City Council

Minutes of Joint Session of Council of Ogden City, Utah, February 4, 2016 Page Minutes of the Joint Work Session of the Ogden City Council and Ogden School District Board held on Thursday, February 4, 2016 at 5:30 p.m., in the Ogden School District, Building #1, Administration, Board Room located at 1950 Monroe Boulevard, Ogden, Weber County, Utah. Present: Acting Chair Bart E. Blair Council members Neil K. Garner Richard A. Hyer Luis Lopez Doug Stephens Council Deputy Director Janene Eller-Smith Communications Manager Amy Sue Mabey School Board President Jeff Heiner Vice President Jennifer Zundel Board Members Douglas Barker Don Belnap Shane Story Susan Richards Joyce Wilson Ogden School District Superintendent Sandy Coroles Business Administrator Zane Woolstenhulme Assistant Superintendent Brenda Ruffier Executive Assistant Annette Hancock Director – Support Services Ken Crawford Public Information Officer Zac Williams Excused: Council Chair Marcia L. White Also present: Mayor Michael P. Caldwell Chief Administrative Officer Mark Johnson Marketing and Communication Manager Cami Orr Deputy City Recorder Julia LaSeure The purpose of the Joint Work Session was to tour Ogden School District’s new elementary school located at approximately 2150 Madison, and to discuss the City’s branding efforts and Council business. Tour of New Bridge Elementary School A tour took place at New Bridge Elementary School located at approximately 2150 Madison Avenue. Ogden City’s Rebranding Efforts Acting Chair Blair reported the Ogden City Mayor and Council are working on a joint branding initiative for Ogden City. The City is working with Roger Brooks International, a world leader in community branding, to facilitate this process. Rebranding is more than just a logo and this project includes the development of a strategic vision and a longstanding marketing approach that will highlight Ogden’s unique characteristics and help shape the future of the community. A website, www.ogdenbrand.ogdencity.com has been created to allow people to take a branding survey online. He stated there are currently over 1,200 responses. Acting Chair Blair asked the School Board members to take the survey and encourage as many people as possible to take it as well. He introduced Council Communications Manager Mabey and Marketing and Communication Manager Cami Orr to provide the Board more detailed information about the branding initiative. Ms. Mabey and Ms. Orr made a PowerPoint presentation which indicated that brand identity reflects long-term goals. It is not just a logo or project, the brand promotes intrinsic feelings and is part of a comprehensive strategy. Ms. Mabey showed a short video clip summarizing the work to be performed by Roger Brooks International. She reviewed the community assessment process, which includes secret shopping in Ogden, a review of community marketing materials and community assets, group interviews, the online survey, and community engagement. The Brand Development Project is based on the following 13-step process: 1. Create a brand development team 2. Educate locals on what a brand is and conduct an inventory of assets  4. Identify the markets and who the consultant is hoping to attract 5. Filtering process and feasibility test 6. Create the Brand Leadership Team 7. Develop the Brand Bank 8. Write the Brand Promise 9. Create the look and feel of the brand 10. Develop an Action Plan 11. Make something happen 12. Keep the energy high 13. Tell the world 14. Revisit the plan Ms. Mabey noted step 13 is very important because the worst thing that could happen would be to place the plan on a shelf and allow it to gather dust. She thanked the Council and School Board for their attention to this matter and indicated she is willing to answer questions about the initiative. Board President Heiner asked whether Ogden City has gone through a rebranding process in the past. Ms. Mabey answered no. She explained the City’s logo has changed several times over the years and there were some efforts to change the image of the City based upon a high adventure focus, but the City has not gone through this type of rebranding process. Mayor Caldwell added that just before the 2000 Winter Olympics, the City introduced the “It’s All Within Reach” slogan and campaign, but there was not much community buy-in at that time. He stated City Administration feels that based upon the past decade of outdoor and high adventure focus, and specifically the recent economic rebound, there is an opportunity to work with other entities in the community and lead out on a rebranding effort. Board member Wilson asked if other cities in Utah have undergone a similar rebranding initiative. Ms. Mabey replied it is a very extensive process and she is not aware of another city that has done something similar. Board member Wilson stated it is a very exciting project. Council member Hyer added that the City received several responses to the request for proposals (RFP) for the rebranding initiative, but of the field of the five finalists chosen for interviews, Roger Brooks International stood out because of the projects they have worked on in the past and the regional flavor of those projects. He stated he is hopeful there will be a regional flavor to this project as well and he believes several other entities, such as the School District, will benefit. Ms. Orr agreed and noted there are many entities in the community that have been going in different directions relative to branding over the past ten years and now is a great time to push all those entities in the same direction of developing a single identity. There was discussion regarding some of the preliminary work Roger Brooks International has done so far. Ms. Orr emphasized that Mr. Brooks makes great efforts to ‘drill down’ into the problems of the area in order to redirect the image and brand of the City. She encouraged Board members to visit Mr. Brooks’ website to view some of the case studies available for other communities which he has worked with prior to being in Ogden. Ms. Mabey added that the City will also share survey data with the School Board to keep them apprised of the status of the initiative. Board member Wilson asked if there is a definitive timeline for the rebranding project. Ms. Mabey answered no and indicated that once Mr. Brooks’ work is complete it can take a significant amount of time to implement some of the recommendations that will result in the ultimate rebranding of the community. Mayor Caldwell agreed and noted it will be necessary to identify funding sources to implement those recommendations and it will likely not be possible to fund all recommendations at one time. He reported there are 39 logos currently in circulation in the City and it will take time to correct that and develop one uniform brand and image for the City and the community at large. Ms. Orr added that the rebranding initiative will impact many future generations of Ogden residents. Council Business Ms. Mabey reported Council staff appreciates the School District’s partnership on the Idle-Free Week campaign and mentioned that many of the local elementary schools are participating in promoting the campaign. She presented a short marketing video promoting Idle-Free Week. Vice Chair Blair presented the Board members with bottled water from Ogden City’s filter plant. He explained the City’s water was recently tested and received a very high rating. Council member Hyer stated that 150 is considered a good score, but the lower the score – the better, and Ogden’s water received a score of -10, which is essentially a perfect score. President Heiner reported he has three siblings that live on the east coast and they have recently commented about the great things they have heard about Ogden. He mentioned there are so many great things happening and he complimented the Mayor, Council, and City staff for all their efforts and acknowledged that those efforts are paying off for the entire community. He feels the perception of Ogden is changing, even for those outside the area. He thanked everyone for their attendance this evening. The meeting adjourned at 6:45 p.m. /s/ Julia M. LaSeure JULIA M. LASEURE, MMC DEPUTY CITY RECORDER /s/ Bart E. Blair BART E. BLAIR, ACTING CHAIR APPROVED: March 22, 2016