MANSFIELD — Sandy Messner didn’t hesitate Thursday when asked how local officials could tell if a Richland County branding campaign was performing successfully.
“Brand adoption,” said the marketing and communications director for the Richland Area Chamber & Economic Development.
“We are seeing the brand pop up on its own, unprompted. That’s been the most exciting thing.”
Messner was one of the branding campaign drivers who met with county commissioners on Thursday, discussing a campaign that officially began about a year ago.
“The City of Mansfield completely redid their website around (the branding) and we knew nothing about it until a couple months before they were ready to hit go. We were like, ‘You did what? Really? That’s awesome,'” Messner said.
Lee Tasseff, president of Destination Mansfield-Richland County, pointed to a recently completed countywide housing study that leaned heavily on the branding campaign.
“When the housing study was published, it was ‘all in.’ That floored me, as well as the website for Mansfield. They took it to heart,” Tasseff said.
It’s an effort that began in 2019, with ideas initially found in the Mansfield Rising downtown investment plan, a citizen-led effort that has been the blueprint for local improvements since its inception.
As organizers began work on the plan, it became clear the branding campaign needed to encompass far more than just downtown Mansfield. It became a true countywide effort, including all cities, villages and rural locations.
The goal was to produce a brand that reflects the entire county and allow it to speak with one voice.
Updated Richland County branding
The $100,000 effort gained financial support from the Richland County Foundation, Destination Mansfield-Richland County, Richland Area Chamber & RCDG, City of Mansfield, Mechanics Bank, OhioHealth, Park National Bank, Richland County Commissioners, and Richland Source.
Organizers selected Medium Giant, an agency with offices in Texas and Oklahoma, to assist with the development of the plan, which was officially rolled out in the spring of 2022.
The local effort includes a website, BrandRichland.com, that offers local residents, organizations and government entities the tools needed to incorporate the branding into their own projects and events.
The next step, local officials said, is pushing that availability message out to remaining government partners and then to other organizations.
For example, a quick check of websites Thursday for the Ontario 4th of July Festival, Shelby Bicycle Days and Lexington Blueberry Festival didn’t have any of the branding connections.
“In the marketing guide, we said we would start with our government partners. So that’s kind of where we’re kind of finishing our tour. We do need to get to Butler and Shiloh and Lucas still, but we’ve talked with everyone else,” said Jodie Perry, chief operating officer of the Richland Area Chamber & Economic Development.
“But then, we want to hit beyond that to people that can use it. We haven’t prompted it, but hopefully, as we’re kind of doing this more publicly, they will realize they can use it,” Perry said.
Tasseff said, “We have talked about what our next targets are. This is all top-line stuff and we’re going to work our way through that list.”
The trio admitted continuing to grow the branding campaign will require additional funds.
“I will say the City of Mansfield has already allocated $200,000 from their (American Rescue Plan Act) funds to help with projects. We have not tapped that at this point.
“The chamber received a grant from the Richland County Foundation last year. That’s what paid for (the) BrandRichland (website).
“We kind of have extensively jumpstarted with this budget. But when we’re talking about projects, videos, things, assets, campaigns, we’re gonna need some money for that,” Perry said.
Also on Tuesday, commissioners approved a request from Richland County Children Services to put the renewal of a 10-year, 1-mill property tax on the Nov. 7 ballot.
The tax generates about $2.3 million annually for the public child welfare agency.
The levy also allows the child protective service agency to “pull down” federal funding, according to agency Finance Director Kevin Goshe, meaning the loss of the levy would mean the loss of those dollars.
As a renewal, the levy will not cost local property owners any additional taxes. The levy was first approved in 1984, Goshe said, and is due to expire at the end of 2024.
