Community Branding: Glendale, CA Case Study

When research indicates that outsiders think of you as a "vanilla" bedroom community, arriving at a memorable brand identity can be a rocky road. Especially when you're located smack dab in the middle of cities as savory as the rest of the 31 flavors combined.

Consider the case of Glendale, California (Click here for full case study), with a solid reputation as a quiet, productive, safe community. Glendale’s location in the midst of Los Angeles, Pasadena and Burbank made it a “spot in-between” in many people’s minds.

“Glendale is located in the heart of the most competitive region in the nation,” explained Don McEachern, CEO of North Star. “In the context of all that glitz and glam; quiet, safe and productive can translate into boring. Glendale is a really dynamic and creative city but it’s not promoted that way. Being safe in Glendale is good,” he emphasized. “Playing it safe is not.”

Learn how leadership kept the brand on track despite a legacy for playing it safe

The key was not to try and make Glendale cooler than its competition, but to identify what is special about the city and then find a provocative hook to leverage that essence for the purposes of economic development. Research revealed that Glendale’s essence is the confluence of dynamic characters and personalities that brings each of the city’s 33 neighborhoods and six business districts to life in a wholly distinct way. The hook is Glendale’s animation industry including being home to the creative campuses of the world-famous DreamWorks Animation and Disney Imagineering.

North Star Destination Strategies connected the dots between the two with a strategy based on the fusion of imagination and vision that makes life more animated. The line, "Your Life. Animated" can be customized by local businesses and industries such as the famous Porto's bakery using "Your Appetite. Animated". The logo, which features five brightly colored graphic spirals can be animated for digital use and manipulated with relevant images in the spirals such as fruits and vegetables for the farmer's market or different brands of high-end cars from the Brand Boulevard of Cars. See an in-depth exploration of the logo and line.

A strategic action plan was developed to integrate the brand throughout Glendale. A sampling of ideas:

• Create an animated presence at the Bob Hope Airport where just walking by can animate the logo with motion.

• Engage city employees in the brand with a simple quiz that identifies their "animation quotient" while promoting assets in the city that can up their score.

• Rework existing entryway signage with brand elements.