http://codepublishing.com/CA/Berkeley/cgi/ NewSmartCompile.pl?path=Berkeley23E/Berkeley23E56/Berkeley23E56090.html#23E.56.030 For even more information about creating critical mass of retail in your downtown, please watch Roger’s video “Downtown Critical Mass” in the RBI Video Library.

14. Improve access to public restrooms in downtown Greenville and in Rockwood Timeline: May, 2016 Who takes the lead: MLEDC or Town of Greenville, and Rockwood Approximate cost: location dependent Possible funding idea: MLEDC, Rotary, Kiwanis, etc. Rationale and/or details: One of the most fundamental visitor amenities is the availability of clean and convenient public restrooms. If consumers have to get in their car to go find a restroom they are not likely to return. Public restrooms are particularly important in pedestrian-oriented downtown areas, and they are essential during festivals and events. We recommend that the town keep the current restrooms located next to the museum open at least from 8 am to 10 pm daily, or develop new restrooms as part of the downtown revitalization project. On all of our visits, we found the restrooms locked so we cannot comment on their condition. The restrooms should be identified by prominent signage. If free-standing, the restrooms should be developed in an architectural style that is complementary to the existing character of the community, include exterior lighting, and landscaping. The closer the restrooms are to high activity areas, the less likely they will be subjected to vandalism and illegal uses. For more information on public restrooms, view Roger’s video entitled “The 20 Ingredients of an Outstanding Downtown (Part 2)”.

15. Add Moosehead Lake businesses to GPS services, web-based applications and smartphones Timeline: April, 2016 Who takes the lead: MLEDC’s DMO - the “Visit Moosehead Lake” organization Approximate cost: Staff time Possible funding idea: None Rationale and/or details: Today’s consumer relies heavily on web-based applications to find the location of retail goods and services, particularly in rural areas. The appearance of Moosehead Lake businesses on these web-based applications and GPS services improves the likelihood that they will be found and navigated to, thereby increasing the awareness of Moosehead Lake as a consumer destination. Moosehead Lake businesses should add or update their information on a variety of applications: NAVTEQ: mapreporter.navteq.com – This service partners with third-party companies to provide its location services for portable GPS devices made by Garmin, Lowrance and NDrive. Many in-dash navigation car systems upgrade their maps from this source. Navteq also supports web-based applications like Yahoo! Maps, Bing Maps, Nokia Maps, and Mapquest. TELE ATLAS: mapfeedbach.teleatlas.com – This company supplies map information to Tom Tom and Apple’s IOS 6 maps. 40

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

GOOGLE MAPS: google.com/placesforbusiness – Google provides maps for its own system. Another marketing tool that Moosehead Lake businesses should take advantage of is being listed on TripAdvisor.com and Yelp.com. This can be done by either the business or the consumer. For example, businesses may want to buy a listing or page on TripAdvisor. Another way is to have consumers complete reviews of Moosehead Lake businesses on these sites. Businesses should make sure they show up when consumers look for “dining in Greenville” or “Antique shops at Moosehead Lake”. The DMO should monitor the sites monthly and address any negative reviews with follow up action. When a merchant or lodging facility responds to a negative review in a positive, helpful, constructive way, it shows the readers that the merchant cares and is making things better. This can go a long way to alleviate the negative effects of a bad review. Some area businesses already have a presence on these sites. The DMO should review them, make sure they are up to date and accurate, and address any concerns expressed by viewers.

16. Create a structural organization for the Brand Action Plan development effort Timeline: June, 2016 Who takes the lead: Moosehead Lake EDC, Brand Leadership Team, Town of Greenville Approximate cost: Individual cost components listed elsewhere Possible funding idea: None needed Two-way Advisory Management

Moosehead Lake Brand Initiative Organizational Relationships

Brand Leadership Team • • •

Moosehead Lake Economic Development Corp.

Vision Champions Evangelical

• • • • • • • • •

MLEDC Contracts

Master Plan Pavilion Bus. Plan Pavilion Design Plan Pavilion Construction Wayﬁnding Systems Overlay Ordinances Video/Photography Graphic Design Community Proﬁle Brochure

Pavilion Staff

3 persons marketer • recruiter • operations •

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) Contracts Manager & Tourism Marketer (one person)

DMO Contracts: • Travel Writing • Best of Moosehead Lake • Brochure • Guide to Event Production • Brochure • Branded DMO website • Branded City website

Town of Greenville

Main Street Program Operational Person

• manage downtown wiﬁ system • install retail signs • add benches and beautiﬁcation • manage facade program • window and storefront merchandising • street musicians • sidewalk dining • mall-style lease agreements • hospitality training • downtown restrooms

Rationale and/or details: Successful execution of the Action Plan recommendations will require a public/private partnership. The Brand Leadership Team – comprised of Brand Champions, provides the energy and advocacy to push the Plan initiatives, help generate grant funds, keep the effort on track and monitor use of the brand identity. The Moosehead Lake Economic Development Corporation provides the legal basis for soliciting grants, collecting funds, soliciting and entering into contracts for planning and execution, administering legal documents and managing the Destination Marketing Organization and the Pavilion Staff. Under the leadership of the Moosehead Lake Economic Development Corporation, the Destination Marketing Organization (we recommend calling it Destination Moosehead Lake) will be formed and managed to market the destination and its assets, create and project verbal and visual communications directed toward target audiences. The Pavilion (to be named later) will also be managed by the MLEDC. A staff of three will recruit events into the Pavilion, receive and account for revenue from vendor and event organizer fees and expenses, market the Pavilion events, and operate the day to day functionality of the Pavilion, including retail leases, setup and take down of booths, tables, chairs, stages, lighting, and other amenities associated with events and other operational functions. The Town of Greenville will be encouraged to establish a Main Street program, tap into grant funds available for Main Street programs and hire a full time operational Main Street Manager specifically to execute several of the Action Plan tasks, including: installation of retail signs, a downtown Wi-Fi system, benches and beautification, hospitality training, as well as management of a façade program for downtown storefronts.

17. Raise $7 million dollars for development and marketing of the Brand Timeline: July, 2016, ongoing Who takes the lead: Moosehead Lake EDC, Brand Leadership Team Approximate cost: $7,000,000 Possible funding idea: Downtown TIF, AMC- New Market Tax Credits, CDBG grants, EDA-Public Works program, US Rural Development, Community Improvement Capital raise effort, Northern Border Commission. Rationale and/or details: Essentially all of the recommendations within this Action Plan can be accomplished for $7 million dollars. Not all of it will have to be raised locally, but about $2 million may be needed from some form of local financing mechanism applied to the local community. Raising $2 million locally will demonstrate to other providers – federal and state agencies, non-profit foundations, the County, and private investors that the local population believes in the brand development, and is committed to making it happen. In addition to the BLT and Economic Development Corporation advocating for local financing, they will need to work with grant writers in pursuing other funding sources.

18. Develop a master plan for Greenville and Rockwood Timeline: August, 2016 Who takes the lead: Moosehead Lake EDC and the Brand Leadership Team Approximate cost: Conceptual Plan- $70,000. Possible funding idea: Community Development Block Grant program, county and regional community contributions, MLEDC resources. Rationale and/or details: Downtown Greenville is the essential core area for the Moosehead Lake visitor destination. It is here that most residents and visitors gather as their “third place”. It is here that most retail and dining expenditures occur. And

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

it is here where most tourism based entrepreneurial businesses will reside. While the town owns some of the real estate in downtown Greenville, other significant properties, especially waterfront properties, are owned by State and Federal agencies, and by private landowners. With the elevation of Greenville as a more important tourism-based economy as opposed to a natural resource extraction economy, Greenville needs to turn directly to the Lake. This means repurposing waterfront properties now used for non-tourism uses. The same is true to a lesser extent for Rockwood, as well. Greenville should be addressed first, and then Rockwell. Develop a Master Plan for Greenville that will review current ownership and use of downtown land parcels, consider higher and better uses for the newly branded tourism economy, engage the local population in visionary thinking and charettes, begin discussions with waterfront agencies and property owners, and develop illustrations and schematics of a repurposed downtown and waterfront. Each of the landowners must ultimately buy into the Master Plan in order for it to be successfully developed. It must make economic sense, and there must be an overall vision as to how the different development pieces work together to create a vibrant, financially sound community destination. It is RBI’s experience, in recruiting over $2 billion in destination infrastructure, that a conceptual design and a programming plan is the best way to illustrate and convey the overall vision of the proposed development as well as show the economic feasibility of the proposal for the sites. The Moosehead Lake Economic Development Corporation and Brand Leadership Team should engage professional support in coming up with the visual concept and “programming” for the downtown, develop 4-color renderings of the area from different perspectives, and conduct in-person presentations with the agency decision-makers and land owners. Specifics would include placement of a pavilion and open space, a mid-range hotel or other accommodations type, shore side vendor space, streetscaping, links to rural trails, downtown retail composition, visitor information center placement, crosswalk locations and design, and other pedestrian functionality. Be sure to watch Roger’s videos entitled “The Power of Public Plazas – Parts 1 & 2”, as well as “Year-Round Public Markets.”

19. Develop a business plan for the Greenville pavilion Timeline: September, 2016 Who takes the lead: MOOSEHEAD LAKE EDC and the Brand Leadership Team Approximate cost: Conceptual Plan- $70,000-$80,000. Possible funding idea: AMC – New Market Tax Credit-Community Investment program, county and regional community contributions, local business contributions, MLREDC resources Rationale and/or details: The placement, construction and operation of an all-weather four-season public space (pavilion) in downtown Greenville is a key element to the success of the Moosehead Lake Brand. The goal of the brand initiative is to repopulate the Moosehead Lake area with young families. In a tourism-based economy, this requires entrepreneurial opportunities to make a year-round family living income or wage. The attractions, activities and experiences that will keep residents spending their money locally, and lure visitors, must be independent of the weather and must offer something different from other, competing outdoor recreation destinations. This is what a well-designed and programmed pavilion can do. It is important that the pavilion be located in downtown Greenville, preferable on or with views of the lake. Its proximity to downtown retail and dining will maximize local and visitor spending. Even better would be the nearby or adjacent placement of a mid-range hotel that could accommodate pavilion vendors and guests as well as meetings and small conventions.

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

The business plan would address three issues: 1.

A programming plan that schedules at least 250 days of events, activities and experiences

A development plan that designs and costs the space and interior equipment to meet programming needs.

An operating plan that determines staffing and operating expenses on an annual basis

The plan would include programming details for surrounding outdoor space, water features, staged events, sound, lights, vendor spaces, public market, upgrades and maintenance costs, job descriptions, income and expense budgets. From this you would have all the drawings, site analysis and a good idea of annual cost and income revenue sources. Examples of cultural and learning events that could be programmed at the pavilion include: Motorcycle shows

Bridal fairs

Silent sport shows

BMX exhibitions

Photography expos

Spa and yoga

Public markets

Arts & Crafts fairs

Movies in the pavilion

Farmers market

Culinary education

International kids fair

Fly fishing shows

Brew & wine festival

Pet fair

Hunting expos

Concerts

Christmas forest

Snowmobile expos

Home shows

Gift show

ATV shows

Garden shows

Aeronautical showcase

Wellness exposition

Quilt guild shows

Outfitters & clothing

Pottery shows

Dog shows

Classic car shows

Ski exposition

Job fairs

Boat shows

One approach is to have a non-profit operate it and the Town own it. While an annual marketing and operating cost might be in the $300,000 range, the town subsidy would be in the $50,000 to $100,000 range. The balance would come from vendor sales/space rentals, sponsorships, naming rights, etc.

20. Create a Moosehead Lake destination marketing organization Timing: October, 2016 Who takes the lead: Moosehead Lake EDC Approximate cost: Staff costs for one Contracts Manager/Tourism Marketer, office expenses. Possible funding idea: Community Improvement Capital raise effort, MLEDC resources, corporate contributions, State tourism promotion grants. Rationale and/or details: Bringing the brand to life will require a substantially increased effort than what the Chamber of Commerce is presently able to do with their current budget and staff. The marketing effort will mean integrating the new brand messages into existing and new communication vehicles, getting the private sector to project their products and services in terms of the brand messaging, and developing new marketing tools. For example, this plan calls for a brand style guide, new professional videography and photography, new graphics, new brochures like a “community profile and opportunities brochure,” the “Best of Moosehead” brochure, and a “Guide to Event Production,” new internet content and new social media content. These efforts will require expertise, research and management. And, additional annual funding. 44

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

We recommend a Moosehead Lake Destination Marketing Organization at arms length from the Chamber of Commerce, in order to avoid the perception of any favoritism directed toward Chamber Members. The DMO would market all product and service providers in the region, and be free to lead with its anchor visitor “lures” and meritorious attractions and activities (See “Create a ‘Best of Moosehead Lake’ brochure” recommendation). The Chamber could take on the DMO duties as an arms length contract, or it could be a free-standing organization or a division of the Moosehead Lake Economic Development Corporation, which makes the most sense to us, since the BLT will be working closely with the MLEDC. Nothing would prevent the Chamber from still running the Visitor Information Center, although we recommend that it be moved to the downtown core in Greenville.

21. Begin the transition to the new brand identity (logo and tagline) Timeline: November, 2016 Who takes the lead: The BLT, MLEDC, Town of Greenville, supporting organizations Approximate cost: None (items are simply replaced as normally needed) Possible funding idea: None required Rationale and/or details: The 2015 calendar year is the “getting ready” year, meaning that this is the year dedicated to product development initiatives, programming of the pavilion, working toward 250 activity-days downtown, creating new marketing materials, and gradually introducing the new brand identity, wayfinding signage and pole banners. This transition does not need to be expensive. When a town council or staff person, for example, needs new business cards printed, they would be printed with the new look and feel of the brand. Over time, letterheads, utility billings, envelopes, business cards and even vehicle graphics would change to the new branding. The transition might take 12 to 18 months, and that’s just fine. People will come downtown, and people will invest in downtown because it’s a popular gathering place, not because there’s a new logo on printed materials or signage. The transition should also apply to any marketing the MLEDC, Chamber of Commerce and other supporting organizations do over the next couple of years. In fact, once the Brand Style Guide is complete, copies should be distributed to your partnering organizations. Successful brands require continuity. Across the country there are dozens of Coca Cola bottling plants. What would happen if each developed its own Coke logo, its own cans and bottles, and its own marketing messaging? Coke wouldn’t exist as one of the world’s most valuable brands. This applies to communities as well. This does not mean the Chamber of Commerce needs to use the same logo as the town, but there should be common color schemes or fonts used to create synergy between organizations. NOTE: EVERY use of the brand identity, tagline and marketing messages must be “approved” by the BLT before printing so that they comply with the rules outlined in the Brand Style Guide. One of the primary functions of the BLT is to “police” the brandmark (logo) and the messaging, just as is done by any major brand. As brochures, pole banners, wayfinding signage, print ads, billboard displays, trade show booths, business papers, newsletters, etc. are developed, each must be approved by the BLT. This is imperative to assure the strength of the brand. Every website, from local schools, the library, town, economic development, tourism and Chamber of Commerce should reflect the “America’s Crown Jewel” brand. This does not mean that every website has to be cookie-cutter to every other website, but there should be common graphic elements, common themes in terms of text, and links to each other. The Brand Style Guide is the reference for making this happen. The BLT Marketing Committee should encourage other local websites to include elements of the brand in their marketing efforts.

