Historic Manassas
Challenge
Downtown Manassas was reaching a point in its growth that many downtowns often face: a plateau where it could fall back into complacency or forward into alienating businesses and residents. Recognizing this, Historic Manassas, Inc. asked us to help them move to the next positive stage of their growth in a strategic way.
Solution
Upon the beginning of our relationship, we focused on two things: 1. Strengthening their communications committee, aligning talents with projects. This increased committee enthusiasm and overall effectiveness. 2. Formalized their sponsorship outreach with clearly defined visibility packages and marketing program. As sponsorships started to increase and the communications committee worked actively toward goals, we expanded our focus to create a strategic marketing plan. This comprehensive plan, designed for one year, outlined the following: • Research standards and practices • SWOT analysis of the destination • The “Vision for Downtown” (our guiding principles) • Objectives & Tactics • Program of Work, which outlines the platforms, schedules, and metrics to drive promotions and events. This program also delineated Class A, Class B, and monthly events, giving each its own promotional schedule. • Merchant Participation, which expanded our capabilities. • Budget, broken down by agency vs. internal workloads. Finally, we turned our attention to the Historic Manassas brand as a whole: its strengths and its unique personality. Since its inception, Historic Manassas’ logo was a single-color representation of the downtown train station that, while historically significant, lacked excitement and didn’t accurately tell the story of Old Town Manassas. Our new vision for the Historic Manassas brand included an illustration of the central block of Main Street, which displays the diverse architecture and creates a greater sense of pride among Manassas businesses and residents. The creative direction for the logo, palette, and collateral combined modern sensibilities with the Americana that’s made them an attraction for generations.
Results
Today, Historic Manassas looks quite different than it did twenty years ago. Businesses thrive, visitors come from a farther radius, but their core brand – their culture and history – remains a centerpiece of their brand and is married to the wants of the modern visitor.
Imagine
We’re a tourism marketing agency whose passion is in helping communities grow through authentic, powerful promotion. By having a deep focus on destination marketing, we know more and can do more than a generalist agency. Doctors fight disease. Lawyers fight injustice. We fight ugly.
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