Tigard Brand Audit and Marketing Strategy - 09/10/2013 PIJRA
marketing
MARKETING SCRUBTM
Brand Audit and Marketing Strategy
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Prepared for
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TIGARD
THE CITY OF TIGARD
Assessment and Recommendations
for Marketing
September 10, 2013
Created by and copyright 0 2013 PURA Marketing.
Contents
Overview 2
Insights from City of Tigard Download 3
The Competition 6
Conversations 20
Competitive Opportunities 23
Social Media Snapshot 25
Things You Are Doing Right 27
Things You Could Do Better 28
Things You Should Do Immediately 30
Further Recommendations 31
The 9 %z Unbreakable Rules and Your Score 33
Final Thoughts 35
Appendix I : City Slogans and Websites 36
Appendix II: SAT Scores for Portland Metro 37
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Scrub Overview
An assessment of current marketing vehicles for City of Tigard was conducted from July 16—
September 9, 2013. The process included an evaluation of all Tigard's current marketing
communications, including its website, direct and e-mail, newsletters, and other printed
marketing materials, brand messaging, and social media presence.
It also involved some intelligence gathering of the competitive environment for the purpose of
seeing what promises are being made by competitors, what offerings they describe, and what
kind of brand and marketing they're already doing. This is critical in order to find a position and
voice that will help City of Tigard stand out as a desirable place to locate a business, reside, or
just visit.
Our approach to evaluation of your overall marketing presence and message was to assume the
role of a person seeking information about Tigard, with a view to possibly moving here; what
would her/his impressions be?
Finally, we have made a list of recommended actions you can take for Tigard to improve its
."N marketing. These recommendations are just that and are, for the most part, mutually
independent—you can do some and not all. This is not intended to substitute for a
comprehensive re-branding or marketing plan, but it is designed to get you thinking about
methodical steps you can take to move there.
Like the scrub before surgery, this is a prep for your building a marketing plan.
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Insights from City of Tigard Face-to-Face
On July 16 we met with a committee of stakeholders in the branding of Tigard. Participating
were:
Marty Wine— City Manager
Liz Newton —Assistant City Manager
Kenny Asher— Director of Community Development
Dennis Koellermeier— Public Works Director
Helen Kerstiens-Marvin —Graphic Services Supervisor
Debi Mollahan - CEO, Tigard Chamber of Commerce
Jason Rogers— Planning Commission member, Mayor's Blue Ribbon Task Force member
Mike Stevenson — B&B Print Source, Mayor's Blue Ribbon Task Force member
During the meeting the following issues were discussed in relation to the brand position of
Tigard.
No "there" there
There is a sense that Tigard doesn't seem to have a strong sense of place. This is evidenced
anecdotally by the tendency of businesses to list Portland or Beaverton as their business
addresses. In another anecdote, when Washington Square Mall (the largest and most successful
mall in Oregon) hosted the grand opening of their new wing a few years back, they invited the
mayor of Beaverton to preside. Another is how people refer to the library as "the library in
Tigard" instead of the "Tigard Library."
The members of the input committee also seemed to feel that the borders of what actually
constituted Tigard were fuzzy in the community's perception. Its edges are blurred. This internal
impression was born out by our interviews with business owners in and around Tigard, who all
had only the vaguest sense of Tigard as a place. One said he liked having his business in Tigard
because the city has such a light touch, and that, mostly "it's not Portland."
Add to this the diffuse civic presence of Tigard since we don't even control our own fire
department or school district and on is left with the impression that its footprint is so light as to
be floating a few feet above the ground.
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"If I only had a heart."
Tigard has no town square. While there is a Main Street (and Washington Square) the group also
pointed out that Tigard has no easily identifiable, central meeting point (e.g like a Pioneer
Courthouse Square for Portland, or a Lake View Village for Lake Oswego).
Moreover, it was noted, there were no "pub" or "café" districts such as exist all over North and
East Portland neighborhoods for people to meet. There are no walkable, sociable streets like
Albina, Mississippi, Hawthorne, Multnomah Village, NW 23rd, etc.
Aesthetically dated
A few in the group noted that, aside from some of the new civic buildings, Tigard's architecture is
aesthetically dated, its most recent, notable addition being the Lincoln Center complex erected a
quarter century ago, while the newest civic structure is the Tigard Library.