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

MMLEDC Business Papers Concepts

Amanda Hunt

Board Member amandah@mooseheadlakeedc.com

PO Box 223 Greenville, ME 04441 T: (207) 697-7030 F: (207) 673-3047

PO Box 223 Greenville, ME 04441 www.mooseheadlakeedc.com

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

Downtown Pole Banners

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

While businesses cannot use the Moosehead Lake brand logo in their marketing efforts (unless it is a cooperative marketing project), they should be encouraged to play up the brand. The bottom line: You will be far more effective as one unified voice than a bunch of independent individual voices. That’s the power of branding. The more you have to offer, collectively, the further people will travel, the longer they will stay and the more often they’ll come back. This applies to your marketing as well as to the business mix in downtown Greenville. The brand identity can ONLY be used for public sector marketing. Joe’s hardware cannot use the logo or the tagline in their marketing efforts. However, if Joe wants to promote “serving America’s Crown Jewel” there’s no problem since it reinforces the brand. This use should actually be encouraged; however, it should be approved by the BLT marketing committee.

22. Integrate existing assets, tours and experiences to the brand Timeline: November, 2016 to August, 2017 Who takes the lead: BLT, MLEDC’s DMO, event organizations Approximate cost: Staff time Possible funding idea: None required Rationale and/or details: Make the Moosehead Lake brand pervasive throughout the community. Explain the brand concepts to owners of camps, guiding services, annual event organizers, retail and dining proprietors, as well as flagship businesses that cater to local residents. Encourage them to incorporate the energy, excitement, tone and look and feel of the brand into their own signage, marketing communications and even how they present their products and services. This can be a very creative and fun thing to do. Likewise, make sure event organizers are using the Style Guide in their marketing efforts so there is continuity with your branding efforts. In fact, if it helps, have your graphic design firm help them (at your cost not the event’s cost) design their posters, banners, signs and ads promoting the event. Then in following years they can use those templates over and over again.

23. Contract for professional video and still photography Timeline: January, 2016 Who takes the lead: BLT, MLEDC’s DMO Approximate cost: $30,000 Possible funding idea: US Rural Development, Northern Border Commission grants Rationale and/or details: Before development or updating of the DMO and MLEDC websites, arrange for professional video and still photography. We are in the age of visual communications. You can work with a nearby college, a university photo and video education department, or contract for professional photography and videography – but the key is having great content and high-definition resolution. Your photos need to be world class – like you’d expect to see in a National Geographic publication. Videos, on the other hand, need to be more artsy and don’t need to be overly polished. The idea is to sell great experiences that are totally different from what the visitor can get closer to home. They need to fit within the framework of the Brand Style Guide – the look at feel of your brand. Photos and videos should be festive, fun, and engaging. The focus should be on people having a great time in Moosehead Lake. After all, this is about experiencing the lifestyle atmosphere that Moosehead Lake offers. Everything you film and shoot should portray that feeling. 48

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

You can reduce costs by assuring the photographer that the images will only be used by local non-profit organizations and/or the town of Greenville to promote Moosehead Lake and the area, and by including the photographer’s name next to every use (in credits on video content) – photo credits. You can also include a QR code or website address promoting the photographer. This way you create a reciprocal relationship. Consider having a page on your website dedicated to the photographer without linking to another site. Make sure your videographer also has studio skills. You’ll want to create a number of 20-second to two-minute videos, every season of the year, promoting great experiences. This means videos may need to be edited and formatted for use on YouTube, your website, and other online sites. Develop a knock-your-socks-off B-roll library of video and perhaps 100 signature photographs, keeping in mind: -

The photography and videography MUST fit within the Style Guide requirements and recommendations.

Always focus on people having a great time. Especially at recreational play and scheduled events. Don’t show just scenery – show the visitor in action. People – not objects. The lakes are awesome, but photos of fishing, sailing, water skiing, snowmobiling, etc. would be far more fascinating. People see themselves where they see other people. Always sell experiences, not just places, not just objects. We want to see people, not pictures of forests. For example, instead of photo of a moose, use a photo of a photographer taking a picture of a moose.

Keep the photography tied to the core brand promoting the Moosehead Lake lifestyle.

Make sure you watch the Roger Brooks video in the All Access Library “The Use of Photography to Increase Sales.” This will be a great primer for your efforts in securing and using world-class photography. A photograph really IS worth a thousand words.

24. Contract graphic design expertise and travel writing capabilities Timing: January, 2016 Who takes the lead: BLT, MLEDC Approximate cost: TBD Possible funding idea: US Rural Development, Northern Border Commission grants Rationale and/or details: Graphic Design: The look and feel of the brand is a critical element of its long-term success. Hire the very best and then negotiate the fees with them. They will be your partner in protecting the brand, and must have a clear understanding of what branding really is. They must know how to evoke emotion and create top of mind awareness. The goal is to have everyone in the New England market asking, “I wonder what’s happening this week in Moosehead Lake?” They will be charged with working from the Brand Style Guide, designing marketing materials and templates for partnering organizations, posters, give-away items, billboards, radio, television, video content, photography, key marketing messages, website content, etc. Continuity is also critical: You MUST have all of your partnership organizations on the same page, pulling in the same direction. Imagine the nightmare Coca-Cola would face if every Coca-Cola bottling plant designed its own Coke logo, bottle and can design, ads, trucks, etc. It wouldn’t be one of the world’s top brands. In fact, it wouldn’t exist as a company. You have one chance to do this right, and so securing the best graphic design expertise you can find is essential. They do NOT need to be local, although if local talent is available and eager to be a part of the effort, then by all means keep the money local. You may see fit to hire someone outside the area the first year, so you end up with a toolbox full of initial design elements that can simply be refreshed locally. The goal is to attract a world-class graphic design firm into Moosehead Lake. Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

Issue a Request for Qualifications and let them know they will be charged with a number of projects including: -

Brochures and printed marketing pieces

Website page layout and design

Logo gear and collectibles

Billboards, and outdoor advertising

Pole banners

Ads (radio, print, television – down the road)

Anything and everything that portrays The Moosehead Lake brand

Pick the top three firms (or people) after issuing the RFQ. Qualifications should include: -

Experience promoting communities

Experience promoting tourism, chambers of commerce and economic development organizations

Depth with print advertising, design and production of promotional materials

Style Guide creation experience

Talent (the most critical element. Look at the work they’ve done: Does it make you want to go there? To buy the product they are promoting? If not, go to the next one.)

Range of talent (an art-focused brand looks a whole lot different than someone promoting rail history, for example. Do they have range?)

Social media expertise (setting up a YouTube channel, Facebook Fan Page, Twitter account, etc.)

Editorial photography – the type of photos you’ll use to promote your key messages. With this brand, photography, including videography, will be critically important. This team would be charged with assisting with assignment photography and the creation of a great photo library.

Travel-writing: Graphic design is only 50% of what your creative team will need to do for you. The other 50% is the messaging: the written text. You may be better served by getting a marketing agency that has expertise in written word, graphic design, digital marketing, especially managing social media blogs, and public relations. The written word is JUST AS IMPORTANT as the visual graphics. Interview your top three picks and pick the one you think is the most talented, will be timely in submitting ideas and deliverables, is affordable, is easiest to work with, and understands what branding really is. Many graphic designers and writers are defensive of their work, and you need someone (or a team) that will listen to you and do you proud. They should be paid on a per-project basis and would bid each project with a not-to-exceed cost so that you can work with tight budget restraints. But DO spend the money to bring in professional graphic design and copywriting expertise. It’s important in everything you do. They will be able to do projects for the BLT, the MLEDC, the Chamber, the Town, and other organizations, creating continuity. At the end of each year (or every other year) you’ll want to put the marketing “out for review” meaning you’d consider other companies. While you don’t want to go through a host of marketing companies, you do want them to keep a sharp pencil in terms of costs! After all, they are likely to get other work from local businesses as a result of their branding efforts with the MLEDC.

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

25. Design, print, frame and distribute brand awareness posters Description – This would be a series of posters (perhaps three or four) posters that would be mounted, framed and displayed at local retailers, restaurants, motels, camps, town buildings, library, schools, and other public places, to promote the brand. Timeline for implementation – February 2017 Taking the lead – BLT, MLEDC Approximate cost – $5,500 Funding idea – Grants, marketing funds Rationale and implementation details - Create an initial series of three or four posters and make them 24” x 36” (movie poster size), print 50 of each, have them matted, mounted and framed. These will begin to inform the world about the Moosehead Lake brand. These are a fantastic way to cement “ownership” of the brand. After all, brands are about ownership. Napa Valley owns the wine brand. Nashville owns the country music brand. Orlando owns the family vacation brand. Moosehead Lake owns the “America’s Crown Jewel” brand. The focus of the posters would include inspiring messaging (see concepts here) that really showcase the Moosehead Lake area as a bucket-list destination.

“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” - Joe E. Lewis

“America’s Crown Jewel”

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

“America’s Crown Jewel”

Once you have them framed, distribute and offer to hang the posters in town offices, the library, in every organizational office, hotel meeting rooms and lobby areas, at restaurants, at local schools, in local banks – everywhere you can. This will spread the word and create additional buy-in for the brand direction. Even distribute and hang them in state and regional tourism offices, and visitor information centers around the state. The posters should be “collectibles” with strong imagery, and each year a new poster would be developed and added to the collection. After a couple of years, people will purchase the posters to add them to their “This is why we love Moosehead Lake” collection. The reason for actually going to the time and expense of framing, mounting and matting them is to make sure they do get hung in key locations. Handing someone a rolled up poster they can hang at their convenience will result in a lot of posters sitting in back rooms to be put up when or if they have time. Make it easy, and you’ll see it happen. This is a big part of your outreach efforts. Make sure you offer to hang the posters for those willing to put them up! And put them up in series – with perhaps six inches between each frame. Places that should have the posters hung include: - Library - Town Hall (and other city facilities) 52

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

NOTE: Brands start from within – with local knowledge - Museums (both) and support. It’s imperative that local residents and - Local school businesses know what Moosehead Lake is all about. - Business offices (major employers) - County offices - Restaurants - Motels, camps, B&Bs, lodges - Retail spaces (where there is wall space at or near entrances) - Even in empty storefront windows to create interest - Hardware store - On the Katadin - On visitor information kiosks, at visitor information centers around the state - State government offices (especially tourism) - The airport

26. Enter into a public relations / marketing contract for national coverage Timeline: February, 2017 Who takes the lead: BLT, MLEDC Approximate cost: $50,000 annually Possible funding idea: US Rural Development, Northern Border Commission grants Rationale and/or details: With the brand “America’s Crown Jewel”, the Moosehead Lake area is putting a stake in the ground and claiming a place on the national stage of world-class travel destinations. Much of the preliminary work recommended in this plan has to do with upgrading and creating the products, services and experiences that will deliver on that brand promise – that Moosehead Lake is truly a special, unique place in the world, and worthy of a visit or even as a place to live and work. Delivery must be consistent and convenient. Once you get there, you need to tell the world. That requires a sophisticated national (and perhaps international) public relations effort. Why public relations and not advertising? Because brands are about what other people think of you, not what you say about yourself. Public relations is the art of getting others to declare your charms. Third party testimony has far greater credibility than advertising. Traditionally, this happened by inviting travel writers to the destination, hoping that the subsequent magazine article would be flattering. This method still exists of course, but the advent of the Internet, websites, social media, blogs, and photo sites like Pinterest have completely changed the public relations environment. Ninety percent of travelers search the Internet for information about potential vacation destinations and the majority of those book their trip online. Where do they go? Not to destination sites, but to third party sites like TripAdvisor and Yelp. They want to see what others are saying about you. Today’s public relations experts understand these new media and the subtleties of shepherding and generating positive third party coverage of destinations. Find and hire a firm that has experience in this new age of destination public relations, in generating the right kind of “buzz” about Moosehead Lake, about managing Facebook sites, social blogs, creating viral coverage and addressing negative coverage. They still should be able to work with traditional travel writers in generating editorial coverage, both print and digital. In todays electronic environment where most people are addicted to their smartphones, consumer opinions shift quickly. This is a double-edged sword. Brands can gain notoriety quickly, but just as quickly, they can be destroyed. Professional public relations expertise can help guide you through the process, so that you don’t promise more than you can deliver at any given time. Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

27. Contract for the manufacturing and sale of branded logo gear Timeline: March, 2017 Who takes the lead: MLEDC’s DMO Approximate cost: Self-funded (but may require some seed funds), to be contracted Possible funding idea: private funding (business opportunity) Rationale and/or details: To tell the world about “America’s Crown Jewel”, develop logo gear that can be sold at local retail stores, in the visitor information center, at the Pavilion, and other Maine retail outlets. Using the new brand identity and tagline, create collectibles and logo gear that can be sold: -

Polo shirts (have the brand identity stitched above the breast pocket location). Don’t make these billboard shirts with huge logos on them.

Baseball caps

Coffee mugs and/or water bottles

Car decals

Logos on outdoor recreational clothing and gear is a perfect fit since the goal is to make Moosehead Lake THE place to recreate. Make up a list of brand-specific goods that could include the Moosehead Lake “Trademark” and would reinforce the brand

Make sure they are colorful and something a visitor would want to wear and want to have. Think like a visitor – what you might buy and wear when you go to Yellowstone National Park or Jackson, Wyoming, for example. Get together and think of clever and edgy slogans that would sell. Remember to sell the experience – not just the destination. Keep the franchise agreements simple. Add a 20% mark up to the cost of production and shipping for your take, and set a maximum price that the vendor can sell the items. You don’t want the items to be so expensive that no one buys them. The idea is to get them bought and worn, all over the country (and world).

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

28. Build a new destination marketing organization website, brand the Greenville and MLEDC websites Timeline: March, 2017 Who takes the lead: MLEDC, MLEDC’s DMO, the Town of Greenville Approximate cost: $25,000 Possible funding idea: Community Development Block Grant program, State tourism promotion grant Rationale and/or details: When it comes to tourism marketing, funding should be allocated as follows: -

45% on digital marketing: website, social media, e-newsletter, apps, online advertising, pay per click, etc.

20% on advertising that will drive people to your website, which must be good enough to close the sale

20% on public relations: getting articles and exposure showcasing the brand and your downtown revitalization efforts.

10% on printed materials (your Best Of and Opportunities guides).

5% on trade shows, billboards and other forms of advertising.

As you can see by this breakdown, the web should be the very top priority. Ninety percent of all Americans now have immediate access to the Internet via smart phones, tablets, and computers, and they have this access at home, at work, at school, and while on the road. Of this group, 94% use the web to decide where they will visit, what they might want to do this weekend, where to go eat, what to do tonight, where to live, and even where to establish a business. Moosehead Lake needs to build a tourism-focused website that will REALLY showcase the “America’s Crown Jewel” brand like no other (Check out the Lake Tahoe sites). It needs to be world-class and professionally produced. It needs to be video and staged photography based, including lots of video content and specifics: It should NOT be a website based on lists (Note the current Moosehead Lake Region Chamber of Commerce site under “What to do, Where to Stay, where to Eat, and Where to Shop). Simple lists of restaurants, retail shops, museums, parks, and other things to do don’t entice visitors. The website needs to be experienced-based and rich with content. We are huge proponents of WordPress, where you can make the changes, in house, without the need to pay a webmaster every time you want to make changes or add to the content. You don’t want your website to be a “been there, done that” site. You should invest your money in content, not the delivery system. WordPress has amazing search engine optimization widgets, calendar of events widgets, etc. Most widgets range from free to as high as $30. You can even create your own online store where people can buy logo gear, posters, art and souvenirs. Why are we so sold on WordPress? Our own business spent thousands of dollars a year working with our Webmaster every time we wanted or needed a change. With WordPress, we redeveloped our sites internally, without any HTML or webdevelopment expertise, and now we can make updates, add videos, photographs, build a store, include a calendar of events, and more, in just minutes. With the funds we saved, we hired a great videographer – once again, investing our money on content, not the delivery system. Consider bringing in a WordPress professional (there are many) just to show you the ropes of how to get started. Work with your graphic design firm to have common elements and a consistent look and feel among the MLEDC, Destination Marketing Organization site and the Greenville Town site. They do not all have to be cookie-cutter or use the same template, but they do need to have complementary and unified color schemes, fonts or graphic elements. Encourage other destination-related sites like the Chamber of Commerce to integrate brand colors and fonts into their website. Using one of the URLs MLEDC purchased during BrandCamp, build a Master Splash page that directs viewers to either the DMO Visitor website, Greenville Town website, MLEDC website or the Chamber Website. This is the URL you want to promote.

