MANSFIELD — The Cubicans are coming to Richland County.
Employees from Cubic Creative, the Tulsa, Okla.-based company hired to work on a branding campaign for Mansfield and Richland County, will be here in a couple of weeks to “immerse” themselves in the county.
That was one of the messages Jodie Perry, president & CEO of Richland Area Chamber & Economic Development, delivered to Richland County commissioners on Tuesday morning.
Perry said the Cubic representatives will tour assets in the county, conduct six focus groups and then participate in a large group meeting on March 26, an interactive event that will be open to the public.
Cubic specializes in community, placed-based branding, according to Perry.
Commissioners agreed in December to contribute up to $2,500 toward a $100,000 community branding effort, a key messaging and development idea found in the Mansfield Rising plan.
The effort has various public and private funding sources, including the chamber, Destination Mansfield and the Richland County Foundation.
Perry said the large group session will be similar to one conducted when the Mansfield Rising plan was being developed. She said a location and time for the event was still being decided.
“I think the success of that was we took the time to get peoples’ input and made people feel a part of it,” Perry said.
In the interim, Perry asked the county residents to help provide input to Cubic by completing an online survey that takes five to 10 minutes. She said nearly 2,000 residents have completed the survey and organizers are hoping for 2,500 by the time the survey concludes March 13.
Perry said the final result should be ready to roll out for public and private use this fall.
“If we do the job right, the brand should reflect the (entire county). It should help us speak with one voice,” she said.
Though the work toward the campaign began about a year ago, Perry said it’s the results of collaborative work done for the past several years in the community.
“The thing that gives me the most optimism about it is we’re all working together already,” she said. “There are lot of years of work that have gotten everyone on the same page. Now, we’re ready for this. We’re trusting some smart people that can help walk us through it.”
Commissioner Tony Vero praised the effort.
“We have 121,000 people in Richland County and a $105,000 branding effort. You don’t see counties of our size often have a branding campaign of this scope. It’s a really big deal,” he said.
Commissioner Marilyn John said she hopes the branding effort will improve local residents’ view of their hometowns.
“I hope one result of the branding is showing residents what an amazing place we live in and how blessed we are. Yes, there are issues that must be dealt with. That (exists) in every community. Every community has challenges,” John said.
Perry said, “There is no perfect community, but this is a pretty good one.”
