Longmont Downtown Development Authority Branding/Identity Project
Challenge:
The Longmont Downtown Development Authority (LDDA) came to CIG with a vision—a vision of downtown Longmont as a bustling, energetic area where businesses thrive and customers flock. LDDA’s goal was to promote the lively downtown area as the premier shopping and entertainment destination in the region.
LDDA’s challenge became CIG’s challenge. How could downtown Longmont become more proactive in business development and retention? How could the area be positioned in the minds of area residents and consumers as a vibrant destination to enjoy arts, food, shopping and entertainment? How might this positioning help to ensure a healthy and vibrant downtown for years to come?
Solution:
Initially, CIG conducted research to identify downtown Longmont’s unique attributes and opportunities. What was it about downtown Longmont that would drive businesses and commerce to the area, resulting in a locale that patrons would want to frequent?
Based on our research findings, we designed a fresh, vibrant identity and tailored a plan that would strategically position downtown Longmont as a destination not only for Longmont residents, but for neighboring communities as well. The new identity and marketing campaign have helped to establish downtown Longmont as the place to be for retail and entertainment-oriented businesses throughout the region. The plan provided creative marketing and communication strategies to communicate across the spectrum of geographic, demographic, socioeconomic and ethnic groups that comprise downtown Longmont’s customer base.
By developing and implementing an extensive marketing and communications campaign with integrated communication strategies, CIG was able to position downtown Longmont as the lively, vibrant and eclectic area that it has become. In the end, CIG provided LDDA with the marketing tools necessary to make consumers and potential new businesses take notice, and established downtown Longmont as a center of pride for the community.
The results speak for themselves—since the new campaign was implemented, downtown Longmont has seen an 11 percent increase in sales tax and a two percent decrease in retail space vacancy rates.
In 2008, LDDA was awarded the Governor’s Award of Downtown Excellence by the Colorado Community Revitalization Association (CCRA) and the Savvy Award from the City-County Communications and Marketing Association for its brand identity development process led by CIG.