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

Here are a few rules for your DMO website: 1.

Promote specifics not generalities. If you promote Moosehead Lake as the hub for some of the best hiking trails in the area, you MUST tell me more: a. Where?

What kind of surface is the trail? What are the elevation changes? Is it handicap-accessible?

Do I need a permit? If so, where can I get one? Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

How far a drive is the trailhead?

Are there campsites or picnic tables along the trail?

Are there restrooms?

Where do I park, and is there a fee?

Do I share the trail with bikes or motorized vehicles?

What time of day, what time of year is best?

What precautions should I take?

What will I see? What makes this trail extra-special?

The more details you provide the more likely you are to close the sale. Don’t just send them to another site and pass off the responsibility to others. Include maps whenever possible and video snippets of hikers on the trail.

Avoid lists. If you want to showcase restaurants, include them by type of dining: Italian, Mexican, American, barbecue, etc. and make sure you include a photo (interior please), logo, address, meals served, hours and days they are open, and a description of why they are so great, plus include a link to their menu and website.

This is the age of itineraries. We urge you to watch the Roger Brooks video “The Power of Itineraries,” which showcases dozens of examples and how to craft itineraries.

People LOVE video content – particularly those that run from 30 seconds to no more than three minutes. It’s better to have a number of shorter videos than one long one.

People LOVE photography. Your site should be loaded with photography, and the photos should show people enjoying activities – not just places like parks, ball fields or Uptown without a soul in the picture. We relate to people, not just places. Make sure you watch Roger’s video “The Power of Photography to Increase Sales.”

Organize the site by subject. In fact, consider a “pick your season” format where they choose the season, and it takes you to a page that will tell them what to expect that time of year in terms of weather, accommodations and activities. Once on that page they can then “pick your passion,” which will include the various activities available that time of year. Hiking or biking may be seasonal, but the uptown plaza events will be showcased in every season.

Make it simple and easy to navigate.

Remember that you are selling experiences first, not Moosehead Lake. People are looking for reasons to believe that Moosehead Lake is the place to live and operate a business. Visitors are looking for things to do, not places to go.

Hire professionals to design your navigation (site map) and your pages, and once you have the basics put together you can work with them to add additional content.

To help you through this process we recommend the BLT Marketing Committee watch the following Roger Brooks videos. Each is about an hour long: -

Community Marketing on a Minuscule Budget

Seven Deadly Sins of Destination Marketing

The Power of Itineraries

Tourism for the 21st Century

A good website to emulate would be www.exploreasheville.com for Asheville, North Carolina. While they have a very large budget to work with, you can still look at their site and model much of the Moosehead Lake site based on that.

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

29. Locate the Greenville Visitor Center in the center of downtown Greenville, and build a mobile visitor information center. Timeline: April, 2017 Who takes the lead: MLEDC Approximate cost: $10,000-20,000 for a downtown VIC, $1,000 - $10,000 for a mobile VIC Possible funding idea: MLEDC, Rotary, Kiwanis, State tourism promotion grant Rationale and/or details: The entire purpose of the Branding Initiative is to generate more visitor spending in the Moosehead Lake region. Accommodating the psychology and behavior of tourists plays a large part in facilitating visitor spending. Across the country, only about 5% of visitors ever go to a visitor information center (VIC). It may be more or less in Greenville, but that is the national pattern. By placing the visitor information center downtown, two things will be improved over the current VIC location. First of all, customers of the VIC will be out of their cars in the midst of a concentration of retail and dining options. This will improve visitor spending as they are immediately surrounded with spending options in a pedestrian setting. Because of the spread out location of camps and resorts, this may be the best opportunity to introduce visitors to the downtown. Secondly, others who are attracted to the downtown retail core, but not the VIC, are more likely to visit the VIC and learn about unknown options for experiences and additional places to spend money. More options will get some to stay longer in the destination. The VIC should be close to parking alternatives, but the presence of nearby shopping and dining will make it worth their while to park a bit further way. A trend in the destination tourism industry is the deployment of mobile visitor information centers. A recent study of 850 destination marketing organizations (DMOs) shows that 25% of DMOs have mobile visitor information centers (VICs), and 50% of those are in very high pedestrian traffic areas. (It should be 100%!) Why? Overall numbers of visitors going to traditional VICs are declining even as the total number of visitors is growing. Many of these traditional VICs are placed outside of high spending areas, along highways, or other places where visitors have to get back in their cars and drive somewhere else to be at the center of things. Visitors might just keep driving and not come back. Who is coming to your VIC? Are they locals, or are they visitors from more than 25 miles from town? The real payback on investment for VICs is serving visitors. If you don’t move your permanent VIC downtown put your mobile VIC in the spending district of your town – eventually near the Pavilion. It should be designed for the pedestrian visitor who has already parked and is looking for what there is to do. Make it fun. Use a small airstream trailer, and convert it into a workable space for an information specialist, brochures, maybe even branded/logo merchandise you sell to help defray the cost of the VIC. Printed brochures are important at this stage of a visitor’s trip. Before traveling, the Internet rules as the “go-to” place for travel information, but brochures are the most important resource once the visitor arrives in the destination. Visitors don’t want to take notes, they want the physical brochure they can read on the street or in the car. Once on the road, 81% of visitor decisions come from brochures. Move the mobile VIC where and when it is needed – for example, to Rockwood during high traffic events or at the airport during Fly-in week. If you can’t afford 60

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

to staff it, make an agreement with a private business, and let them sell their wares while at the same time providing visitor information. This might be different for different seasons: hot chocolate in the winter, ice tea in the summer. We recommend that you watch Roger Brook’s “Visitor Information Centers & Services in the Digital Age” video in the RBI Video Library.

30. Invite clubs to hold events in the pavilion once it is built Timing: 2017 Who takes the lead: MLEDC’s Pavilion Marketer, DMO manager. Approximate cost: $16,000 Possible funding idea: AMC – New Market Tax Credit- Community Investment program Rationale and/or details: To find organizations to recruit, there are comprehensive guides available in print, and it’s possible they might now be in digital or database format: a.

Associations USA. This is “a directory of contact information for national associations, foundations, and other nonprofit organizations in the United States and Canada.” It is published by Omnigraphics out of Detroit, although this publication seems to be out of date.

AssociationExecs.com. A membership of over 51,000 decision-makers at 17,000+ national and state associations. A membership level that provides phone and mailing addresses is $989.00 annually.

National Directory of Nonprofit Organizations (a two-volume directory) published by the Taft Group. This is available electronically as well as in print. It includes “key contact, IRS status, and annual revenue information for more than 260,000 organizations.” You may only want one of the two volumes as both have information on the same lists. They are at Edition 30 but you may be able to find an older edition that is less expensive. Volume One is $788.00 and volume Two is $531.00.

Most libraries have the books on hand, so one option is to provide a donation to the library and have them give you last year’s edition when the new edition comes out. You might donate $250 dollars to the library, which would otherwise probably just recycle the old editions. If they do not purchase these guides, then simply spend the money to get these directories. You are looking for clubs and organizations that hold periodic events, and you’ll be inviting them to Greenville. The National Directory of Nonprofit Organizations can be sorted geographically and you want to invite organizations that are located within the five-state region. So go through the books and find the clubs and associations that have a presence in your geographic market area. Then enter the information for each that might be a possible contact into your CRM software. Clubs and organizations you hope to attract include: - Motorcycle shows - Job fairs - BMX exhibitions - Bridal fairs - Public markets - Photography expos - Farmers market - Arts & Crafts fairs - Fly fishing shows - Culinary education - Hunting expos - Brew and wine festivals - Snowmobile expos - Concerts - ATV shows - Home shows - Aeronautical showcase - Garden Shows - Quilt guild shows - Wellness exposition - Pottery shows - Outfitters & clothing - Classic car shows - Dog shows Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

- - - - - - - - - - -

Ski expositions Boat shows Silent sport shows Spa and yoga Movies in the Pavilion International kids fair Pet fair Christmas forest Halloween events Gift show SMERF groups

Not only are you trying to attract hobby clubs (like classic car shows), but also non-profit organizations that fight breast cancer, such as the Susan B. Koman Foundation, and thousands of other cause-oriented organizations that host fund-raising events from 10k runs, to triathlons, to walks, and all types of other events. In almost every case they give you contact information, a phone number, address and what kind of organization they are. You want to do your marketing by phone and snail-mail. The reliance on e-mail is far too widespread, and so this is a more personalized approach. And this database is your bible in terms of reaching out to over a thousand organizations. Snail mail will get more attention than doing an e-mail campaign. A one-page letter will be critical to encourage outside organizations to host their events in Greenville. Invite them; let them know you’ll roll out the red carpet for them, that you have the BEST downtown and pavilion in Maine, and that it’s in a spectacular setting that is America’s Crown Jewel. Include an Event Guide. You might even send them the letter, Event Guide and a poster that showcases the pavilion and waterfront. These can be sent out in mailing tubes – you can purchase them from ULine for about $1.50 each. People will always open a mailing tube over an envelope that might be perceived as junk mail. By showcasing a Moosehead Lake poster you’ll plant the seed that there’s simply no better place to celebrate their event. As you develop the database your staff will need to make judgment calls: volunteer fire departments are often non-profits but the chance of them hosting an event in Greenville, instead of their home communities, is pretty slim. Only go after the ones where they host larger events and are willing to drive 100 miles or more to host the event. You will likely end up with about 2,000 contacts in your database – and that’s a LOT. Once you get a club, chances are you can book their event once, and if it is successful, and you are awesome hosts, you’ll get it for the same weekend, every year, for years. That’s the goal of this effort: Invite them once, treat them right, and have them come back year after year. Many of these host annual conferences, exhibitions, trade shows and consumer events. Initially (until the pavilion is built) you are looking for consumer-oriented public events. Wouldn’t it be great if national sailing, kayak or dragon boat associations held an annual competition in Greenville? After all, you have a fantastic lake and setting for it. As part of this effort, come up with ten or twenty unique event names that you can pass on to these organizations. Especially concentrate on those within a two to three-hour drive. This is your primary target area. This database is the lifeblood of your marketing effort, so take the time to build it right, and then start calling every club, association, and organization. When you do so, also ask them for referrals. Another great way to build this database is to work with your state organizations. Chances are pretty good that you have Harley and Gold Wing owners in the state. Talk to them about hosting an event at Moosehead Lake. The same could go with automobile clubs: Mustang, Subaru, Mercedes, BMW, Volkswagen and many, many others. Then there are your auxiliary organizations that host events: Kiwanis, Rotary, Lions, Elks, Eagles, and others. One final word: In the first two or three years of this effort, do NOT put obstacles in their way like big charges for portable toilets, staging, sound, lights, security, etc. You want to create incentives for them to host their events in Greenville. And ninety-nine percent of these organizations are going to be non-profit groups with very little budget. BUT they will do the marketing, the organizing, invite their members and others. THEN if it’s successful and they agree to come back time and again, at that point it might make sense to perhaps collect fees for local services they are using. But until then, what’s in it for Moosehead Lake? Think long term of the tax base that comes from a vibrant, busy, and ultra-successful downtown district, full hotels and new businesses, residents and industry coming into the area that they discovered as a result of an event they attended at the pavilion and on the lake.

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

31. Set adequate but reasonable liability insurance requirements for events and tour operators Timeline: March, 2017 Who takes the lead: MLEDC, Town of Greenville Selectmen Approximate cost: None Possible funding idea: None required Rationale and/or details: A key to successful tourism destinations is the delivery of visitor experiences, and a majority of these must be participatory activities, not passive experiences such as museums. The more there is to do, the longer visitors will stay, and the more money they will spend. All this visitor activity increases the town’s tax base. There is inherent liability risk in any economic endeavor that includes serving the public. Simply having people walking down the municipal sidewalk is a risk cities and towns take every day. Benefits and risks are weighed in the balance all the time. In Greenville’s chosen industry – tourism – it’s a part of doing business. In order to deliver a superior tourism experience, the visitor expects and wants to be engaged in physical activity, demonstrations and other active pursuits. The Town needs to realistically evaluate and allow these kinds of commercial offerings, if it is to expand tourism. If the benefit of an increased tax base outweighs the potential litigation, or more likely, increased insurance costs, then they should pursue it. That’s the situation in any Disney Park, any Six Flags water park, any other theme park, or tour operator, or boat operator, or downtown district as with the events in Jackson, Wyoming and other places. The heavier you try to protect the town from every possible litigious situation, the more you hamper the possibility of success. Every roller coaster has some inherent dangers associated with it, but they are still built, and people drive for hundreds of miles to experience them. While this is an extreme example, what if someone fell and broke an ankle on Moosehead Lake while on roller skates? And they decided to sue the town because there were too many people on the rink. Does this mean that Greenville should never have built the Pavilion? One example is the Riverwalk in San Antonio, Texas. The river walk, in the ‘60s, was a crime-ridden, run down area of San Antonio that was avoided. Today it is one of the country’s best attractions. However, it is not ADA accessible (for the most part), there are no railings to keep people, pets and kids from falling into the water, the roots of hundreds of trees have made the walkways uneven and, in some cases dangerous. But if they were to make the Riverwalk totally “safe” to meet the satisfaction of city attorneys, it would cost billions of dollars and would ruin the “organic” nature of this great attraction. You can bet the risk and occasional lawsuits are outweighed by the tremendous tax base built on and around the Riverwalk. Another example is Asheville, North Carolina. The downtown has dozens of sidewalk cafes, and they do not force the restaurants to create barriers between diners and pedestrians. In many, many cases, the dining patrons have chairs situated that could, in fact, impede ADA access. But being there on several occasions watching sidewalk traffic, we’ve noticed that when those in wheelchairs or pushing strollers through busy dining areas approached, patrons would automatically say “excuse me” and move their chairs in so people could get through. And, last I heard, they had never had a lawsuit or complaint. Nor does the city put up rules and regulations that strangle local businesses and the “organic” ambiance of the city.

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

32. Create a Main Street Program for downtown Greenville to execute recommendations 31-39 Timeline: April , 2017 Who takes the lead: Town of Greenville Selectmen Approximate cost: $100,000 annually for a Main Street Manager and operating expense. Possible funding idea: MLEDC resources, EDA-Public Works program Rationale and/or details: Several of the recommendations we include in this Action Plan document are properly managed and executed by the Greenville town government. Creating a Main Street Program and becoming accredited at the State level would be a reasonable approach to addressing our specific downtown revitalization recommendations. Grant money may be available for the town government to obtain. The four points of Main Street are essential to the tasks we are recommending: organization, promotion, design and economic restructuring.

33. Install retail blade signs in downtown Greenville Timeline: May, 2017, ongoing Who takes the lead: Town of Greenville Main Street Manager, downtown proprietors Approximate cost: Private expenses Possible funding idea: private sector retail Rationale and/or details: Blade or perpendicular signs with some uniformity of size DRAW pedestrians down the block. Savvy retailers know that putting “what’s in the store” more prominently on the blade sign is more effective than just using the name of the store, unless the name makes it patently obvious. Retailers should always promote their primary lure first, then the name of the store. These signs should be consistent in size and placement: No lower than 7 feet, no higher than 9 feet, no wider than 42 inches, and the sign begins within 18 inches of the building façade. No signs should be backlit (florescent or neon), but they can have façade mounted lighting shining on them. They should be decorative and easy to read. View Roger’s video entitled “Business and Community Signs” and the beginning of “The 20 Ingredients of an Outstanding Downtown (Part 3)” in the RBI Video Library for examples and more information.

