Raleigh's New Clothes
-- Tradeshow Week, 7/28/2008
Raleigh, N.C., now has a new look and new Web site to go along with its new convention center opening in September.
“We have spent the past 15 months working with our board, brand strategy task force, hospitality partners, branding and advertising agencies, and many other stakeholders to create a positive image which reflects that Greater Raleigh is at the heart of the new Southeast,” said Denny Edwards, president and CEO of the Greater Raleigh Convention & Visitors Bureau.
The GRCVB launched the new Web site, www.VisitRaleigh.com, which mirrors the new logo, and allows visitors to book hotel rooms through a partnership with online travel agent Travelocity, according to CVB officials.
To develop the new brand, the CVB surveyed more than 500 potential travelers and conducted 130 individual and group interviews of the members of the Wake County hospitality industry. The CVB invited Wake County residents to participate through an interactive Web site.
According to the CVB, the new brand was crafted using four attributes: dynamic, smart, unexpected and celebratory.
“This is an exciting time, not only for our organization but also Wake County as a whole,” Edwards said. “Our new destination brand, and everything it touches from the logo, Web site, collateral materials, tradeshow booths and targeted ads, is a product of a great strategy.”
He added that the brand identity also provides an opportunity for consistent, clear and compelling marketing campaigns throughout all of the bureau's target markets: leisure, group, meeting, and conventions and sports.
“The goal of developing our new brand is for it to become not only the GRCVB's new brand but for it to become a community brand,” Edwards said. “Although the research targeted toward the visitor market, we hope that businesses throughout the Wake County can embrace the brand's attributes and use them in promoting their services for a consistent message.”
