Freddie Norris, a Glasgow City councilperson and member of the strategic planning committee, speaks to Terry Bunnell, another committee member, during a discussion relating to the city’s branding. The meeting was held on Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021 at Lera B. Mitchell Clubhouse in Glasgow.
(BRENNAN CRAIN/WCLU NEWS)
GLASGOW, Ky. — A committee of the Glasgow City Council progressed last week toward selecting a marketing company to further the city’s branding efforts.
The strategic planning committee heard from six branding companies at an earlier meeting in February. The committee selected their favorites last Thursday but not without heavy discussion.
Terry Bunnell, chairperson of the committee, explained the significance of the branding efforts and made clear that the endeavor seeks to put a scheme to Glasgow’s existence.
“Everybody in Glasgow’s going to stand behind the brand that we choose working with the marketing agency,” Bunnell said.
The city seeks to create a stable image and goal-oriented plan, or brand, for itself. The endeavor is much more than a logo and slogan. It requires that the city build all of its facets into its overall presentation, which has never been done.
The Kentucky League of Cities developed a complete strategic plan last year. The document provided a framework for development and was created with input collected from community members. The plan investigates “community identity” and asserts the city needs a “vision, brand and updated logo” in its future.
But the committee has demonstrated its continued lack of branding knowledge. Though the committee is pursuing the effort, some members’ discussions indicate skepticism and ignorance about the topic.
Wendell Honeycutt, committee member, voiced fiscal concern with the endeavor.
“What economic benefit are we going to get from doing this?” Honeycutt said.
Honeycutt continues to support Glasgow’s Scottish heritage, but the committee and community members invalidated that heritage. It’s no longer significant to most people.
“During the public meetings and individual interviews, the use of ‘Scottish Heritage’ as the brand for Glasgow was frequently denounced as no longer desirable,” according to the strategic plan.
The councilperson and committee member also said he didn’t want to create a divisive product. Honeycutt said he feared a brand may cause division if all community facets aren’t included.
The committee spent time discussing specific aspects of the companies’ offers. Several companies touted their website development skills.
“Are websites the futuristic thing?” said Freddie Norris. “Really?”
Several committee members clarified that people use technology to access information – especially when visiting new places.
“You don’t stop at the rest areas anymore to decide where you’re going,” Honeycutt said.
The committee devised a numbering system and ranked their top three branding entities individually. Those ranks were then assigned a number that was totaled.
The committee eliminated three firms – P&P Creative, Current 360 and Oliver Creative. They originally planned to eliminate four but felt they needed more time to digest the presentations.
The remaining firms, in order of rank, were Chandler Thinks, Crowd South and Camp Fire.
Each of the three companies selected were among the members’ selections. Current 360 was never on anyone’s list.
The committee plans to discuss those companies further at their next meeting on March 25 at 5:30 p.m.