Residents seem willing to tax themselves for a nicer town
Based on the passage of several bonds and initiatives over the past few elections cycles, residents
of Tigard do seem willing to invest in things like libraries, parks, reservoirs, and other
infrastructure improvements. And while the growth of the town in the past decade has not been
as explosive as it's been in previous decades, people are still moving here at a rate that exceeds
Portland metro (13.1% over the past 10 years vs. Portland's 10.3% and slightly higher than the
national average of 9.7%—U.S. Census Bureau).
The committee felt that people actually seem content in Tigard, and pleased to live here.
Tigard is not 99W
Unfortunately, it was pointed out, the seemingly perpetual "parking lot" that is 99W is identified
as the single notable feature of Tigard by people moving through it and is frequently described as
�► a commercial blight, even though the city has no control over the signage on that highway within
its own limits.
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However, with people driving to the southern coast or the Wine Country from Portland, Tigard
stands as the gateway (just get off at the Fantasy Adult Video exit on 1-5), and 99W is the
necessary evil one has to endure to get there.
Close to everything
Geographically, Tigard is ideally positioned to access all of west and south Portland metro, from
Hillsboro to Wilsonville. It is close to a lot of high tech, manufacturing, and consumer products
industries. So job opportunities abound without having to go to or through Portland. It is also
close to Oregon's largest and one of the nation's most successful malls, Washington Square.
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Reason to come
Both Liz and Mike voiced the strong opinion that Tigard should have a reason for people to come
here; that it should be known for something. It is already known as a way-through to other
destinations, so there may be other reasons to come here specifically.
Incomplete neighborhoods
Neighborhoods are ill defined (see contrast with "No Town Square" observation above).
However, there are a broad spectrum of home options, from quite well-to-do to more affordable,
smaller homes, down to multi-family living.
Green space and parks
Tigard can be proud of its many green spaces, built around creeks and rivers (Fanno, Tualatin). It
boasts one of the larger and most natural city parks of all of the satellite cities around Portland in
Cook Park (connected to Durham Park and now by bridge to Tualatin Community Park). Parks like
Cook, Summer Lake and the Fanno Creek Trail complex offer long, beautiful nature trails with
views of exotic wildlife (including bald eagles and great blue herons). If you include the Tualatin
Wildlife Reserve just south of the city, and canoeing on the Tualatin River, Tigard can be regarded
as a nature-lover's Disneyland.
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Passive motto
The current motto of Tigard is "A Place to Call Home." Two members of the committee claimed
not to have remembered that without aid. Some seemed to feel that while it was nice, it wasn't
very strong as a vivid reason for people to remember Tigard, or to move a business here. One
pointed out that any bedroom community in America could use the motto.
School district confusion
The fact that the school district is shared with Tualatin, and that some Tigard neighborhoods are
actually in the Beaverton School District does not work in Tigard's favor in attracting young
families to move here. This was an area we explored more in talking to realtors about Tigard,
under the Conversations section below.
Brand the place, not the services
There seemed to be overall agreement that the need is to brand Tigard as a place to live and
build a business, not for the government services per se. Good municipal services are considered
an ante when attracting business or residents. But the esteem of the place, the emotional
r1 impression it radiates, is far more important to property values and revenue.
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The Competition
Tigard's problem isn't that we have to attract residents and businesses from out of state;
Portland does that for us. Our competition is not other metropolitan areas, it is other location
choices within the Portland Metro area; satellite cities like Beaverton, Tualatin, Lake Oswego, or
Hillsboro, as well as neighborhoods within the City of Portland itself. So, unlike a major city,
Tigard doesn't have to worry about building a base of good jobs (Nike, Intel, Tektronix, for
examples, don't exist within the city limits of the cities they are close to). Someone could as easily
live in Tigard to work at Nike as in Beaverton or the Sunset district of Portland. The problem is to
get those people to prefer to live (and pay taxes) in Tigard.
^ We considered that our immediate competition for both attracting business investment and
residents was, obviously, all of the other cities and neighborhoods of the Portland Metro area
(including Vancouver). For the purposes of this Scrub, however—and to keep it
manageable—we've assumed that the audience we're talking to has already decided they want
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to move to the Southwest side of Portland.
In our analysis we played in the role of a family moving to Portland for a job and looking at the
various neighborhoods (easy since we were all in that role at some time in the past two decades).
We also assumed that we had a young family and that we were going to work at Nike, Tektronix,
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Intel or one of the high tech employers in Washington County. So Beaverton, West Slope, Lake
Oswego, Tualatin, Sherwood, Wilsonville and Hillsboro would be considered primary competition
for Tigard.
To a young family moving into the Portland area, there are a wide variety of neighborhoods and
towns available in the west and southwest, many with distinct characters, charm and specific
amenities.