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

34. Add benches and downtown beautification in Greenville Timing: June, 2017 Who takes the lead: Town of Greenville Main Street Manager, downtown proprietors Approximate cost: $10,000 per year Possible funding idea: Downtown Tax Increment Financing proceeds Rationale and/or details: Fact - Women account for 80% of all consumer spending. They are usually the shoppers, so if you provide benches and seating areas for kids and husbands/significant others, the shoppers will be free to spend more time downtown. Greenville should have benches in front of almost every business. Benches should be placed against the façade facing out, and each should be flanked with a terracotta pot or planter. Benches should be inviting – do not buy concrete or “vandal proof” benches. Yes, they can be bolted down, but they should be something you would want to sit on. Consider selling “sponsored” benches. In the top rail along the back you can have the name of a person, family or business engraved. Shy away from selling plaques or advertising on the benches. Engraving the name of the sponsor is tactful and attractive. While some merchants do a good job with beautification, the large majority do little or nothing to pull customers in the door. Consider the following type of program: -

Collect perhaps $2,500 from local businesses ($100 x 25 businesses).

Contact regional nurseries and wholesalers toward the end of the season (September, October, early November) and see if they have a left-over inventory of terracotta, glazed pots and planters. The minimum size should be 24 inches across the top opening. This way, once they are planted, they are too heavy to be stolen. The idea is to obtain, at cost (or below cost), perhaps 100 pots and planters. They do not have to be all the same. In fact, you want a variety of them. You’ll clean out their inventory in exchange for a great deal. Avoid aggregate and cement pots unless they are colorized.

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

Rent a U-Haul or get a volunteer trucker to bring the pots/planters back to Greenville, where they will be put in storage over the winter months.

In March of 2016, bring all the pots downtown, close off a block or a side street, and put them all out. Have merchants pick up pots and take them to their storefronts. When done there should be a potted plant every three feet all along Pritham Avenue and Lily Bay Road.

Have a local nursery deliver 15 yards (or whatever it will take to fill the pots) of potting soil (not just top soil), along with a yard of pea gravel or round stones. Also get a couple of rolls of landscape fabric. Have the soil dumped on the side street.

Then bring in the high school, boy and girl scouts – every youth organization that is looking to raise money, and pay them to help disburse the pots, put in 2 inches of gravel at the bottom of each, put landscape fabric over the gravel, and then fill the pots with soil up to about 4 inches below the rim. Kids can bring wheelbarrows with them. Perhaps $500 of the $2,500 would be donated to their organizations. The reason for having the youth take part in this project is that it includes them in the revitalization of downtown Greenville and creates a feeling of ownership. When kids feel ownership, the likelihood of vandalism decreases dramatically.

The final phase is to collectively pool money to purchase evergreen (two thirds of your plantings), perennial color (10%) and annual color (20%). Have the students then plant them, working with the merchants. Remember that you don’t want a cookie-cutter “everything looks the same” approach. You want it to be organic to the business, but still stunning.

Maintenance: You can ask the merchants to take care of the plants in front of their shops, but in our experience, only about half will actually maintain them. Instead, consider the following: -

See if you can get someone (the town, golf course, home owner, farmer) to donate a small John Deere or similar ATV or small riding tractor. Then you can buy a 300-gallon tank-trailer that can be filled with water and fertilizer.

Approach Kiwanis, Rotary and other local clubs and organizations to set up a watering schedule. These are volunteers that agree to go out each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday during the growing season (hopefully May through September) and once every two weeks the rest of the year (remember that most of the plants are evergreen, and when under awnings or roof overhangs, still need to be watered).

This can actually be a fun project. The tank sprayer has a small electric motor and a long coiled hose to make watering the plants easy. Every town official and staff person might take one morning during the season, as would local organizational directors, school teachers, even students and student organizations. Kiwanis might have volunteers, and often retirees will be happy to join the watering schedule.

Finally, bring in the local gardening club, or Master Gardeners who can help maintain the pots and will even volunteer to do decorative plantings and arrangements. Master Gardeners, to keep their titles, donate hours each year to communitybased public gardening projects. This is an ideal opportunity for them.

Vandalism: It may happen. You will want to have perhaps 20 pots in storage so that when it happens, the pot is replaced the next day. Don’t give up. After a pot is replaced several times, the vandals simply give up. It’s a battle they can’t win. Once again, nothing promotes a welcoming feeling as much as beautification. And retail beautification can increase sales by nearly a third. Women are attracted to places that feel safe and welcoming, and this is what retail beautification portrays. There are three statistics to remember as you beautify downtown Greenville: a.

Seventy-percent of first time sales at restaurants, retail shops, wineries, lodging facilities, and golf courses comes from curb appeal. We all travel. Have you ever uttered these words: “That looks like a good place to eat”? We all do. We judge the book by the cover.

Eighty-percent of consumer retail spending is by women.

Seventy-percent of all retail consumer spending takes place after 6:00 pm. Are you open?

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

35. Organize and fund a robust façade rehabilitation program Timing: June, 2017 Who takes the lead: Town of Greenville Main Street Manager, downtown proprietors Approximate cost: $200,000 loan fund Possible funding idea: Downtown Tax Increment Financing proceeds Rationale and/or details: We recommend creating a façade rehabilitation program. Right or wrong, people judge a book by its cover when they first encounter a downtown. That is why we have recommendations for beautification of the two main streets in Greenville – the heart of your downtown. Main Street organizations have plenty of case studies for façade redevelopment to draw from and we recommend you review these. In addition, we ask you to consider applying about $200,000 to the following loan/grant options: •

Up to $5,000. Forgivable matching loan. Property owner pays half of the cost; matching loan funds. Low interest. Forgivable if maintained for the term of the loan or 3 years.

•

$15,000. Forgivable matching loan. Low interest. Property owner pays half of cost; matching loan funds. Forgivable if maintained for the term of the loan or 5 years.

•

Commercial Rehabilitation Loans. Up to $75,000 low interest loans, which meet specific criteria. This option allows for upgrades, rehabilitation and improvement throughout the entire building. Projects must enhance public health and safety, increase business retention, expansion or attraction efforts, or otherwise eliminate physical blight or improve economic conditions.

•

Up to $2,500 matching grant. Property owner pays half the cost; matching grant funds.

•

The programs also provide for grant funding of professional design services.

You will be working with downtown property owners on a number of recommendations – ground floor retail ordinance, retail mix recruitment, blade signs, beautification, sidewalk dining, TIF and BID revenues and lease agreements. The façade program is another integral component to making the downtown more appealing and economically viable.

36. Implement a merchandising assistance program for business and property owners Timeline: July, 2017 Who takes the lead: Town of Greenville Main Street Manager, downtown proprietors Approximate cost: $10,000 for workshop instructors Possible funding idea: Hotel & Motel Tax funds Rationale and/or details: The assistance program will address the following: •

Blade signs, sign ordinances and sign refurbishment incentives

•

Façade improvements using the recommended façade program.

•

Extension of window displays to exterior spaces

•

Window treatments

•

Extended operating hours, evening hours

•

Shared worker program to extend open hours

•

Merchant-driven design review board

•

Curb appeal and beautification

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

Curb appeal and beautification are essential to the success of the downtown. Some possible improvements are: •

Replace drab corners with color splashes of annual flowers

•

Create landscape buffers between sidewalks and traffic

•

Hang baskets of flowers

•

Buying cooperative for flowers, shrubs and pots. (See the recommendation “Benches and Uptown Beautification” for details).

The heart and soul of any community is its downtown. It needs to be beautiful, creating an ambience that attracts people and makes them want to linger. Consistently, studies show that downtowns with street trees, flowers, hanging baskets, and other beautification efforts are more successful than other downtowns. Retail spending is higher, pedestrian traffic is greater, and downtown has more life and vibrancy. The downtown entertainment district (including the pavilion) will be most successful if the property and business owners work together, coordinating their efforts with beautification, signage, operating hours, façade improvements, etc. This is considered the “mall mentality” where businesses recognize they are a part of a larger destination and they work together for everyone’s benefit.

37. Allow, encourage and budget for street artisans, musicians Timing: July, 2017 Who takes the lead: Town of Greenville Main Street Manager, downtown proprietors Approximate cost: $10,000 Possible funding idea: Hotel and Motel Tax funds Rationale and/or details: Animating downtown and the area around the Pavilion is a top priority. The idea is to make sure there are activities 250+ days a year. Each day when an activity is going on in the pavilion is an “event day.” Having street musicians, entertainers and artisans also creates “event days.” The goal is to make downtown Greenville the place for residents and their guests to come after work – for dinner or after dinner, and on weekends. Remember, visitors want to go where the locals go. If you don’t hang out downtown, neither will the tourists. The only “slow” night would typically be Sunday evenings. Bringing downtown to life includes an active buskers program: street musicians, magicians, and artisans. Encourage, but control, street musicians and artisans. Free outdoor entertainment downtown is an excellent way to attract people, making downtown lively and active. In order to attract these musicians, performers, and artisans downtown during peak hours, establish a budget of perhaps $10,000 per year to pay street performers a small amount (perhaps $35 for three hours). They would also be permitted to make money from tips. The goal would be to have performers, especially during the evening hours of 6:00 pm and 9:00 pm during spring and fall, and between 5:00 and 9:00, during peak summer months, on Thursdays and Fridays, plus all day Saturday from 11:00 am to 9:00 pm and Sundays from noon to perhaps 6:00 pm.

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

Street entertainers and artisans should be required to file a short application for a “vendor permit” with the town Main Street manager. There would be no charge for the permit, but the vendor would agree to specific guidelines. There must be no overt panhandling; music would be non-amplified; they must stay within a designated, confined space; if there are complaints, the town may revoke the permit immediately, without cause. Each permit would be good for three or four months, after which the vendor would need to apply for a new permit. This will allow the town to have current information on the vendors.

38. Create an ordinance to allow sidewalk dining with alcohol served Timeline: August, 2017 Who takes the lead: Town of Greenville Approximate cost: None Possible funding idea: None required Rationale and/or details: Sidewalk dining adds character to the assortment of any community’s restaurants. Greenville can improve the visibility of its restaurants by allowing sidewalk dining. This would be especially true for any private restaurateurs who take advantage of the pavilion location and build restaurants nearby. The Town of Greenville should adopt an ordinance permitting restaurants to operate designated dining areas outside and adjacent to their establishments. By their very nature, sidewalk cafes are highly visible, allowing customers and passersby alike to enjoy a favorite urban pastime: people watching. Open-air (alfresco) dining is a familiar way to help create an animated downtown. There are many cities that have outdoor dining ordinances that can provide examples of what to include. We recommend you watch Roger Brooks Library video “20 Ingredients of an Outstanding Downtown – Parts 1-3,” and pay particular attention to the examples of sidewalk dining. Don’t make your ordinance so onerous by trying to anticipate every potential problem that it discourages restaurants from setting up outside dining. Just cover the basics, such as minimum space and clearance, sanitation, furniture and awnings, overhead structures, lighting, outdoor heaters and insurance indemnification for the town and permits.

39. Work with property owners on lease agreements - open days and hours with an evening focus Timing: September, 2017, ongoing Who takes the lead: Town of Greenville Main Street Manager, downtown proprietors Approximate cost: Staff time Possible funding idea: None required Rationale and/or details: Downtown property owners and merchants must understand the “Mall Mentality.” Together, they are what will make downtown Greenville the heart of Moosehead Lake’s pedestrian setting. Just like a mall they must have consistent hours and operating days. This needs to be part of the lease agreements between the tenant and property owner. If a retailer signs a lease in a successful mall, the lease will say they will open at a certain time (usually 10:00 am) and if they are not open by 10:05 they are fined $1,000 for every five minutes they open late. And the same is true with closing times (typically 9:00 pm, seven days a week). Property owners need to do the same thing in downtown Greenville. As a result, their tenant will, over time, see big increases in sales, and downtown will become a major destination. We are moving to the European Standard – we are eating and shopping later in the evenings. In fact, seventy percent of all consumer bricks and mortar spending now takes place after 6:00 pm. That’s right: seventy percent. Are you open? Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

This fact is why downtowns have been dying across America, and people began gravitating to the malls. Virtually every successful mall in North America opens at 10:00 am and closes at either 9:00 or 10:00 pm – seven days a week. Downtowns need to follow suit, but it starts with the property owners. The future of downtowns is to become the place people head after work and on weekends. This doesn’t mean downtowns should be closed during the business hours, because there’s still that other 30%, plus your downtown breakfast, coffee break and lunch crowd, which is important. Successful downtowns are all about dining, entertainment, performing arts, and specialty shopping: the bakery, butcher shop, and home accents or clothing. Downtowns are back, in a big way, but the bulk of what makes them work is what’s open at the end of the day. We urge your downtown merchants and property owners to watch the Roger Brooks three-part video series “The 20 Ingredients of an Outstanding Downtown” where Roger showcases why this is important. Over several years Roger and his team surveyed more than 400 successful downtowns and downtown districts and developed the twenty most common ingredients that led to their success. One of those is evening hour shopping and dining. The biggest pushback to staying open after 6:00 pm is the small single-employee merchant who needs to head home to fix dinner and have family time. The “Shared Worker” program is a way to help sole proprietors and other small retail businesses stay open into the evening hours at an affordable cost, and without sacrificing personal time off. Rather than spell out how the program works, encourage your downtown merchants to watch the Roger Brooks video (at their leisure) “Is Your Downtown Open After 6:00 pm?” This one-hour video showcases why this is important and how to actually implement the Shared Worker program. This is a program that can be spearheaded by the Main Street program and supported by the MLEDC. The bottom line: Work with your property owners and new businesses being recruited into downtown so that the lease agreements say they will be open six or seven days a week (if six days a week is the rule, then Monday should be the day they are closed) and until 8:00 or 9:00 pm every day except perhaps Sunday, when shops might close at 6:00. Sunday evenings are typically the slowest retail hours.

40. Create a hospitality-training program Timeline: May, 2018 and ongoing Who takes the lead: Town of Greenville Main Street Manager, regional proprietors Approximate cost: $6,000 Possible funding idea: Hotel & Motel Room Tax Rationale and/or details: Brands must be more than skin deep. To really “own” the America’s Crown Jewel” brand, everyone, from the camp employees to B & B owners to the retail and dining staff, must be hospitable and friendly. But if you hope to have front-line employees come to a host-training workshop on their own time, guess again. We recommend purchasing the 14-minute video The Guest, produced by Media Partners in Seattle. This 14-minute film is humorous, easy to watch, and is a great way to “teach” hospitality without it being time consuming and degrading. When front-line workers realize that every customer is paying something that directly goes into their paychecks, they often will realize how important that person is to their paycheck. The way to do this is to set up appointments where the Main Street manager or volunteer can come into a business, meet with the general manager, front desk manager, and staff for no more than half an hour. Using a 27 inch or 30 inch computer monitor or television, you’d show the 14-minute video and then talk to the staff for an additional 15 minutes. That’s it. And 70

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

this should be done every few months at just about every business due to the high turnover of front-line employees. During the 15 minutes following the film, you will tell them about the Moosehead Lake brand and encourage them to ask their customers questions like “What are you celebrating today?” It puts the customer in a different, and positive, state of mind when they stop to think about what it is they are celebrating today. As the America’s Crown Jewel destination, you want your front-line people to be happy, courteous, friendly, and outgoing.

