2010—Analyze

Hosted six business and industry roundtables (Chamber)

Conducted comprehensive community assessment (Development Authority)

Gifted project to Economic Prosperity Council, 55 economic development, government, business leaders

2011—Design

Divided the roundtable and community assessment recommendations into three task forces

Focused one task force just on the five recommendations for marketing and branding

Designed the concept, and voted on a winning campaign called “Prosperity’s Front Door (PFD), which connected the Chamber, the Development Authority, government, and the business community to collaborate like never before in a marketing/community branding effort

2012—Develop

Engaged a regional marketing company to help with the development of PFD:

·  Developing tone and style of the messaging and marketing collateral

·  Raising funds—generated more than $75,000 from 12 strategic partners

·  Facilitating focus groups and community meetings—11 focus groups and more than 150 volunteers

Incorporated as a key strategy into Chamber’s business plan, aligned to all three organizational divisions

Began re-branding process that led to a consistent community brand, key messages, and uniform logos for the Chamber, Development Authority, County and more

Managed development of collateral that would effectively tell the story

2012—Implement

Fully implemented all recommendations from the Chamber roundtables and the Development Authority’s community assessment

Launched this five-year program at a Chamber event

Trained more than 60 companies and more than 300 staff and community stakeholders in strategies to drive the PFD message into their corporate cultures and shared the message with civic and community organizations

Began ongoing drip marketing strategies to keep the message front and center

2013—Evaluate

There is sufficient funding and near-total buy-in from a wide range of community stakeholders

There is implementation of brand standards by Chamber members incorporating elements into websites, collateral, and advertising

There is extension of brand awareness to external audiences as statewide utility trainers and teams who are now citing Coweta as a best practice model