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Hillsboro
OREGON
www.ci.hillsboro.or.us
On its homepage Hillsboro describe itself as a growing city with "agrarian roots." An
interesting positioning (don't we all have agrarian roots?). In spite of these earthy origins,
.-. Hillsboro is the host of several, global-level high tech industries, including Intel, Planar,
FEI, Epson, Yahoo, Oracle, AcuMed, and Solar World. During the last decade the city grew
at more than twice the rate of Tigard (30%to our 13%) and three times that of Portland.
The city has three major movie theater complexes (to Tigard's two); a new residential,
high-end shopping mall of the new Main Street type (like Bridgeport)—The Streets of
Tanasbourne; and scads of undeveloped farmland.
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However, for a growing city with such a highly educated population base, the high schools
seem comparatively lackluster, with an average SAT score rate of only 1481 and an
average of only 44% of graduating students college-bound (compared to THS's 1628
average score but only 37% college bound). If we were a family moving to the Portland
area from out of state, that factor might cause us to look for nearby school districts with
better stats.
Also, according to Zillow, in spite of this high-tech growth, its average home prices still lag
behind Tigard's ($233k vs our $288k) and even Beaverton ($264k).
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Hillsboro just went through a rebranding exercise itself, reportedly spending $73,000 on its
branding. However, the new branding is not yet in evidence on their website, which we have
heard from them that the new site is scheduled to launch in October. The website itself seems
quite utilitarian and confusing to navigate. Its sole function seems to be to access city services,
with nothing about the charm of the town.
Hillsboro's most famous event in the metro area is its annual air show, hosted at its airport every
July, though one can't find any reference to it on their website. Nor does the event itself seem to
acknowledge Hillsboro other than in a logo-salad on a sponsors' page. So one wonders how much
they are leveraging this huge event.
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Beaverton's tagline is "The Best of Oregon". Certainly boastful, though vague. It's also pretty
difficult for them to act on it in any tangible way; what is their criterion for "best?"
Geographically they are a good hub for the high tech industry growing along the Sunset corridor,
and not as far out from Portland as Hillsboro. They also sponsor some events at Griffith Park,
including their version of The Bite.
They have a fussy, multicolored logo that seems to be suggestive of either fireworks or an aquatic
plant. Their website is brightly colored but dull and messy, with nothing particularly attractive to
a visitor wanting to get an impression of Beaverton.
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In their "About Beaverton" page they describe their 100 parks comprising 1,000 acres, saying that
there is a park within a half mile of every home. They also speak of 30 miles of hiking trails (a
pretty good trick in only 1,000 acres...unless they're also counting sidewalks). The largest park in
Beaverton, the Tualatin Hills Nature Park, is 222 acres but has only a couple of miles of trails, and
has no views (a competitive opportunity we'll talk about below).
Though the site boasts high SAT scores, Beaverton schools, as attractors to new residents, are
also nothing remarkable in the Portland area, showing roughly the same SAT performance and
participation as Tualatin-Tigard, though a little higher than the national average.
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Zillow shows Beaverton also roughly equivalent to Tigard in real estate values ($264k to $288k)
and slightly higher than the Portland Metro area ($248k).
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Lake Oswego has a reputation beyond the Portland Metro area as being one of the tonier
suburban areas here. Certainly property values are some of the highest in the whole
metro region (average $423k to Tigard's $288). SAT scores and participation are the
highest in Portland (average 1727 with 75% college bound intent). People in California, for
instance, know that LO is one of the first places to look when moving here.
The city's website is very attractive and seems easy to navigate. It also prominently
features the primary issues of concern to residents on the homepage at the moment (this
week it's the upcoming closure of Lower Boone's Ferry Rd). So it feels dynamic and
interactive.
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The city has also done a good job of developing its downtown area (notably the Lake View
Village complex off A Ave). It has also has a very active public arts program, featuring local
artists' sculptures all over town.
LO has some nice nature parks, including Tryon Creek and George Rodgers, along the
Willamette. Ironically, while its most prominent and beautiful feature is the Lake, the
lakeshore has very limited public accessibility. You just have to know somebody with a
lakeshore house or boat slip to enjoy it.
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www.tualatinoregon.gov
Tualatin has done a good job positioning and marketing itself on its website. Like LO's the
site is attractive and seems to be putting the city forward as an attractive community to
live in. City services are there and easy to find, but the primary thrust is the beauty of the
town and its natural spaces.