41. Install decorative sidewalks in downtown Greenville Timeline: August, 2017 Who takes the lead: Town of Greenville Selectmen, Main Street Manager Approximate cost: About $10 a square foot Possible funding idea: Community Improvement Capital raise effort Rationale and/or details: At present, downtown Greenville is relatively quiet and casual. Many crosswalk points are faded or unmarked, yet this is the main crossroads of the two most important highways as well as the most concentrated area for visitors unfamiliar with the direction and amount of traffic, including logging trucks. We recommend upgrades and designations of street and highway crossings that prominently indicate to both drivers and pedestrians where street crossing is expected and permitted. This is also an opportunity to extend the beautification of the downtown with designed crosswalk embossing through a duratherm process. This StreetPrint® asphalt stamped process is weather resistant and durable enough to withstand snow removal.

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

42. Improve visitor access and convenience to existing outdoor recreation resources, both individually and by guiding. Timeline: 2016, ongoing Who takes the lead: Greenville Visitor Center Approximate cost: TBD Possible funding idea: Private sector business development investment Rationale and/or details: If visitors spend enough time online searching individual camps around Moosehead Lake, they can get a pretty good idea of what rental equipment is available for them to explore the lake and the forest on their own, or to hire guide services that provides motorized and non-motorized access to Moosehead Lake’s trails and lakes. This takes a lot of time and generally occurs prior to their visits. Once in the area, and wandering around the area, there is little evidence of the depth of options for renting equipment or guiding services, with the exception of a flightseeing service, and the ATV and kayak rentals right downtown. We recommend consolidating this information on the DMO website and making it available at the Visitor Information Center, with the wayfinding kiosks in the wayfinding system telling visitors where to go to rent and book. This is a service the VIC could perform for a small commission. Nothing is more frustrating to a visitor than to be on the edge of great recreational resources and not be able to access them conveniently. Rentals and guiding must be available during consistent hours, including booking capability during evening hours when they are gathered in downtown Greenville. Regional locals are likely to bring their own equipment with them for these outdoor activities, but for the visitor who is unequipped, outfitting is anything but convenient at present. Elevate the presence of the companies that rent mountain bikes, ATV’s, snowmobiles, ice skates, and sell packed lunches, picnic kits, water, hand warmers, hats, gloves, rain ponchos, as well as extra T-shirts, socks, walking shorts, and other items that monetizes what otherwise is a free activity. Active outdoor pursuits is a natural for the area, and keeps people in the region and spending money. But visitors have to be made aware of the opportunities, and it has to be easy and convenient. Make sure your visitor websites do a good job of telling the recreational story. Use evocative photographs of visitors in action. Use or link to social media coverage of your outdoor resources. Add new attractions to the ones you already have, like rock climbing, or zip line challenges. Stakeholders have claimed world-class fishing. That means nothing if you don’t tell visitors the how, when, where, and why of fishing. Tell them what they want to know: - What is the activity? - How long will it take? - Where do I get a license and how much will it cost? - How do I get there, and is there a shuttle to get back? - Where can I rent equipment? - What times can I participate? - What does it cost? - What is the elevation? - What degree of effort will it take? - Etc. Create a Mountain and Lake sports brochure that not only has excellent maps and describes in detail the various sports, but includes the stores that rent equipment, sell clothes, offer provisioning and transportation. Shopping and dining is a natural fit for before and after outdoor activities. Connect the recreational sites to the downtown with adequate signage, and through packages, cross-selling and partnering, such as mountain biking and micro-brews, or iceskating and coffee nudges. Make recreation one of the three day parts for a full day’s activity: daytime – recreation; evening – outdoor music and dining; late night – indoor pubs and gaming.

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION -

Additional BrandGraphics

ESRI tapestry report

Street vendor/busker sample agreement

The Best of Alpena, Michigan quide sample

The Best of Bracebridge, Ontario guide sample

Sample community profile

Sample opportunities brochure

Seven-question itinerary exercise

RBI video library viewing order

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

Tourism ad concept

Do you think she will look back and remember the time you spent together watching TV?

Worth a trip from anywhere, spending time in this special place will leave you transfixed and forever changed. The pristine beauty, solitude, and unspoiled wilderness provides for an incredibly inspiring atmosphere whether you’re on the lake, in the mountains, or hiking the vast forest trails that have cemented Moosehead Lake’s place as America’s Crown Jewel. Just three hours north of Portland, Maine, there’s a special place that needs to top your list of “must visit” destinations. America’s Crown Jewel, exceptionally beautiful Moosehead Lake is THE place for adventure-seekers, free-spirits, and artisans looking for solitude in an unspoiled and absolutely incredible setting. See for yourself at www.VisitMooseheadLake.com

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

Tourism ad concept

Mom is always right. “Go outsideand play!”

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

Tourism ad concept

You only live once. But if you do it right, once is enough!

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

Tourism ad concept

The more you celebrate life, the more there is to celebrate.” Let the celebration begin! - Oprah Winfrey Worth a trip from anywhere, spending time in this special place will leave you transfixed and forever changed. The pristine beauty, solitude, and unspoiled wilderness provides for an incredibly inspiring atmosphere whether you’re on the lake, in the mountains, or hiking the vast forest trails that have cemented Moosehead Lake’s place as America’s Crown Jewel. Just three hours north of Portland, Maine, there’s a special place that needs to top your list of “must visit” destinations. America’s Crown Jewel, exceptionally beautiful Moosehead Lake is THE place for adventure-seekers, free-spirits, and artisans looking for solitude in an unspoiled and absolutely incredible setting. See for yourself at www.VisitMooseheadLake.com

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

Quality of life ad concept

Here’s your chance to earn a living AND have a life.

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

Business opportunity ad concept

Here’s your chance to earn a living AND have a life.

It’s not often you find the chance of the lifetime – a place where you can earn a living while actually having a life. And this special place is Moosehead Lake, America’s Crown Jewel. We’re looking for adventure-seekers, artisans and free-spirits that want to live their passion while helping others find theirs. Wilderness guides, photographers, kayak and canoe rentals, tour operators, and a host of other amazing, life-changing opportunities are right here, right now. So log on today to find the opportunity that will help you have the life you’ve dreamed of having www.VisitMooseheadLake.com

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

Quality of life ad concept

Living happily ever after starts at home.

Of the memories children carry with them throughout their lives, more than 90% take place at home. Isn’t it time you created your family’s Cinderella story? You see, finding the perfect home, in the perfect location, for young families, is the focus of everything we do here in beautiful Moosehead Lake. After all, “happily ever after” includes great business opportunities and a place where you can earn a living while having a life. To learn more about living and working in one of America’s most beloved and scenic locations, with great schools and abundant unspoiled recreation, visit us at www.AmericasCrownJewel.com

Brand billboard concept

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

Local business ad concept that leverages the brand

Once upon a time always starts at home.

Perhaps reverend and social activist Henry Ward Beecher, summed it up best when he noted “Children are the hands by which we take hold of heaven.” And your home should be that little piece of heaven - full of memories your little prince or princess will carry with them their entire lives. You see, finding the perfect home, in the perfect location, for young families, is my specialty and what makes Folsom Realty Group the premier “happily ever after” real estate company in Greenville on the shores of Moosehead Lake, America’s Crown Jewel. So call Rodney or Vanessa today to find your piece of heaven. FolsomRealtyGroup.com 207.695.3766

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

Vehicle design concepts

Parks & Recreation Parks & Recreation

Parks & Recreation

We do understand that Moosehead Lake is not a municipality, but this type of design could be developed for the towns of both Greenville and Rockwood, using their unique brand identities. However, if a mobile visitor information vehicle entered into the mix, it could look like this. Instead of “Parks & Recreation” it could say “Visitor & Activities Information.”

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

Dominant Tapestry Map Greater Moosehead Region Recreation Inventory Area: 1,833.18 square miles

Roger Brooks International

Source: Esri

January 14, 2015 Prepared by Esri Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan ÂŠ2014 Esri www.esri.com/ba 800-447-9778

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Dominant Tapestry Map Greater Moosehead Region Recreation Inventory Area: 1,833.18 square miles

Roger Brooks International

Tapestry Segmentation Tapestry Segmentation represents the fifth generation of market segmentation systems that began 30 years ago. The 67segment Tapestry Segmentation system classifies U.S. neighborhoods based on their socioeconomic and demographic composition. Each segment is identified by its two-digit Segment Code. Match the two-digit segment labels on the map to the list below. Click each segment below for a detailed description. Segment 1A (Top Tier)

Segment 8C (Bright Young Professionals)

Segment 1B (Professional Pride)

Segment 8D (Downtown Melting Pot)

Segment 1C (Boomburbs)

Segment 8E (Front Porches)

Segment 1D (Savvy Suburbanites)

Segment 8F (Old and Newcomers)

Segment 1E (Exurbanites)

Segment 8G (Hardscrabble Road)

Segment 2A (Urban Chic)

Segment 9A (Silver & Gold)

Segment 2B (Pleasantville)

Segment 9B (Golden Years)

Segment 2C (Pacific Heights)

Segment 9C (The Elders)

Segment 2D (Enterprising Professionals)

Segment 9D (Senior Escapes)

Segment 3A (Laptops and Lattes)

Segment 9E (Retirement Communities)

Segment 3B (Metro Renters)

Segment 9F (Social Security Set)

Segment 3C (Trendsetters)

Segment 10A (Southern Satellites)

Segment 4A (Soccer Moms)

Segment 10B (Rooted Rural)

Segment 4B (Home Improvement)

Segment 10C (Diners & Miners)

Segment 4C (Middleburg)

Segment 10D (Down the Road)

Segment 5A (Comfortable Empty Nesters)

Segment 10E (Rural Bypasses)

Segment 5B (In Style)

Segment 11A (City Strivers)

Segment 5C (Parks and Rec)

Segment 11B (Young and Restless)

Segment 5D (Rustbelt Traditions)

Segment 11C (Metro Fusion)

Segment 5E (Midlife Constants)

Segment 11D (Set to Impress)

Segment 6A (Green Acres)

Segment 11E (City Commons)

Segment 6B (Salt of the Earth)

Segment 12A (Family Foundations)

Segment 6C (The Great Outdoors)

Segment 12B (Traditional Living)

Segment 6D (Prairie Living)

Segment 12C (Small Town Simplicity)

Segment 6E (Rural Resort Dwellers)

Segment 12D (Modest Income Homes)

Segment 6F (Heartland Communities)

Segment 13A (International Marketplace)

Segment 7A (Up and Coming Families)

Segment 13B (Las Casas)

Segment 7B (Urban Villages)

Segment 13C (NeWest Residents)

Segment 7C (American Dreamers)

Segment 13D (Fresh Ambitions)

Segment 7D (Barrios Urbanos)

Segment 13E (High Rise Renters)

Segment 7E (Valley Growers)

Segment 14A (Military Proximity)

Segment 7F (Southwestern Families)

Segment 14B (College Towns)

Segment 8A (City Lights)

Segment 14C (Dorms to Diplomas)

Segment 8B (Emerald City)

Segment 15 (Unclassified)

Source: Esri

January 14, 2015

ÂŠ2014 Esri

Prepared by Esri Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan Page 2 of 2 www.esri.com/ba 800-447-9778 Try it Now!

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

6.3% 1.1% 0.0% 0.7% 4.4% 39.7% 15.1% 1.5% 3.7% 1.8% 0.4% 1.1% 15.8% 4.8% 7.4% 100.0%

17 3 0 2 12 108 41 4 10 5 1 3 43 13 20 272

Finance, Insurance, Real Estate Summary Banks, Savings & Lending Institutions Securities Brokers Insurance Carriers & Agents Real Estate, Holding, Other Investment Offices

Government

Unclassified Establishments

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17.3% 1.5% 1.1% 2.2% 1.8% 0.4% 0.0% 4.4% 5.9%

47 4 3 6 5 1 0 12 16

Retail Trade Summary Home Improvement General Merchandise Stores Food Stores Auto Dealers, Gas Stations, Auto Aftermarket Apparel & Accessory Stores Furniture & Home Furnishings Eating & Drinking Places Miscellaneous Retail

ÂŠ2014 Esri

www.esri.com/ba

Prepared by Esri 800-447-9778

Totals

Services Summary Hotels & Lodging Automotive Services Motion Pictures & Amusements Health Services Legal Services Education Institutions & Libraries Other Services

Agriculture & Mining Construction Manufacturing Transportation Communication Utility Wholesale Trade

Percent 2.6% 6.3% 5.9% 3.7% 0.7% 1.8% 3.7%

272 1,303 3,539 0.37:1

100.0%

0.3%

6.7%

34.6% 14.1% 0.7% 6.8% 2.4% 0.4% 0.6% 9.6%

6.7% 2.8% 0.0% 0.5% 3.4%

27.1% 2.9% 1.6% 8.7% 1.2% 0.2% 0.0% 8.1% 4.7%

Page 1 of 2

January 14, 2015

1,303

451 184 9 88 31 5 8 125

87 36 0 7 44

353 38 21 113 15 2 0 105 61

Employees Number Percent 30 2.3% 31 2.4% 159 12.2% 27 2.1% 11 0.8% 10 0.8% 54 4.1%

Roger Brooks International Latitude: 45.61628493 Longitude: -69.7431246

Number 7 17 16 10 2 5 10

by SIC Codes

Data for all businesses in area Total Businesses: Total Employees: Total Residential Population: Employee/Residential Population Ratio:

Greater Moosehead Region Recreation Inventory Area: 1,833.18 square miles

Business Summary

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

Total

ÂŠ2014 Esri

www.esri.com/ba

Prepared by Esri 800-447-9778

Unclassified Establishments

Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting Mining Utilities Construction Manufacturing Wholesale Trade Retail Trade Motor Vehicle & Parts Dealers Furniture & Home Furnishings Stores Electronics & Appliance Stores Bldg Material & Garden Equipment & Supplies Dealers Food & Beverage Stores Health & Personal Care Stores Gasoline Stations Clothing & Clothing Accessories Stores Sport Goods, Hobby, Book, & Music Stores General Merchandise Stores Miscellaneous Store Retailers Nonstore Retailers Transportation & Warehousing Information Finance & Insurance Central Bank/Credit Intermediation & Related Activities Securities, Commodity Contracts & Other Financial Investments & Other Related Activities; Activities Funds, Trusts & Insurance Carriers & Related Other Financial Real Estate, RentalVehicles & Leasing Professional, Scientific & Tech Services Legal Services Management of Companies & Enterprises Administrative & Support & Waste Management & Remediation Services Educational Services Health Care & Social Assistance Arts, Entertainment & Recreation Accommodation & Food Services Accommodation Food Services & Drinking Places Other Services (except Public Administration) Automotive Repair & Maintenance Public Administration

by NAICS Codes

Greater Moosehead Region Recreation Inventory Area: 1,833.18 square miles

Business Summary

Try it Now!

