In June 2022, the Rockville Mayor and Council awarded the city branding initiative contract to the marketing firm Medium Giant to serve as a branding consultant to develop a new citywide brand. Since then, a team from the Public Information Office and from Medium Giant worked together to come up with two viable options for the city’s new brand. Staff recommends that the Mayor and Council approve one of the branding concept/systems presented by the marketing/branding consultant Medium Giant to be adopted as the city’s official brand. The process of developing the final two branding concepts was done in four phases:
Phase One: Discovery – The PIO Team met with Medium Giant to lay a foundation of expectations and understanding of what the city brand should be.
Phase Two: Audit + Strategy – Medium Giant conducted research and audits that included focus groups (city staff, business owners, residents, and the Mayor and Council), as well as an in-market visit. Medium Giant analyzed the data and developed a marketing strategy to build several branding options.
Phase Three: Strategy Presentation – The Medium Giant team provided a brand strategy that includes the city brand position, essence, and promise, which will be used to create Rockville’s new brand identity. The foundation of the strategy is based on “dynamic diversity” and is aspirational.
Phase Four: Creative Concepts – With the approval of the overarching strategy, Medium Giant developed several creative campaign concepts that brought the strategy to life. Ultimately, two creative concepts were chosen and were developed into branding concepts/systems that are to be presented to the Mayor and Council, who will vote on one concept/system as the city’s official brand.
The final two options embrace the city’s core values (diversity, equity, and inclusion) and can enhance Rockville’s general perception and ideally connect residents to city government, highlight high-quality city services, and position Rockville as a desirable place to live, work, visit, and do business.
Featured photo shows two possibilities looked at for possible rebranding. All information comes from the Rockville Mayor and City Council meeting agenda, where additional information can be found.