Community asked to help in ‘branding’ process

MONTROSE  — Area residents have until Friday to supply their input into Montrose’s “branding” process through a community survey.

The Montrose Visitors & Convention Bureau has been researching for several years how to properly market Montrose and establish a logo and strapline (tag line) that will set the area apart from its competitors vying for the same visitors.

Last year, about 1,400 surveys were collected from visitors on what they thought of the area. The new survey asks locals.

“We wanted to get an idea of what the community is saying,” said Jenni Sopsic, executive director for the VCB.

North Star Destinations Strategies, a firm that brands communities, was hired in April to finish the branding project.

The survey takes only a few minutes and is available online at www.visitmontrose.net or on the Montrose Chamber of Commerce Web site at www.montrosechamber.com until Friday.

As of Thursday, only 42 surveys were completed. Sopsic hopes that number will reach into the hundreds.

Though the survey ends, the branding isn’t expected to be complete until the end of the year.

Sopsic, who just started her position in January, said she looked at North Star because of its exclusive work on branding. She then sent the firm “tons” of information on Montrose from past market materials to visitor guides. She also sent the information obtained through the previous survey conducted by RRC Associates out of Boulder.

North Star then spent time in Montrose, conducting interviews with area locals including city council members and museum employees, along with “undercover” interviews.

North Star subsequently went on an extensive tour of the area’s attractions, downtown and facilities, Sopsic said. The tour ended at Main in Motion.

Along with tours and interviews, a focus group with the VCB board has been established.

This work, Sopsic said, is so North Star can present the VCB with “undeniable truths” and a “brand promise” that Montrose can deliver well.

Sopsic said that Montrose has had a strapline in the past — Hub of the Western Wonderland — but the VCB is looking for something that makes Montrose different from its competitors.

The whole project is expected to wrap up by the end of the year with a brand and logo to be used in 2009. Sopsic said others within the community are welcome and encouraged to use the new label.

“The whole idea was brought about to increase tourism in Montrose, but it doesn’t need to stop there,” she said. “If we are all saying the same thing, the more effective we can be.”

Contact Kati O’Hare via e-mail at katio@montrosepress.com