272

100.0%

7.4%

Businesses Number Percent 14 5.1% 0 0.0% 3 1.1% 18 6.6% 8 2.9% 10 3.7% 35 12.9% 3 1.1% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 4 1.5% 6 2.2% 1 0.4% 2 0.7% 1 0.4% 4 1.5% 3 1.1% 6 2.2% 5 1.8% 10 3.7% 3 1.1% 7 2.6% 3 1.1% 0 0.0% 3 1.1% 11 4.0% 15 5.5% 1 0.4% 0 0.0% 14 5.1% 11 4.0% 8 2.9% 10 3.7% 45 16.5% 33 12.1% 12 4.4% 18 6.6% 4 1.5% 13 4.8%

100.0%

0.3%

Page 2 of 2

January 14, 2015

1,303

Employees Number Percent 109 8.4% 0 0.0% 6 0.5% 32 2.5% 78 6.0% 54 4.1% 249 19.1% 9 0.7% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 38 2.9% 113 8.7% 9 0.7% 6 0.5% 2 0.2% 10 0.8% 21 1.6% 15 1.2% 27 2.1% 25 1.9% 16 1.2% 66 5.1% 36 2.8% 0 0.0% 30 2.3% 21 1.6% 30 2.3% 5 0.4% 0 0.0% 34 2.6% 30 2.3% 41 3.1% 89 6.8% 262 20.1% 157 12.0% 105 8.1% 70 5.4% 9 0.7% 87 6.7%

Roger Brooks International Latitude: 45.61628493 Longitude: -69.7431246

STREET PERFORMANCE PERMIT APPLICATION About this form

You may use this form to apply for a permit to perform within the City of Greenville. If you use dangerous materials in your act, you may also need liability insurance. If you are under 18 years of age your parent or guardian must complete and sign the parental waiver on this form before you can obtain a permit. Each member of a group act must submit a separate application and display his/her own permit while performing. Group permits are not available.

How to complete this Process Ensure that all fields have been filled out correctly on this form. 1. 2.

3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Provide photo (2in x 2in color photo such that the head is between 1in and 1 3/8in from the bottom of the chin to the top of the head). Renewal applications must submit a photo. Obtain a 10-year criminal record check from the Public Records Division of Greenville County. Criminal records can be obtained at the Law Enforcement Center located at 4 McGee Street, Greenville, SC 20601. 5-year criminal record checks will ONLY be accepted for applicants who possessed a City of Greenville Street Performer permit expiring on March 15, 2014. Purchase a business license from the fourth floor of City Hall if you plan on selling goods. Submit the annual permit fee of $50 or $15 if you are a student with a valid student ID. Once completed, you must submit this form, permit fee, photo, business license (if applicable) as well as criminal records in person to the Special Events division in City Hall on the first floor. Please refer to the Permit Details section for further information.

Applicant Details First Name __________________________________ Last Name __________________________________ Phone Number ______________________________ Home Address _________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Mailing Address (if different from home address) _____________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________

Sale of Merchandise Do you intend to sell CDs or DVDs related to your performance?

Yes

Business License Number: ____________________________________ If yes, please read and sign the declaration below: I declare that any CDs or DVDs which I sell will only contain my own, original material. I have obtained a business license from the 4th floor of City Hall. Signature __________________________________________________

Permit Details Are you renewing a permit or applying for a new permit?

New Permit

Renewal

City of Greenville Street Performance Permit Number: _________________________________________ Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

STREET PERFORMANCE PERMIT APPLICATION Amplified Sound Are you requesting battery operated amplified sound?

Yes

If yes, what is the use and reason for use? Please refer to the City Ordinance regarding amplified sound below.

All street performers in conducting street performance activities shall be subject to the City’s noise ordinance contained in City Code 16-91, et seq. Performances with sound amplification are excluded unless the city manager or the city manager’s designee issuing permits determines that the amplification is necessary or proper for the musical or other sound component of a performance and that reasonable steps are being taken as described in the permit to avoid the likelihood of undue public disturbance. Necessary or proper amplification includes, but is not limited to, background musical accompaniment for dancing, singling or the like as well as amplification for flute, piccolo, and other low volume wind instruments needing amplification to be heard outside.

Parental/Guardian Consent Details (if applicant is under 18) I (please print name) ______________________________________________________ Of (please print address) __________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________ Hereby consent to my child/ward (please print name) __________________________________________ performing as a street performer in the City of Greenville. I understand that: 1. The City of Greenville provides no supervision of Street Performers under the age of 18 years; and 2. Street Performers under the age of 18 are subject to the City of Greenville Street Performance Policy. *Parent/ Guardian Name (please print) ________________________________

*Parent/Guardian Signature

Date

___________________________________________ _____________

Proof of Identity You must provide proof of your identity and proof of identity of your parent/guardian if you are under 18 years old. Please check the item/s below which you will provide as proof of identity. You Your Parent/Guardian (where applicable) Proof of Age Card # __________________________ Student ID Card # ____________________________ (Please Note: Official Student ID or official documentation proving student status must be submitted to receive student rate.) Driver’s License Number (you) Driver’s License Number (parent/guardian) ___________________________________________

___________________________________________

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

STREET PERFORMANCE PERMIT APPLICATION Performance Details Performance Description

Please select the type of performance by checking the box(es) below: Vocals Dance One Man Band Comedy Juggling (non-dangerous implements) Mime/Statue Instrumental (Please specify which instrument(s) you will play __________________________________ Dangerous Act: Please note, performances with flames or fireworks are excluded unless you have a written authorization from the City of Greenville Fire Marshal setting forth the conditions of authorization for the performance. Performances with knives, daggers, swords, and like sharp instruments are excluded unless written authorization is first obtained from the City of Greenville Police Department setting the conditions of authorization. Other (Please specify the type of performance) ______________________________________________________

Application Submission You must submit the completed application and criminal records to the Special Events Division in order to receive a permit. If the requirements for a Street Performance permit are met, a photograph must be submitted for the purposes of issuing a Street Performance permit. You can obtain a Street Performance permit Tuesday through Friday 8:30am until 4:30pm from the first floor of City Hall. A Special Events staff member will discuss your application and a permit will be issued if the requirements for a Street Performance permit are met. Please allow one full business day for processing. For further information regarding your application please contact us by: TELEPHONE: (864)467-4494 or visit our WEBSITE: http://www.greenvillesc.gov/PublicInfo_Events/Permits.aspx City Hall - 206 S Main Street, Tuesday - Friday 8:30am-4:30pm Permit Fees: $50 (annual fee) $15 (Student with valid student ID) I, the undersigned, declare as follows (please check all boxes to indicate that you have read each point): I know I am only able to perform between the times of 10 AM and 10 PM all days of the week on city owned or operated sidewalks, plazas, parks and other public places (excluding vehicular areas in streets and parking lots). I am aware that I am not allowed to play in permitted Special Event sites. I am aware that I am not allowed to play within fifty feet of a school, hospital, funeral home, court house, or other street performer (unless playing together).

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

STREET PERFORMANCE PERMIT APPLICATION I will not interfere with the flow of pedestrian traffic at a crosswalk, building entrance, private patio, curb cut or entrance into an encroachment area for dining. I will submit a criminal records check by contacting Greenville County Criminal Records prior to receiving a permit. I know that the City reserves the right to deny a permit with a conviction for an act that would represent a potential threat to public safety or security for a viewing audience. I will submit a permit application at least 24 hours prior to the first street performance. I will comply with the Cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s noise ordinance and I know I am responsible for all needed equipment, special needs, parking, set-up, etc. I will only accept donations from the public when my Street Performance Permit is obtained and is on display. I am aware that my permit will expire March 15, 2015. I know that the use of profane, indecent, abusive or threatening language or behavior constitutes acts of harassment against the public peace will result in denial or revocation of a permit. I am aware that I need to obtain a business license to sell merchandise related to my performance. I will display my Street Performance Permit in a prominent position close to where I am performing at all times. I will make my Permit available for inspection by an authorized City of Greenville Official upon request and follow any lawful direction issued by that officer. I will not transfer this Permit to any other person. I agree that this Permit does not give me sole use or reservation of a site. I will use designated sites in restricted areas in accordance with the conditions attached to their use and contained in the City of Greenville. I will not create a threat to public safety, whether real or perceived. I will notify the City of Greenville if my personal details or my performance changes to include the use of any dangerous implements not specifically listed in the "Assessment of Competency in Dangerous Performance" section of this form (if applicable). I have received and read the City of Greenville Street Performance Policy and agree to be bound by the conditions contained in the Policy.

Office Use Only City Official ________________________________________ Applicant Name*

Application Approved

Applicant Signature*

Application Refused Date*

____________________________________ ___________________________________ _____________________

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

City of Shreveport Application Street Vendors License Organization or Company: Individual Name: Street Address: City/State/Zip: Phone: Mailing Address (if different from above):

1. Location Requested:

2. Hours of Operation: 3. Vendor Category (please check only one): ___Food ___General Merchandise

___Flowers ___ Holiday/Seasonal

___Artist/Craftsperson

4. Complete description of product or service to be sold/displayed.

5. Period:

30 days_____ ($20.00)

60 days_____ ($40.00)

90 days_____ 180 days_____ One year____ ($60.00) ($75.00) ($100.00)

6. Cost range of items to be sold:

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

City of Shreveport Application Street Vendors License

7. Description of cart, display or equipment to be used:

8. Be sure to attach a photo or rendering, showing the dimensions, colors and materials of the cart or stand to be used - limited to 10’ long x 6’ wide x 8’ high. This information must be provided for review. 9. Person in charge of cart (if different from above): Name: Address: City/State/Zip: Phone:

I have read and understand the guidelines for Street Vendors, by which I will agree to abide as a Street Vendor within B-4 District of downtown.

Applicant’s Signature

Date

Please return the completed application (including all drawings, photos, etc.) to: Downtown Development Authority 401 Edwards Street, Suite 205 Shreveport, LA 71101 Phone: (318) 222-7403 Fax: (318) 222-3731

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

City of Shreveport Guidelines Street Vendors License Cart:

All merchandise must be sold from a professionally constructed, wheeled, movable cart. Wheels must be air filled with a minimum diameter of eight (8) inches. Castors are not considered wheels and are not allowed. The main body of the cart must be metal or wood. Towed rubber tire carts must have fender skirts. Trailored carts with large, spoked, wooden or rubber wheels do not require fenders. The top portion of the cart (canopy) must be canvas or standing seam metal and cover the majority of the cart. (Asphalt and wood shingles are prohibited.)

Cart Size:

The cart shall not exceed the following dimensions: six (6) feet wide x ten(10) long x eight (8) feet tall (as measured from the sidewalk to the highest point of the canopy.)

Cart Colors:

The cart shall have a maximum of three colors. Dayglow and fluorescent colors are prohibited.

Cart Lights:

If electric lights are incorporated into the cart, the light source must be a steady light. Flashing or blinking lights are prohibited. Lighting must be indirect (concealed).

Hitches:

Trailer hitches should be concealed. (Optional)

Signage:

All signs, pictures and graphics must be in visual harmony with the cart. Giant signs which are not in proportion to the cart will not be permitted. Menu boards must be printed and incorporated into the design of the cart. (In other words, hand-made signs are not allowed.)

Cooking:

Warming bins are allowed. Waste is to be contained on the cart and disposed of outside of the district. Deep fat fryers are prohibited. All food preparation must comply with Caddo Parish Health Department guidelines.

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

City of Shreveport Guidelines Street Vendors License Design Review:

Cart designs must be submitted to the Sidewalk Vendor Committee for approval. All applications shall include the following items: 1.

Drawings of the cart showing length, width and height. Drawings shall show menu boards, signage and graphics accurately.

Drawings must be drawn to the scale of 1 inch = 1 foot. (1” = 1’0”)

Drawings must depict the colors of the entire cart.

If any of the above items is not submitted the application will be rejected because of lack of information.

Color photographs may be accepted in lieu of drawings. If photographs are used, the following photographs must be submitted: - Side view: Showing entire length and height. - End view: Showing entire width and height.

Merchandise:

Attire and Conduct:

The merchandise to be sold shall include: Food:

The sale of food for immediate consumption.

Arts and Crafts:

Original items which are personally crafted or one-of-a-kind. Garage sale or flea market type items are not acceptable.

Other Merchandise:

Any easily transportable, non-second hand item that can be transported on and merchandised from the cart. Pornographic materials are prohibited.

Flowers:

Real, silk or potted plants.

Holiday/Seasonal :

The sale of or exhibition of products or services in keeping with a “holiday” or seasonal theme. Vendors in this category will be required to operate on a 5 day a week basis for a minimum time period of 2 weeks and may operate for a maximum time period of 4 weeks.

Vendors will be expected to behave and dress in an appropriate manner. Casual clothing, such as slacks, Bermuda length shorts, shirts, standard t-shirts, dresses and skirts are acceptable. Bathing suits and tank tops are unacceptable.

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

City of Shreveport Guidelines Street Vendors License Locations:

Food vendors may not operate in front of a restaurant. Merchandise vendors may not operate in front of a retail store that offers competing goods. The committee shall determine if the goods are competitive. New locations must be at least 50’ away from the nearest part of a restaurant, cart or sidewalk cafe. In situations where a vendor has established a permitted location, and the adjacent restaurant owner desires to open a sidewalk café that would incorporate the vendor’s location, the vendor will be permitted to operate until the expiration of their permit. Upon the vendor permit’s expiration, the restaurant owner will be allowed to open their sidewalk café in accordance with the City’s Sidewalk Café Regulations. The vendor will be required to relocate according to the sidewalk vendor ordinance. No more than two of any one kind (i.e. hot dogs, hamburgers, pretzels, etc...) will be permitted on one block face during any one time period. *Note: The Texas Street promenade at Commerce shall be considered a block face.

Locations must leave at least a minimum of 10 feet of unobstructed pedestrian space between the street edge of the cart and the curb on Texas, Milam and Commerce Streets. On cross streets and other locations, a minimum of five feet must be provided between the street edge of the cart and the curb. (As pedestrian activity is observed, Sidewalk Vendor Committee has the right to amend this section.) Carts are not permitted to operate on the curb line. Pedestrian space shall be provided from the curb line to the cart. Special exceptions may be made where granting a license is or is not expected to cause a pedestrian or traffic hazard. Vendor permitting shall not be allowed on contracted or designated festival sites and the sidewalks adjacent thereto, in Riverfront Park and on the Barnwell Center grounds. Vendors whose regular permitted location is included within or adjacent to the boundaries of a temporary festival site must not operate during the festival without the consent of the festival organizer. Carts and other temporary service devices must be removed from the sidewalks and stored off-site when not in operation.

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

City of Shreveport Guidelines Street Vendors License Operation Hours:

With the exception of Commerce Street, Monday through Friday 7:00 a.m. and 2:00 a.m. Unlimited hours on Commerce Street. Hours of operation are subject to further review.

Days:

With the exception of Commerce Street, where vendors are required to be present at their locations at least eight days (or nights) per month, vendors are required to operate their carts at least 15 days per month.

Sidewalk Vendor Committee:

The vendor committee shall meet to set guidelines and approve or reject proposed guideline revisions and approve variances. If a license is denied by the DDA and the vendor chooses to appeal the denial, the committee will serve as the first level of vendor appeal. If the vendor committee denies the license, the vendor may appeal to the Shreveport City Council.

DDA Staff:

Reviews and approves or denied application and submits to city for permitting when application is complete.

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

City of Shreveport Cart Illustrations Street Vendors License

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

City of Shreveport Hold Harmless Agreement Street Vendors License

WHEREAS, the undersigned has made application for a Sidewalk Vendors License in the City of Shreveport, NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the privileges and license granted by the City of Shreveport the undersigned hereby agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the City of Shreveport, its elected officials, officers, employees and agents from and against any and all claims, demands, suits, judgments and sums of money to any party accruing against the City of Shreveport, its elected officials, officers, employees and agents for loss of life or injury or damage to persons or property arising out of or in connection with the operations or licensing of the undersigned. This agreement executed this _______ day of _____________________, _____.

WITNESSES:

SIDEWALK VENDOR Signature Title

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

City of Shreveport Application Checklist Street Vendors License

Name: Address: City/State/Zip: Phone: Location Number:

Vendor Cart Design Guidelines Acceptable       

Unacceptable       

Renderings or photos Size (6’ wide x10’ long x 8’ tall) Colors (no more than three) Lights (non blinking, indirect) Signage (integrated into design) Construction (high quality of metal or wood) Wheels (All wheels must be air filled with a minimum diameter of 8”.)

