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Communities benefitting from UGA Institute of Government strategic branding share best practices

On a stroll through charming downtown Monroe, the city’s iconic circle logo with a bottlecap border is on full display, punctuating wayfinding signs, murals and banners. From water towers to trash trucks, visitors and residents alike can’t miss the city’s “It’s All Yours” tagline.

Developing such a unique identity is the goal of community branding, a burgeoning service of the University of Georgia Carl Vinson Institute of Government. Small towns and cities are increasingly using branding as an economic development tool to attract talent and compete for new residents, jobs, industries and funding.

Since adopting the logo and tagline four years ago, the Monroe brand has been widely used and celebrated. Notably, the city’s Town Green, which features a splash pad reflecting the brand, won a Best Placemaking Project Award at a Georgia Downtown Conference last year.

Sandy Daniels, Main Street manager and director of the Downtown Development Authority, said the brand captures what makes the thriving community a popular place for residents and tourists alike.

“People love the idea of walkable, livable places with this charm,” she said. “What we’re seeing is that people are staying in towns like ours, and their children and grandchildren are moving back.”

Building that connection and affinity is the purpose—and payoff—of investing in a brand, according to Kaitlin Messich, who leads the institute’s community branding efforts.

“It’s essentially about storytelling and identifying common threads that weave a community together. It’s fun to help communities explore their personality,” she said.

Messich does that by visiting and getting to know a community. When she spotted vintage bottle tops at an antique store in downtown Monroe—once home to a Coca-Cola bottler—she saw a potential identifier for the city and a lifestyle brand.

“Every community has a story, and our branding process engages the public to reflect that authentic character,” she explained. “In Monroe, the brand complements its vibrant downtown with a nostalgic, hand-painted look that echoes its history.”  

Inspiring Community Pride & Value

For cities like Monroe, developing a brand is part of a long-term strategy to engage the community and create inviting public spaces.

Logan Propes, the city administrator, said that while Monroe had implemented various placemaking initiatives, it lacked a cohesive vision or narrative.

“The branding helped tie everything together in a vital way,” he said. “I really liked that we were able to create a lot of buy-in by having a good-sized committee of people that was a cross-section of our community.”

Building brand recognition and acceptance requires patience. In Monroe, the process took nearly three years, starting with high visibility projects that involved updating logos on equipment, facilities and vehicles. Garbage trucks were refurbished with engaging murals.

Chris Bailey, assistant city administrator, described the latter as “moving billboards” for the city.

“It’s fun when we can incorporate art into government, and the brand allows us to do that. People see the power of working together, and community pride is a big part of that,” he said.

Investing in a cohesive brand also influences marketing and economic development. Items like attractive mugs, T-shirts and stickers allow city officials to concentrate on larger projects to boost tourism and economic growth.

“The visual piece matters a lot, and ours oozes professionalism,” said Brian Wilson, economic development manager. “That aesthetic imagery lends credence to your legitimacy and validates you to a certain extent.”

Connecting Communities

The growing number of communities benefiting from the Institute of Government’s strategic branding now form an unofficial network, sharing best practices and success stories.

Last fall, Monroe hosted community leaders from Hartwell to showcase its branding efforts. The lakeside county seat of Hart County is undergoing its own rebranding as part of its engagement with the Archway Partnership, another UGA Public Service and Outreach unit.

Jason Ford, Hartwell’s economic and community development director, noted that learning from peers is invaluable.

“Just seeing another community that’s gone through the process and knowing that it can be done is important because we have a partner,” he said. “Monroe is a great example because they’ve got a strong program and leadership. It made it impactful for us to take back what we learned and say, ‘OK, let’s jump in with both feet.’”

Hartwell is doing so with assistance from students in the Institute for Leadership Advancement at the UGA Terry College of Business, who are developing a marketing plan to coincide with the brand’s launch.

“The University of Georgia does great work and of course has a stellar reputation,” Ford said. “Our community loves supporting students when they come to town, and the end product is always quality.”