To help make the city of Minneapolis stand out to tourists and convention planners, it's being rebranded as a 'City by Nature.'
Meet Minneapolis introduced the tagline at an Oct. 27 press conference in the IDS Center's Crystal Court in downtown Minneapolis.
Melvin Tennant, who is the CEO and president for Meet Minneapolis, a nonprofit organization that promotes the city (and is also a sponsor of The Line), says that the rebranding came about because “We need better positioning for the city and more consistent messaging to visitors.”
The tagline is accompanied by a broader brand position, ‘Metropolitan by Nature,’ along with a logo that depicts the city with a silhouette of skyscrapers and trees reflected on water.
Each aspect of the plan is deeply rooted in research that began in early 2011, he says.
When researchers gathered feedback about the city, they found that adjectives such as “friendly, beautiful, and down-to-earth,” often came up, he says.
Those are attributes that the marketing strategy will help the city to build on, he explains.
As it is, too few people see the city as a vacation destination, Mayor R.T. Rybak adds.
In a survey of top cities to visit, Minneapolis was under the radar for those who’d never been to the area, he says. But for people who had spent some quality time in the city, it shot near the top. “To know us is to love us,” Rybak concludes.
It’s a big deal, considering that 18 million visitors who arrive to the area every year spend $6 billion annually, he says.
The press event also kicked off a social-media-type “virtual destination tour” around town.
Using their smartphones, people can scan QR codes in and around such local landmarks as the
IDS Center,
Minneapolis Convention Center,
Stone Arch Bridge,
Guthrie Theater and
Target Field, for informative videos and links, according to Meet Minneapolis information.
Source: R.T. Rybak, Minneapolis mayor, and Melvin Tennant, Meet Minneapolis president and CEO
Writer: Anna Pratt