Merchandise/Activity Acceptable 

Unacceptable 

  

 

Food Describe: Flowers Arts & Crafts General Merchandise: Describe: Street Performance Holiday/Seasonal

Vendor Location Description:

100

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

City of Shreveport Application Checklist Street Vendors License Ordinance Requirements Acceptable 

Unacceptable 

Insurance: $1,000,000 liability. Attach proof. Risk Management – 318-673-5540



Executed Hold Harmless Agreement



Certified copy of charter if the sidewalk vendor is a corporation of the state of Louisiana.



Certified copy of the permit to do business in the under the laws of some state other than Louisiana.



Caddo-Shreveport Sales and Use Tax Commission registration certificate – 318-865-3312 State Taxes – 318-676-7515



Occupational License or certificate of Exemption – 318-673-5500



Acknowledgment of Receipt of Vender Ordinance and Guidelines ________ initials

sta

Vendor Location Number Issued by DDA: Form Completed and approved by:

DDA Representative

Date

This form will be completed by the Downtown Development Authority in accordance with the City of Shreveport’s Sidewalk Vending Ordinance. The completed form should be submitted with the application to the: City of Shreveport Permitting Office 505 Travis, Room 130 318-673-6100 For more information contact: Downtown Development Authority 318-222-7403

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

101

THE BEST OF

Alpena

Alpena Shipwreck Tours 888-469-4696 www.alpenashipwrecktours.com

ts,

Experience the Great Lakes and their rich history… above and below the waves!

Explore the shipwrecks of Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary from the glass bottom boat Lady Michigan. Crystal clear waters and large viewing wells let you dive the wrecks – without getting wet!

vely. wn

During the 2 hour cruise experience magnificently preserved shipwrecks and scenic shorelines. Learn about the history, legends and lore of Thunder Bay and many famous shipwrecks as you cruise the shoreline.

we he

ional

14 of the best hidden gems for dining, shopping and entertainment.

Alpena

urant he”

convention & visitors bureau

Departing from the warm & friendly port of Alpena, the 65-foot Lady Michigan will take you on a comfortable adventure into the heart of Lake Huron’s Shipwreck Alley. A memorable experience for passengers of all ages! The Lady Michigan is docked on the Thunder Bay River just behind the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center in Alpena. Tickets sold inside.

Art In The Loft 109 N Second Ave Suite 300 • Alpena, MI 49707 Phone: (989) 356-4877 www.artintheloft.org www.facebook.com/artintheloft

is NE Michigan’s premier fine arts center with over 7000 sq feet of gallery space devoted to the exhibit of fine art by local and regional artists. Each exhibit season offers new and unusual pieces for sale, including jewelry, paintings, ceramics, stained glass, photography, textiles and turned wood pieces. Located on the third floor of the Center Building in downtown Alpena, the Loft is surrounded by shopping, restaurants and activities. Visitors are welcome to bring their lunch or a snack and enjoy the view of Lake Huron. Art in the Loft hosts a full calendar of events workshops and activities, including: SummerView Exhibit ~ May - October WinterView Exhibit ~ Nov - March Young Artists Exhibit ~ a month long celebration of youthful creativity in April features the work of student artists from throughout Northeast Michigan.

491 John (989) 356OPEN YEA Call Fo

EXPERIENCE ALL IN ONE • Art Gallery

• 1890 Avenu of Shops

• Foucault Pe

• Historic Bui

• Lafarge Fos

• Planetarium

• Lumbering Farming Hi

• Native Ame Gallery

• Wildlife Gal

• Museum Gi

Workshops for all ages ~ ArtsCool summer workshops offer creative opportunities for students of all ages. National Artist Workshop Series offers destination workshops taught by nationallyrenowned instructors.

Accredited b

E, INC.

102

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

2015I-O16 N EDIT

THE BEST OF Muskoka Memories at Patterson Kaye Resort

18 of our best

dining, shop pi and entertain ng m experiences ent !

Patterson Kaye Resort has been operating as a family vacation destination on the shores of Lake Muskoka in beautiful Bracebridge, Ontario, since 1936, offering the same peaceful, picturesque setting for five generations. Patterson Kaye Resort has been the home to one of the best restaurants in Muskoka, Muskoka Memories Steak & Seafood Restaurant under the guidance of executive chef Glenn Kitchen. Muskoka Memories offer a Sunday Brunch year round, and a lunch and dinner menu that will satisfy everyone’s taste buds. As you would expect, mainstays include succulent steaks, prime rib, and seafood entrees that include Salmon Popeitte, a five ounce salmon filet served in a paper pouch with sidings of julienned vegetables and tasty mashed potatoes.

Riverwalk – Muskoka Fine Dining

Summer Hours of Operation: Mon-Sun: 9am-8pm Phone: 705-645-4169 Address: 1360 Golden Beach Rd. Bracebridge, ON P1L 1W8

LUNCH S: ENTREE $14-$21 DINNER S: ENTREE $16-$39

The meals are enhanced by the views, whether you are sitting by the fireplace or relaxing on the patio by the beach.

Bracebridge Visitor Centre 1-866-645-8121

pattersonkay 2

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

eresort.com

Enjoy a truly unique to Bracebridge dining experience atop the beautiful Bracebridge Falls in one of Bracebridge’s historic buildings, the Riverwalk Restaurant. The Mediterraneaninspired dining room features an open kitchen allowing patrons to experiences the sights, sounds and smells of their meal being prepared. Executive Chef/Proprietor David Friesen is the forefront of the Savour Muskoka movement, therefore making Riverwalk the ultimate in “Fresh Market Cuisine”. Incorporating local ingredients inspires his ever-changing menu will delight even the most discerning palate by featuring local and fresh daily ingredients.

Summer Hours of Operation: Tue-Sat: 11:30am-2:30pm and 5:30pm until last reservation July & August open Sundays too. Call for seasonal hours of operation.

Phone: 705-646-0711 Contact: 1 Manitoba Street Bracebridge, ON P1L 2S4

Chef David’s culinary creations are available for catering. Or, visit Riverwalk’s Pantry Café at 62 Manitoba Street for take-out.

ca estaurant.

riverwalkr

LUNCH ENTREES: $12-$17 DINNER ENTREES: $23-$34

103

Sample Community Profile Location and Climate Bordered by the counties of Mendocino, Glenn, Colusa, Yolo, Napa, and Sonoma, Lake County is located about 110 driving miles north of San Francisco, and about 110 driving miles west of Sacramento. Almost centered in the county is Clear Lake, California’s largest natural fresh-water lake, which is famous for its excellent fishing. The Konocti Hills surround the lake, with Mount Konocti and its legends providing a stunning background.

Special Events January

• Black History Day Celebration, Clearlake

March

July

February

• Winter Music Festival, Lakeport • Northlake Ford/Lakeport Regional Chamber of Commerce Team Bass Tournament, Lakeport

April

• Business Expo, Lakeport • Clear Lake Monster Sailing Regatta, Konocti Bay • Trout Derby, Blue Lakes • Heron Days, Lower Lake • Redbud Festival, Nice • Spring Dance Festival, Lakeport • Konocti Cup Sailing Regatta, Konocti Bay • Wildflower Tours, Clearlake Oaks • Earth Day Celebrations, Kelseyville & Middletown

May

• Langtry Day, Middletown • Children’s Creative Arts Day, Lakeport • Passion Play, north of Lakeport • Memorial Day Parades & Barbecues, Lower Lake & Lakeport • Red Hot & Rollin’, Lakeport • Catfish Derby, Clearlake Oaks

Population 50 mile radius........566,368 100 mile radius......6,532,052 150 mile radius......10,844,605

• Independence Day Festivities, BBQs, Parades, Concerts, Fireworks, Lakeport, Clearlake, Clearlake Oaks, Konocti Bay • International Worm Races, Clearlake • Celebrate Lakeport 1888, Lakeport • Lake County Rodeo, Lakeport • Roundup Car Show, Lakeport

August

• Miss Lake County Pageant, Lakeport • Blackberry Festival, Lower Lake • Lake County Summerfest, Countywide • Lake County Fair, Lakeport • Seaplane Splash-In, Lakeport • Pear Festival, Kelseyville • Pastels in the Park & Chair-a-Tea Auction, Lakeport

Mendocino County

December

• Christmas Festival of Music, Lakeport • Christmas Tree Lightings, Countywide • Holiday Parades, Kelseyville, Lakeport & Clearlake • Golf Cart Parade, Clear Lake Riviera • Christmas Crafts Festival, Lakeport • Christmas Renaissance Pageant, Middletown

Pacific Coast 70 miles

175

• Nature Walk-Bird Watching, Lower Lake • Concerts by the Lake, Konocti Harbor Resort produces approximately 85 concerts annually featuring top-billing recording artists 175

• NCRA Super & Hobby Stock Car Races, Lake County Fairgrounds • Farmers’ Markets, County wide • Summer Concerts, Lakeport

Napa County

San Francisco 100 miles

Lake County Resources If you have an interest in bringing in or developing a new business in Lake County, here is a resource list to assist you.

Community Development Services 707-262-1090 or cds@pacific.net

Lake County Winegrape Commission 707-995-3421 or www.lakecountywinegrape.org

Business and Outreach Response Team 707-262-1090 or bort@pacific.net

Lake County Visitor Information www.lakecounty.com

Lakeport Regional Chamber of Commerce 707-263-5092 or 866-525-3767 or lakeport@pacific.net

Small Business Development Center 707-263-0330

County of Lake www.co.lake.ca.us/cntyhome.html

Clearlake Chamber of Commerce 707-994-3600 or chamber@mchsi.com

The Resource Center 707-263-0630 or www.northcentralcounties.org/ lake/partners03.htm

California's

LAKE O

Wineries

vineyards, sunshine, clean air, and wealth of recreational activities, the county has just about everything one could ask for. Clear Lake, California’s largest natural freshwater lake, is the centerpiece of the county, and offers worldclass fishing, plus boating and watersports. Other outdoor activities include golf, hiking, bicycling, bird watching, and gliding. There are concerts, museums, art galleries, and wine tasting. The towns of Lake County are friendly and charming. The small town atmosphere is a refreshing change from the hustle and bustle of high-traffic cities. The air is some of the cleanest you’ll find in the country. There is room to move, room to breath, and room to grow in Lake County. Housing is affordable, and new neighbors are welcome. and both hospitals offer public health services. In addition, there are several nursing facilities, convalescent care homes, and an assisted living facility located in Lake County.

The Lake County Office of Education serves the seven school districts of Lake County. They include: • Kelseyville Unified School District • Konocti Unified School District • Lakeport Unified School District • Lucerne Elementary School • Middletown Unified School District • Upper Lake Union Elementary Schools • Upper Lake High School District

Police and Fire

In addition, there are the Lake County Community Court School and community preschools in the county. More information can be at the Lake County Office of Education website – www.lake-coe.k12.ca.us

Local bus and Dial-a-Ride services are offered by Lake Transit. (707994-3334) Daily Greyhound bus service is available to San Francisco daily.

The four branches of the library are operated by Lake County. They offer internet access, including internet cataloguing, searching, database searching, and full-text access to many major newspapers. Libraries are located in Lakeport, Clearlake, Middletown, and Upper Lake.

The cities of Lakeport and Clearlake both have hospital facilities with 24-hour emergency care. The Lake County Health Department

Emergency 911 service is available for police, fire and ambulance. The cities of Lakeport and Clearlake provide local law enforcement, as well as the California Highway Patrol and the county Sheriff’s Department. Lake County fire districts provide fire protection, in addition to the U.S. Forest Service and the California Department of Forestry.

Transportation

Lampson Field, located in Lakeport, is operated by the county. It has a 3,600 foot runway. 12,500 lbs. weight limit for aircraft. The elevation is 1,380 feet. MSL. 27 airplane tie-downs are available for a nominal county fee. Private fuel service is available, as well as other aviation services.

Communication Services Media

There is one daily newspaper in Lake County – The Lake County Record Bee. In addition, there is a weekly newspaper – The Middletown Times Star, and a bi-weekly newspaper – the Clear Lake Observer. The San Francisco Chronicle is also available.

Sacramento 110 miles

Recreation and Attractions

Lake County, California is just beginning to be discovered by the rest of the country. With its lovely pastoral setting,

Sonoma County

Radio stations in Lake County include: KNTI 99.5 FM, KQPM 105.9 FM, KUKI 97.1 FM, KWNE 94.5 FM, KXBX 98.3 FM, and KXBX 1270 AM.

Welcome to Lake County!

Fine Wines, Spectacular Beauty, & Unsurpassed Recreation

Yolo County

MediaCom provides cable access and programming.

Libraries

Clear Lake Average Water Temperature December ................. 48º March....................... 53º June .......................... 66º August ...................... 75º

clear lake

Lake County Television is a local access channel.

There are two community colleges: Mendocino College –www.mendocino.cc.ca.us Clear Lake Community College – http://Lakecampus.org

Average Humidity Winter:..................... 50% Summer/Fall:............ 30%

Colusa County

Lake County

Ongoing

• Pedal the Puddle, Countywide • Steele Wines Harvest Festival & Grape Stomp, and Vineyard Run for Literacy, Kelseyville • Halloween Contests, Parades & Fun, Lakeport & Clearlake • Lake County Wine Auction Gala

Schools

Average Annual Rainfall Clear Lake Basin ...... 25 inches Middletown area ...... 45 inches Cobb Mountain ....... 60 inches

Glenn County

October

Community Services

Average Temperatures Highs Lows Jan-Mar ................ 60º ...... 32º Apr-Jun ................ 80º ...... 48º Jul-Sept ................ 95º ...... 57º Oct-Dec................ 65º ...... 44º

• Holiday Gift & Craft Shows, Countywide • Teddy Bear Exhibit, Lakeport

Seasonal

September

Climate

November

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0-9 .........................7,388 10-19 .....................8,307 20-29 .....................6,762 30-39 .....................6,106 40-49 .....................8,389 50-59 .....................6,942 60-69 .....................5,969 70-79 .....................6,390 80+ ........................3,819

Redding 150 miles

KONOCTI HILLS COUNTRY

Medical

Age Distribution

California ..............35,301,000 Lake County........59,300 City of Clearlake...13,273 City of Lakeport....4,876

June

• Chickenque, Lakeport • Middletown Days Western Celebration • VWs by the Lake Weekend, Lakeport • Wild West Day, Upper Lake • Bowfishing Tournament, Lakeport • Personal Watercraft Poker Run, Lakeport

• Teddy Bear Exhibit, Lakeport • Crab Feed, Lakeport

Population

Lake County’s climate, altitude, and soils provide the perfect location for producing premium quality wine grapes. The following wineries and tasting rooms are open to the public; inquire as to hours and special events. Guenoc and Langtry Estate Vineyards and Winery Award-winning wines and special events Open daily for tastings, tours by appointment (707) 9987-2385 Ployez Winery Lower Lake Tasting room (707) 994-2106 Steele Wines Kelseyville Harvest Festival in October (707) 279-9475

Wildhurst Vineyards’ Kelseyville Tasting room (707) 279-4302 Red Hill Wine Tasting Kelseyville Tasting room – assorted local wines (707) 279-9433 From the Vine Lakeport Wine tasting (707) 263-5787 Blue Lakes Lodge Wine Cellar Near Upper Lake Wine tasting (707) 275-2181

Fishing

Clear Lake is California’s largest natural freshwater lake, and has a fishing season of 365 days a year. In addition, there are other lakes, reservoirs, and streams, making Lake County a fisherman’s paradise. • Clear Lake sports bass, catfish, crappie, and bluegill. • Blue Lakes have trout, catfish, bluegill, and bass. • The Highland Springs Reservoir has catfish, bass, crappie and bluegill. • The Indian Valley Reservoir sports trout, bass, catfish, kokanee, and crappie. • Lake Pillsbury offers bass, sunfish, and trout. For more information, please call the Lake County Visitor Information Center at (707) 263-9544 or 1-800-525-3743.

