Marketing Campaign & Strategy

Create a marketing campaign and strategy for Lake City that would help multiple entities tell the story of Lake City in ordinary language and purpose. Lake City, Minnesota, is a beautiful lakeside community on the banks of Lake Pepin on the Mississippi River, about an hour south of the twin cities. Famous for its year-round outdoor recreation, Lake City is a popular vacation spot and is known as the Birthplace of Waterskiing.

The goal was to help draw new businesses and residents to Lake City to strengthen the local economy and bring workers to Lake City for local employers.

After thorough research — including over twenty on-site interviews with a variety of community stakeholders and residents — we developed a refined set of target audiences, positioning statements, and messaging for the campaign.

Additionally, we created a visual identity for the city — one that could be adopted by and customized for several city departments and civic groups. Lake City has been around for more than 150 years, and this would be the first “brand” for them; our goal was to make an iconic and durable brand that looked familiar to the town’s residents — almost as if it had always been there. With this mindset, we created a geometric “block” logo with a timeless quality that can be put with several color combinations and works well as a “frame” for images when used in the community. We extended the brand for use with the city, the Economic Development Authority, and the Chamber of Commerce.