‘The extra mile’
Owatonna residents, it’s time to stop being so humble about the place you call home.
As officials begin to roll out the city’s new brand and tagline–“Owatonna, where the extra mile takes you”–consultants said last week that outsiders appear to have a higher opinion of the city than the people who live here.
North Star Place Branding & Marketing has been working since November 2022 to develop a brand for the community. The Owatonna Area Chamber of Commerce & Tourism (OACCT) spearheaded the effort, with stakeholders including Mayo Clinic, Tri M Graphics, US Bank, Federated Insurance, Culligan Ultrapure, and ReMax.
Sam Preston, representing North Star, rolled out the new logo and tagline during the Oct. 17 city council meeting. In addition, he said, consultants presented the stakeholder group with 25 action items “to bring this brand to life.”
Research has included querying both residents and about 300 “outsiders” from around the Twin Cities and Mankato-Rochester area.
Top themes that came up for residents included hometown pride, safe and family friendly, and philanthropic and generous nature. Residents said the community’s greatest asset–far and away, Preston said–is the Steele County Free Fair, followed by the location, parks and trails, and homegrown employers.
Owatonna ranked well with outsiders who were asked to compare the community with Albert Lea, Northfield, and Faribault, coming in first in diverse local economy with plenty of job and career opportunities and following only Northfield in best places to raise a family and to start a business.
About 65% of those surveyed did not know that Owatonna hosts the biggest county fair in Minnesota each year, “an opportunity to promote and… let people know that this is the biggest draw,” Preston said.
Outsiders described the community as “safe for families, convenient location, great parks, charming downtown, and also it’s a pass-through community,” he said. They also feel there’s a lot of local pride in the community.
Visitors surveyed also ranked the city’s attributes–everything from overall quality of life and public safety to schools and the arts and culture scene–higher than residents did. When asked whether they would recommend Owatonna as a place to visit or do business, about a quarter of residents said they would not.
While the community has promoters, Preston said, “you’ve got a huge chunk of people who are passives…they’re very swayable, and we want them to be promoters.”
A very common theme, he said, was that while people love where they live, “they are maybe humble to a fault. We’re just a little too humble.”
“That was surprising, because on our site visit, everybody told us how wonderful it was,” he added.
“One of the things that really came out is we are so humble, we are terrible promoters of ourselves,” said council president Greg Schultz, who was involved in the branding process. “We’re not telling people our story, so they don’t know it.”
The new icon reflects some of the architecture in the city, especially the Wells Fargo Bank downtown, with a “bean pod” shape at the center. And the tagline brings together residents’ perception that Owatonna is in the center of everything, close to the Twin Cities, and the idea that outsiders feel the city is too far away.
“We wanted to challenge them, but also give them a little bit of the promise… for when they do go the extra mile, Owatonna is here to greet them,” Preston said. “This is just a place where people go the extra mile, and it’s obvious.”
The stakeholder group has raised $675,000 toward marketing the new brand over a period of three years; Federated committed $100,000 annually during that time. City of Owatonna officials have also pledged $25,000 to the effort.
Preston presented some ideas for implementing the new brand in advertising and marketing, vehicle wraps, economic development materials, stationery, swag for residents, gateway signs–and even manhole covers.
Logos with the same theme also have been developed for the Chamber, Owatonna Partners for Economic Development, Main Street Owatonna, and Visit Owatonna. Council members officially approved the city’s version during their meeting.
Preston said next steps include education, discussion about what the new brand means, and “gradual rollout for maximum economy.” When items with the city’s old logo are replaced, new ones will carry the new theme.
Communications manager Deanna Sheely said there will be many conversations about how the dollars contributed toward implementation will be spent “to give this brand legs to run.”