Casinos

Three casinos in Lake County offer a variety of gaming entertainment. Twin Pine Casino, with slot machines, keno, electronic bingo, video poker, and other games, also features special events, drawings, live action table games, and a café. Located in Middletown. 707-987-0197 or 800-564-4872. Robinson Rancheria Bingo & Casino, located between Nice and Upper Lake, features a bingo hall, video gaming, and a café. 707-275-9000 or 800-809-3636. Konocti Vista Casino offers blackjack and poker games and tournaments, as well as more than 270 pull tab video machines. Located off Soda Bay Road in Lakeport, the Casino also has a diner. 707-262-1900 or 800-FUN-1850.

Trails

Scenic trails and pathways for bicyclists, joggers, hikers, horseback riders, and walkers are plentiful and varied throughout Lake County. The Mendocino National Forest, Boggs Mountain, Cow Mountain and Cache Creek are some favorite areas. More information can be found at the Lake County Visitor Information Center and the Bureau of Land Management.

Watersports

Points of Interest

Largest Employers 500 to 999 Employees Lake County 250 to 499 Employees McLaughlin Mine Sutter Lakeside Hospital Konocti Unified School District Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa Kelsey Clinic

100 to 249 Employees Wal-Mart #1979 Robinson Rancheria Bingo Casino Konocti Vista Casino Foods Etc.

1999 149,730

2005 (projected) 205,578

120,127 66,333 37,942 31,229

151,625 74,823 45,301 48,673

26,686

30,201

20,908 19,260

25,722 21,403

With the largest natural freshwater lake in California right in the middle of the county, Lake County offers incomparable boating, fishing, and swimming. Clear Lake has over 100 miles of shoreline and an average depth of 28 feet. Water temperature varies from 40º in the winter to 75º in the summer.

Building Permits for Year 2000

Golf

Building Permits for Year 2001 – Countywide – residential – 213 Building Permits for Year 2002 – Countywide – residential - 358

Lake County has five golf courses, four of which are 9-hole, and one is a championship 18-hole course. The courses offer views of Clear Lake or the surrounding forests. There are also driving ranges, a miniature golf course, and a disc (Frisbee) golf course. Adams Springs Golf Course, 9 holes (707) 928-9992 Buckingham Golf & Country Club, 9 holes (707) 279-4863 Clear Lake Riviera Yacht & Golf Club, 9 holes (707) 277-7575 Hidden Valley Lake Golf Course, 18 holes (707) 987-3035 Cobb Meadows Golf Course, 9 holes (707) 928-5276

Lodging Facilities

Lake County features a wide variety of accommodations, including hotels, motels, lakeside resorts, cottages, bed-and-breakfast inns, vacation home rentals, RV parks, and campgrounds.

Business and Industry Principal Industries

The primary industries in Lake County include government with approximately 3,700 total employees, service with 3,680 jobs, retail sales with 2,870 workers, agriculture with about 930 jobs, construction and mining employing 700, transportation and public utilities with 550 employees, manufacturing with 540 jobs, finance, insurance, and real estate with about 510 workers, and wholesale trade with about 330 jobs.

County Single Family 135

Multi-Family 52

City of Lakeport Single Family Multi-Family 5 -0-

Housing Units 1998 1999 2000 2001

21,359 21,393 21,563 32,670

Taxes

The State of California authorizes a personal and business Income Tax. In addition, there is a statewide Sales and Use Tax. The state rate is 7.25% The rate in Clearlake Park is 7.75%, and the rate in Clearlake is also 7.75% The rate in the remainder of Lake County is the state rate of 7.25%

Property Taxes

Lake County has over 10,000 acres of parks, public lands, and 500 square miles of waterways. Enjoy swimming, fishing, picnicking, hiking, bicycling, and boating.

State and Federal Lands

Principal Industries Earnings By Industry Per Worker (Thousands) Services Government & Public Administration Retail Trade Construction Agriculture & Mining Transportation & Public Utilities Finance, Insurance & Real estate Manufacturing

Parks

The property tax rate in California, including the rate of cities, counties, schools, and special districts, is limited to 1% of the market value.

• Clear Lake State Park (707) 279-4293 • Anderson Marsh State Historic Park & McVicar Preserve (707) 994-0688 • Boggs Mountain Demonstration State Forest • Cow Mountain Recreation Area BLM • Cache Creek Access Trail BLM • Mendocino National Forest – Lake Pillsbury (707) 262-1618 • Hinman • Middletown Pool/Tennis • Upper Lake • Rodman Slough • Middletown Trailside Nature Preserve • Lakeside • Kelseyville • Highland Springs Recreation Area

Lake County Parks

• Pioneer • Lower Lake • Keeling • Clearlake Oaks Beach • Lucerne Clubhouse • Lucerne Harbor • Alpine • Nice Beach

(707) 994-8201 • Redbud Park – Clearlake • Austin Park – Clearlake • Highlands Park – Clearlake • Westshore Pool – Lakeport • Library Park – Lakeport • Westside Community Park – Lakeport

City Parks

Museums

• Lake County Museum (707) 263-4555 Pomo Indian Basket Collection, local history • Lower Lake Historical Schoolhouse Museum (707) 995-3565 Restored schoolroom, minerals, local history • Clear Lake State Park Museum (707) 279-4293 Native American & natural history • Stone House Museum (707) 987-2254 Open by appointment, contact Mrs. Saunders

Landmarks

• Stone & Kelsey Home Intersection of Main St & Bell Hill Rd, Kelseyville • The Battle of Bloody Island Intersection of St Hwy 20 and Reclamation Rd • Sulphur Bank Mine Intersection of St Hwy 20 & Sulphur Bank Rd • Lower Lake Stone Jail 16118 Main St, Lower Lake • The Stone House Hidden Valley Lake off Hwy 29 • St. Helena Toll Road & Bull Trail NW corner of St Hwy 29 & Hill Ave, Middletown • Historic Courthouse 255 N Main St, Lakeport

For more information, call (707) 262-1618

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

Sample Opportunities brochure Location and Climate Located between the Pacific Ocean and Sacramento, Lake County lies about 110 road miles north of San Francisco. It is surrounded by the Mendocino, Napa, Sonoma, Glenn, Colusa, and Yolo counties. Almost centered in the county is Clear Lake, California’s largest natural fresh-water lake, which is famous for its excellent fishing. The Konocti Hills surround the lake, with Mount Konocti and its legends providing a stunning background.

Population

Average annual daytime highs are 75º F, and average annual lows are 45º F. Average annual rainfall in the Middletown area is 45 inches; in Clear Lake basin, average annual rainfall is 25 inches. Lake County’s climate makes it a perfect location for producing award-winning wines, and Lake County is becoming well-known for its vineyards and wineries. Winegrape acreage continues to expand. Other agriculture also thrives, including pears, timber, walnuts, livestock, rice, hay and grain, commercial vegetables, ornamental crops, and Christmas trees.

Redding 150 miles

50 mile radius........566,368 100 mile radius......6,532,052 150 mile radius......10,844,605 N

Glenn County

Colusa County Mendocino County

Lake County

20 29

Pacific Coast 70 miles

clear lake

175

Sacramento 110 miles

Fine Wines, Spectacular Beauty, & Unsurpassed Recreation Yolo County

175

Sonoma County S

Napa County

San Francisco 100 miles

Lake County Resources If you have an interest in bringing in or developing a new business in Lake County, here is a resource list to assist you.

Community Development Services 707-262-1090 or cds@pacific.net

Lake County Winegrape Commission 707-995-3421 or www.lakecountywinegrape.org

Business and Outreach Response Team 707-262-1090 or bort@pacific.net

Lake County Visitor Information www.lakecounty.com

Lakeport Regional Chamber of Commerce 707-263-5092 or 866-525-3767 or lakeport@pacific.net

Small Business Development Center 707-263-0330

County of Lake www.co.lake.ca.us/cntyhome.html

Clearlake Chamber of Commerce 707-994-3600 or chamber@mchsi.com

The Resource Center 707-263-0630 or www.northcentralcounties.org/ lake/partners03.htm

California's

LAKE C

KONOCTI HILLS COUNTRY

Welcome to Lake County!

The Redevelopment Agency provides assistance to businesses within the Northshore Redevelopment Area along Highway 20. Architectural design assistance and review is available, as well as the Commercial Facade Improvement Program, which provides funds at a low interest rate with flexible terms for businesses to improve their facades.

Lake County, California, with its clean air, pastoral countryside,

recreational opportunities, and sunny climate, is the ideal spot to live, work, and play. Opportunities for business development and growth are plentiful here, and numerous resources are available to assist a new business. We invite you to take a look at the following opportunities. If you would like additional information, resource contact information is given on the last page of this brochure. Each of these opportunities will become a reality. Would you like to take advantage of the opportunity?

Business Opportunities Conference Resort Hotel The county has located several sites that possess excellent potential for a major conference resort hotel. The new promenade, which is in the process of development, will make the north shore of Clear Lake a prime location. A conceptual site plan of the promenade is available.

Lodging Facilities Several excellent sites are available for upscale lodging facilities or a full-service destination resort. The clean air, natural beauty, and recreational opportunities in the area are attracting more visitors, and the area is currently lacking in upscale lodging facilities.

RV Parks: Condo/Timeshare Although there are many RV parks in Lake County, there is a shortage of full-service, nicely landscaped RV parks. Condo or timeshare RV parks would be ideally suited to the Lake County area.

Golf Course / Residential Sub-division Development As more and more people are attracted to the clean, uncrowded beauty of Lake County, a significant demand has arisen for upscale residential and golf course communities. There are a number of excellent sites available.

Why Lake County?

Wineries Lake County’s climate, soil, and altitude make it ideal for the growing of wine grapes, and the area has long been home to award-winning wineries. With the popularity of locally produced wines increasing every year, there is tremendous demand for more wineries with visitor amenities such as tasting rooms. Retirement Housing/Assisted Living Facilities With the growing retirement population, the demand for retirement housing has been increasing as well. This would include housing for active retirees as well as “agein-place” facilities. Commercial Development Many sites are available for significant commercial development, particularly in the area of the new promenade, which is in its development stage. Mixed Use Industrial Park Development There is current demand for a mixed use industrial park project that would include professional office, warehouse, and light manufacturing, appealing to cottage industries.

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

With all that Lake County has to offer, why NOT Lake County? Lake County is quickly being discovered as one of California’s most beautiful, unspoiled, uncrowded, and scenic locations. As it is discovered by more and more people, who are tired of the traffic, the noise, the pollution of other parts of the state, the need for more new, upscale lodging, housing, services, and amenities continues to grow. Its climate attracts more vineyards, wineries, and agriculture. Its scenic beauty and amazing recreational opportunities are attracting more vacationers. In addition to all those qualities, the clean air, lack of busy traffic, and relaxed lifestyle attracts more and more people who want to set up their businesses and make Lake County their home. In addition to all the natural amenities Lake County has to offer, the County of Lake has set up an efficient and friendly public/private partnership of service providers to help with business development. Community Development Services provides financial and technical assistance to businesses. Services include flexible business loans, marketing and management assistance, business plan development, and coordination of services provided by the County’s business assistance network.

The Small Business Development Center provides free business consulting services to small businesses in the areas of financial analysis, marketing, operations, and management. The Lake County Resource Center provides employee recruitment, screening, placement, and vocational training services to employers. The Lake County Winegrape Commission offers education, research and product marketing.

Lake County at a Glance Population California ..............35,301,000 Lake County........59,300 City of Clearlake...13,273 City of Lakeport....4,876

Age Distribution 0-9 .........................7,388 10-19 .....................8,307 20-29 .....................6,762 30-39 .....................6,106 40-49 .....................8,389 50-59 .....................6,942 60-69 .....................5,969 70-79 .....................6,390 80+ ........................3,819

Countywide Building Permits Year 2000................ 192 2001................ 213 2002................ 358

Value of New Construction (thousands) 1998................ $20,787 1999................ 33,631 2000................ 45,085

Annual Travel Expenditures in County ($ Millions) % Change

1997................ $178 1998................ $185 .........3.9 1999................ $202 .........9.2

Total taxable sales in County 1995................ $300,902 1996................ $317,533 1997................ $322,482 1998................ $337,861 1999................ $383,524

Business & Outreach Response Team provides direct assistance to new businesses with site location, permitting guidance, liaison with city and county decision makers, project advocacy, and up-to-date demographic information.

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7-Question Itinerary Exercise: Engage your locals in creating “itineraries from our local residents” • • •

106

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. • •

Great idea for a public gathering, such as Kiwanis, Rotary, etc. Use blank sheet and ask a series of 7 questions These are examples and can be changed to suit the season, location and other particulars of the itineraries you are creating Where will my partner and I have the best dining experience? Where should we go for some nightlife? Where can we get gourmet items for a picnic? What is the one thing we MUST do while we are here? Where can I get the best dessert? Name the place AND the dish. Where can I take the best picture that says I was really there? Where can I get something locally made? A gift or great souvenir?

Then ask the participants to number them in order – this builds the itinerary Notice: five of the questions are about private industry

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

Roger’s Video Library

Recommended Viewing Order First start with community branding. You need to figure out what you should be known for that will set you apart from the rest. 1. The Art of Branding a Community - Part 1 2. The Art of Branding a Community (Roger’s 13-Step Process) 3. The Art of Branding - Revisited 4. Finding Your Niche: Not So Easy, Is It? 5. Big Success Start with a Plan: Creating Your Own Action Plan 6. Getting Everyone on the Same Page, Pulling in the Same Direction Next, focus on downtown development/tourism development. What is the product that will reinforce your brand?: 7. The 20 Ingredients of an Outstanding Downtown - Part 1 8. The 20 Ingredients of an Outstanding Downtown - Part 2 9. The 20 Ingredients of an Outstanding Downtown - Part 3 10. Downtown Critical Mass 11. Business and Community Signage 12. The 70% Rule: Curb Appeal and First Time Sales 13. Year-Round Public Markets 14. The Power of Public Plazas - Part 1 15. The Power of Public Plazas - Part 2 16. The Art of Developing a Wayfinding System 17. Is Your Downtown Open After 6pm? 18. How to Bring Your Downtown to Life 19. Parking is Not Just for Lovers 20. Recruiting Tourism Development Projects 21. Visitor Information Centers in the Digital Age Finally, watch community marketing videos. How will you tell the world you exist?: 22. Seven Deadly Sins of Destination Marketing 23. Words & Phrases That Work Every Time 24. The Truth About Social Media 25. Tourism for the 21st Century 26. Community Marketing on a Minuscule Budget 27. The Power of Itineraries 28. The Use of Photography to Increase Sales 29. The Power of Selling Experiences over Places 30. Promoting Your “Anchor Tenants” 31. How to Create Marketing Partnerships 32. Designing Effective Print & Mobile Ads 33. The Death of Visitor Guides and What to Do Instead Roger Brooks International | 24654 N. Lake Pleasant Pkwy, Suite 103-487 | Peoria, AZ 85383 | 206-241-4770 | www.RogerBrooksInternational.com

Moosehead Lake, Maine | Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan

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Roger Brooks International 24654 N. Lake Pleasant Pkwy Peoria, AZ 85383 206-241-4770 www.RogerBrooksInternational.com Copyright ÂŠ 2015 Roger Brooks International. All rights reserved. No part of this material may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise without written permission from Roger Brooks International.