The Hollister Downtown Association is seeking $5,425 from the
Hollister City Council to hire consultants Arnett Muldrow and
Associates to create a brand for the community. The item is set to
be on the city council agenda Dec. 20.
The firm, from Greenville, South Carolina, has created brands
for more than 100 cities around the United States. The cost for the
three-day community workshop is $10,850, but the HDA has half the
funds from a grant through the Community Foundation of San Benito
County.
The Hollister Downtown Association is seeking $5,425 from the Hollister City Council to hire consultants Arnett Muldrow and Associates to create a brand for the community. The item is set to be on the city council agenda Dec. 20.
The firm, from Greenville, South Carolina, has created brands for more than 100 cities around the United States. The cost for the three-day community workshop is $10,850, but the HDA has half the funds from a grant through the Community Foundation of San Benito County.
“We wanted to do the Hollister Downtown Association brand, but I had the revelation that it should be all of Hollister,” said Brenda Weatherly, the executive director of the HDA.
Weatherly said the reason the board is considering Arnett Muldrow is that the firm has a background in planning and economic development versus advertising.
She shared a presentation put together by the consultants with the HDA board and some city council members that explains the approach the Arnett Muldrow staff would take and shows some examples of branding for some cities.
The goal of the consultants is to come up with a brand objective and a brand element. Using Springfield, Vermont as an example, the consultants took objects from the community to create the color palette. From their, they created a basic logo that could be used to brand a variety of agencies and events. Since the community shares the name with the town that the Simpson family lives – the animated characters from the Fox show – they used the yellow color of the characters in the logo. They also created a logo for a river walk using a jagged edge that looks a little bit like Bart’s hair.
“They come in with fresh eyes and see what we take for granted,” Weatherly said. “My thing is it is hard to market when you don’t have a marketing plan. As a board, we are thinking about doing YouTube videos, but it would be nice to have a marketing plan behind it.”
Over the three days, the consultants hold a roundtable meeting with community stakeholders on the first day. The next day, they go out and take photos and see the community. On the last day, they present their logo and branding ideas.
For Hollister, Weatherly said, there would be a central Hollister brand. From that, the group would create other sub brands and logos that incorporate some of the same elements. Some of those sub brands could be the Hollister Downtown Association, the Hollister Street Festival, the Hollister Farmers Market, the Lights On Celebration and more.
One of the important things, Weatherly said, when branding is that there is already and established Hollister brand – the Hollister Clothing Co.
The consultants are paid to come up with the concept. From there, the city can use the branding and logo for street signs, ad campaigns or more.
“At the HDA, we are kind of on hold,” Weatherly said. “We want to do all these things, but we want a concerted effort.”
