Creating a Community Brand (Strategy)

Listen to our featured Ask Those Branding Guys radio show podcast: Ralph L.Mims and Branding Village of Los Lunas

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™. On our radio show Ask Those Branding Guys, we discussed the importance of a strong, unified community brand.

Joining us on the show was Ralph L. Mims, Economic Development Manager for the Village of Los Lunas, New Mexico. Los Lunas is located 20 miles south of Albuquerque and has been cultivating their community brand over the past two years.

The Brand is leveraged to attract retail establishments and home-based workers to the area. The Los Lunas tagline is Small Community, Big Possibilities denotes the rural nature of the town yet its ability to get things done to enhance the quality of life and business opportunities for residents. Mims also employs the sub-brand, A Community That Works, for purposes of promoting the village at retailer expos and trade shows as well as on the Los Lunas website.

Mims shared that social media is used extensively to communicate the message of the Los Lunas brand.  They have developed an outbound social media matrix based on the four pillars of the community brand; Live, Work, Stay and Play.  The next step is to engage the community and involve residents in spreading a positive message about Los Lunas using hashtags related to each pillar.

Mims encourages any community in the process of developing a brand to invest the resources into determining the needs of residents through surveying topics such as the type or retail establishments desired or community assets that would enhance quality of life.

Los Lunas continues to face the challenge of creating awareness of the village outside of New Mexico. Mims is using the brand to their advantage and is achieving results in the form of new retailers now located in the area.

Enjoy the show.

Once a Day Marketing™ positions brands to become #1 in the minds of target customers. Visit our website at www.onceadaymarketing.com. Contact James Glover at (505) 501-1330 or email glover@onceadaymarketing.com. Listen to Ask Those Branding Guys™ every Monday at 11:00am (MDT) streaming live on SantaFe.com KVSF 101.5 FM.

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