Developing and Leveraging a Regional Place Brand Strategy I dentit y

The River Valley has a distinct regional identity that could be leveraged to create a place brand strategy to encourage tourism and economic development. The region offers a variety of authentic experiences, including outdoor recreation, local foods, craft beer and whiskey, art, music, and events. The city of Columbus and Fort Moore already draw people to this region. Through investing in a regional place brand strategy, however, the entire region could benefit from increased investment, tourism, and brand exposure.

Place branding is the idea that a place, a town, a city, or a region can be branded, much like a product, service, or business. “Successful place branding can put a neighborhood, city, or region firmly on the map, connect people and promote collaboration, boost residents’ and businesses’ sense of belonging and pride in an area, and guide the next phase in the place’s development.”70 A consistent theme heard throughout this process was the need to “tell the story” of the region’s rural character and natural resources. This plan recommends that the communities consider developing a regional place brand strategy as an important first step.

The River Valley consists of small destinations neighboring Columbus that, if they collaborated, could jointly market their tourism products, resources, and destinations.

With Columbus as the economic and retail hub for the region, the surrounding communities can benefit from a regional brand strategy by attracting tourists, industry, and new residents to the areas outside of Columbus and around Fort Moore. Ecotourism, agritourism, quaint small towns, public art, and cultural assets can be leveraged to draw investment to the more rural and underserved areas. Multiple local efforts related to branding and tourism have already been prepared for specific communities:

Creating a regional brand strategy can have many benefi ts:

• Increase the region’s exposure and brand recognition in the Southeast and nationally.

• Attract talent, businesses, jobs, visitors, and new residents.

• Create a consistent look and message among the region’s local governments and affiliated partners who work as a team.

• Increase community pride by having a marketable regional brand look and identity that residents want to buy and wear.

• Create a brand associated with the region’s assets, such as natural resources, recreation, arts and culture, shared history, or other attributes.

• Promote the region’s quality of life and personality.

• Promote the region’s downtowns and other local destinations.

• The Marion County Tourism Resource Team Report prepared by the Georgia Department of Economic Development

• Leveraging Public Investment in the Arts prepared by the Georgia Council for the Arts and the Georgia Municipal Association

• Taylor County Tourism Development Resource Team Report prepared by the Georgia Department of Economic Development

The participation of all stakeholders, including residents, is extremely important in branding a place. 72 Successful place branding efforts typically involve residents through a robust engagement process, with outcomes that encourage participants to identify favorably with a place and to become brand ambassadors rather than critics. Successful brand implementation requires a long-term strategy and the support of local individuals, organizations, businesses, and the government.

The University of Georgia Carl Vinson Institute of Government recommends the following process to uncover place identities and create place branding strategies in regions, counties, and municipalities throughout Georgia. While private branding and marketing agencies may use different approaches, this process has been designed specifically for the public sector and encourages strong public input and stakeholder engagement. This process typically takes one to two years to complete.