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They've put together a little homemade video on their site
(www.tualatinoregon.gov/tualatintomorrow/tualatin-tomorrow-get-involved-video)
which purports to describe the vision that Tualatin has for its future. However, there's
nothing but banalities about how our children are our future, and, how, yes, we all need
to participate in dreaming what that future should be. Nothing tangible.
Tualatin's main attractors are the Bridgeport Mall, the Tualatin River, and the Tualatin
River National Wildlife Sanctuary, which, like its school district, it shares with Tigard. Their
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big event is the Crawfish Festival held at the Tualatin Community Park. They also have a
rather nice city center plaza, recently built around a small lake.
Zillow shows current property values slightly above Tigard's ($305k to our $288k) and
somewhat above Portland Metro ($248k).
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Our other good neighbor to the south is Sherwood. It is a faster growing community, its
011 commuters filling up 99W and 1-5. The city's website is simple, attractive and easy to navigate,
and done by the same company that seemingly does everyone else's site (including Lake Oswego,
Tualatin, West Linn, Oregon City, and Milwaukie).
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Like Beaverton and other communities features "Free Outdoor Movies" during the summer,
images of parks, nature, and plazas in the city and a six-year-old "Best Places to Live" award from
Money Magazine. Sherwood, like Tualatin and Lake Oswego, has also done a good job of sprucing
up their town center.
With its graphic images (including in its logo) of wildlife and nature, it seeks to position itself as
out close to nature. One of the attractors it is featuring is the development (just approved) of its
_ part of the Tonquin Ice Age Trail, a proposed paved trail from the Willamette River connecting all
the way north to the Tualatin River at Ki-a-Kuts Bridge.
SAT scores are 1602 (to Tigard-Tualatin's 1620) with only 32%taking the test. Average house
prices are $287 (roughly equal to Tigard).
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Sherwood is beyond the urban growth boundary, however, and so far in open, beautiful
countryside. So one attractor, which they are not seeming to exploit, is being able to live in the
— country (as you used to be able to claim in Tigard) while still being accessible to a major city.
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www.ci.wilsonville.or.us
Wilsonville is as far south as our competitive study takes us. While people may certainly be
r• willing to commute as far as between Salem and Portland, or between McMinnville and Portland
(particularly immigrants from LA or SF) we did not consider towns farther south of Wilsonville as
significant competitors to Tigard.
Wilsonville has been growing along the entire Portland metro area. It has new commercial and
residential development, and a good deal of industrial business. As far as attractors, it has the
usual strip malls, big-box stores, chain restaurants and a single multiplex theater.
Its website, like most of the others we have looked out in the areas surrounding Tigard, is
attractive, making the town look like a lovely place to live, though it looks pretty equivalent to
any of the other towns and neighborhoods (just further out).
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SAT scores in Wilsonville are equivalent to Tualatin-Tigard (1601 to 1620) with a higher
percentage of college-bound participation (57%to 37%). Average home values in Wilsonville are
currently higher than Tigard's at $317k.
So, aside from the extra distance from the amenities of the metro area, Wilsonville is not a bad
choice vis-à-vis Tigard.
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www.portlandonline.com
And then there's Portland. The City of Portland has its own, nationally well-known brand as a
major metropolitan area. They even have their own flag! It has innumerable attractors, from its
NBA team to its vast parks and festivals as well as its sophisticated restaurants, galleries,
,., shopping, and clubs. Last year the city was ranked as one of the Top 10 Best Park Systems in the
United States 2012 award, something that they are not taking advantage of.
People who live in Tigard or anywhere else in the metro area are certainly beneficiaries of all of
that.
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Yet Portland does present itself as a competitor to Tigard when it comes to attracting revenue-
, generating residents and businesses. There are many neighborhoods in the city that have carved
out personalities (The Pearl, Mississippi, Albina, Sunset, Hollywood, Hawthorne, Multnomah,
Sellwood, Eastmoreland, Woodstock, etc.). There is something for everybody living in Portland.
So we would see it as competing for the family or business wanting to relocate to the metro area;
we assume they've already made their decision to move here.
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Curiously, the Portland government website is extremely utilitarian and dull, rivaled only by
Tigard's (and perhaps Beaverton's). There is nothing on it to promote how nice it is to live in the
city limits. While the city's self-promotion outside the region has been excellent, when it comes
to attracting people who move here to actually settle inside the city limits, its marketing hasn't
been so great. Growth rates in all of the surrounding communities have been greater (even
during the boom 90s) than in Multnomah County.
