HELP UNCOVER OUR COMMUNITY’S AUTHENTIC STORY
OUR BRANDING INITIATIVE
The City of Auburn has recently begun a research-driven, community-wide branding initiative. While this is a branding project for the City of Auburn as a municipal government, the City’s brand must reflect Auburn’s identity and reputation both as a government and as a community. We are currently in the Creativity phase of the project and are excited to discover and create Auburn’s authentic and ownable brand identity.
RESEARCH
We start by conducting research inside and outside of the community to uncover perceptions, attitudes, and what's unique about Auburn.
CREATIVITY
All of that data is transformed into compelling creative tools that tell the Auburn story in ways that visitors, businesses, and residents can understand.
ACTION
Next begins the integration of the new brand—not just into marketing and communications, but also into the fabric of our community and our daily lives.
“HOW PEOPLE THINK OF A PLACE IS LESS TANGIBLE, BUT MORE IMPORTANT, THAN JUST ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE.”
RICHARD FLORIDA
FAQS
What is Community Branding?
Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not around. In other words, your reputation! Just like people or products, communities have reputations based on all the different experiences people have had with that community over time. Branding is the process of changing, clarifying, refining, or improving that reputation.
The first step in our community branding initiative is conducting research to figure out what Auburn’s existing reputation is. At the same time, we will conduct research to determine what Auburn’s greatest strengths are. What makes our community special and unique? This allows us to look at what our reputation is and what we want it to be based on our greatest strength. Then, we come up with creative tools, strategies, and advocacy programs that help close the gap between the two.
A new brand won't solve all our problems. What branding can do is focus people on the positive differentiators in Auburn, which can help us stand out as a preferred location. The stronger and more defined our reputation, the more people will want to live, work, and play here.
Are a brand and a logo different?
A brand is not a logo or a tagline. A brand is a set of ideas and images (such as a logo) that set an expectation of what our community is about. Our brand is our unique story.
Can you share some examples of community branding?
You can see numerous examples of community branding on the website of North Star Place Branding + Marketing. This agency is Auburn’s branding partner.
Why do we do research?
People have opinions about Auburn. We want to hear them all. And the only way to do that is to gather lots of data about the community. That data then becomes the primary driver for uncovering Auburn’s brand. A statistically significant body of quantitative and qualitative research ensures the brand represents the perceptions of all audiences inside and outside the community.
SHARE YOUR STORIES
& GET INVOLVED
At the heart of Auburn are the stories of the people who spend their time here. And we want to hear them all. Did you start a business or a family here? Buy your first house or car? Please share the details. What does your church mean to you? Did your kids learn to ride a bike in the park? Where do you go to have fun with your friends? What is your favorite memory?
If pictures are your preferred way to tell your story, post a picture of you, your family, and friends at a favorite Auburn hangout. Post both stories and pictures on Instagram, Facebook, or X (Twitter) with #TheAuthenticAuburn. The best pictures might even be used in a social media campaign associated with the roll-out of the new brand!
If you have a passion to help with this process, sign up to become an Auburn Ambassador below. Ambassadors are kept updated on the project and given the tools to spread the good word about Auburn within their own personal spheres of influence.