While the Portland Metro has been rated as the second fastest growing region in the country, the
rate of growth for its suburbs (mostly Washington County) has been even greater, indicating that
while people move to "Portland” they would rather live out here. You can go to a Blazer game
just as easily from Tigard or Beaverton as from Portland.
The city's tagline "The City That Works," which is still displayed on city vehicles, has become an
ironic, public joke, drawing attention to itself whenever something doesn't work.
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Models
These are examples of municipalities that impressed us as doing it right. They are not
competitors of Tigard's, but they are models of how Tigard could brand itself.
HICKORY
Life, Weil Crafted.
www.hickorync.gov
Hickory, North Carolina is about the same size as Tigard (40,000) and linked to a greater metro
area of a population of over a million.
Hickory identifies itself as the heart of the most beautiful part of North Carolina, the Blue Ridge
Mountains. It has a heritage of arts, craftsmanship, and outdoor living. Its principle industries are
based on woodworking and the art of furniture making. So its brand position is based on doing
things well and carefully, a good criterion from which to apply governance.
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Hickory tMemaaanei�oeneil
The tagline, "Life. Well Crafted" works when applied to anything; "Parks. Well Crafted." "Sports.
Well Crafted." "Work. Well Crafted." "Education. Well Crafted." There is a link to a well-fleshed
out and beautiful promotional site www.hickorywellcrafted.com which goes into detail on every
aspect of the town's life, not just its government services.
The town has lavished its site with beautiful photography of its citizens, it landscape, its
attractions, and seemingly every aspect of Hickory culture. There are also plenty of promotional
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videos (albeit a little corny and probably the weakest part of its marketing, but at least they try).
It also generously links informational pages to its sister cities in the three counties that it shares.
Each page is spare and elegant and yet it is easy to find what you're looking for; the navigation is
so clear.
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itteHickory.Well Crafted.
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Hickory. Well crafted.
This is the homepage of their promotional campaign, which links from the city government page.
You can see how the brand still continues. We think this is a campaign worth emulating.
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TRANSYLVANIA COUNTY
Brevard, NC
www.visitwaterfalls.com
Finally, we couldn't help noticing this beautiful self-promotional campaign for Brevard, NC (about
an hour to the west of Hickory) and its Transylvania County. Brevard is a tiny town (8,000) in a
largely rural county (total population 30,000) but they spent a pickle to produce this site and
campaign to promote tourism for the town and district.
We were impressed with the caliber of the production but mostly with the unique and vivid
brand position for Brevard as "The Land of Waterfalls". While several counties and municipalities
in this part of that state (the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains) could have laid claim to that
title, the fact that Transylvania did it first makes it theirs. They weren't bothered that the towns
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and counties to the east, west, and north of them also have beautiful waterfalls. They understand
how branding works. And, unlike other forms of competition, neighboring regions can benefit
from the attractors of one (just as all of LA claims Disneyland as an attractor).
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PURA Marketing I Who loves you?' I (503)583-2570 I www.puramarketing.com 17
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www.coosbay.org
es
Coos Bay, an even smaller town than Tigard (16,000), has done an incredibly good job of branding
itself. It also shows how an effective integration of its website, bringing promotion, branding, and
the utilitarian function of city government into one package. The overall impression is that Coos
Bay is a delightful place to work and live, and that its government works well. Complete
connection.
#11 All of the functions of a government website are contained within the overall site, without letting
up on the theme.
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Historically known as Marshfield,Coos Bay proudly
stands today as the largest city on the Oregon Coast ag
with Portland State University having certified the 2012 § _
Population Estimate at 15,060;Coos Bay is a great place p '
to live,work and play.Surrounded by a beautiful bay, - _• - .- r � Y 8
t, lush emerald forests and the mighty Pacific Ocean.Coospo"
l Bay continues to celebrate its history in shipbuilding, .
lumber products and tradition as the regional hub for ;y
Oregon's south coast Coos Bay is a proud community !'
with a rich heritage and Zan-do"attitude.Get to know
^
us.Come visit and stay.Start a business.Enjoy our
community!
' Mayor Crystal Shoji
/1
PURA Marketing I Who loves you?T"' I (503)583-2570 I www.puramarketing.com 18
Competitive Summary
Our study of the marketing and brand positioning of the competing municipalities in the
Portland Metro Area led us to some stark conclusions:
1. Brand positions are passive to non-existent
Only three have taglines (see Appendix 1 for City Taglines) and none, with the
exception of Portland, have a definite or vivid position ("The City that Works").
2. No one is giving anybody a specific reason to move there
The messaging from most of the cities' official sites seems to be that you already
live here and here are the services you're looking for.
3. Few attractor events
Portland has the Rose Festival. Hillsboro its air show. Tigard its Hot Air Balloon
Aims
Festival, but few other communities here seems to be promoting a major event
that would attract the attention of outside audiences, making the city famous.
We're thinking in terms of the Tanglewood Music Festival that Lenox, MA, hosts,
or Park City's Sundance Film Festival, or a Newport Jazz Festival.
4. Almost no recognition of natural beauty
We noticed that none of our competitive towns have done much in terms of
'1 capitalizing on the natural beauty within their towns. They all have Parks & Rec but
no one is doing anything much to promote their parks as unique.
5. Some websites are more useful than others
Lake Oswego and a couple of the other cities have sites that are far more
interactive, up-to-the-minute, and informative than Tigard's.
6. Tigard's website is running behind the pack
�-. Though Hillsboro's and Portland's sites are pretty utilitarian, Tigard's seems to win
the prize for most no-nonsense. Most of the other sites just look more appealing,
friendlier, and easier to navigate. But many of them also look like they were done
by the same website factory (which, in fact, they were).
7. Lack of consistency
We noticed that there seems to be a pervasive lack of brand consistency across
the board. Several different versions of logos are displayed. Links jump to pages
that you aren't sure are even associated with the city in question. And if any have
a brand position, hardly any are expressed or used, which is the same as having no
brand position.
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Conversations
As part of our study, we conducted face-to-face conversations with some business
owners and residents of Tigard and neighboring communities. We wanted to get a feel
for the impressions people had of Tigard. In many cases we had the conversations on
the condition of anonymity, so that they could feel free to speak their minds. Others
were fine with identifying themselves (e.g. Jeff Martin, the new owner of the Joy
Theater, Jim Kneeland, proprietor of Archers Afield, and Jay Seeley, CFO/C00 of
Vigilant Counsel).
Here were some of the salient observations we collected:
1. Positive feelings for the city government
Nearly everyone we talked to expressed positive feelings about both the city
government, including the police and library. Usually, their positive feelings about
the government itself were that it had a light touch. They rarely thought of it at all.
2. No distinguishing features
Very few seemed to be conscious of the distinction of Tigard over other towns and
neighborhoods in the Portland area. They, too, pretty much all commented that
Tigard didn't seem to have a "there." Some pointed to the impressive
development of city centers in Tualatin, Lake Oswego, even Sherwood, but how
Tigard didn't have one. A few said they were not really sure which town they were
actually living in since the schools, the emergency services, the utilities seemed to
overlap.
AIN 3. Seediness of Main Street
One business owner had moved his office from 99W and Greenberg over to
'1 Nyberg and said that he was not necessarily conscious of having moved from
Tigard to Beaverton so much as that he needed to get away from Main Street. He
said that his customers had been expressing relief at his new location; how much
easier it was for them to access than his previous address and that they no longer
felt intimidated by the homeless people hanging out around his office, shouting at
each other. He was very emphatic that the seediness of Main Street was a factor in
his long-considered decision to move to a newer location.
4. it's not Portland; which is good
We heard several comments about how much easier it is to do business in Tigard
than Portland, mostly because of the added tax burden in Multnomah County and
061
the heavy-handedness of the city of Portland. One COO, whose company had
moved to Tigard some time ago, said the nicest thing about the Tigard City
Government was that he was never aware of them. But other business owners had
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complaints about the disconnect between the city and Washington County (see
.,, specifically The Joy Theater below). One even wished that Tigard had more
autonomy, even to the point of seceding from the TVFD and having its own fire
department.
5. Friendly police
We heard several comments about how helpful and friendly the police in Tigard
were, especially compared to other cities-who-shall-remain-nameless. As part of
the city's branding effort, the police, as "salesmen" for the city, are doing a good
job.
n
6. 99W
More than half the people we talked to, when asked of their impression of Tigard,
said first off, "99". They wished the city could do something about the traffic (even
though they understand that it's a state highway, not a city street) and the ugly
commercial atmosphere. One longtime resident (who grew up here) lamented
that Tigard has become "just one, long, strip mall." While this is more of an urban
planning and transportation issue (and certainly no news to anybody in city
government), it is interesting that it seems to come up as the current, top-of-mind
brand position of Tigard.
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7. The importance of school performance
The realtors we talked to all agreed that when they were helping people find where to
move in the metro area, the performance and reputation of the schools was the first thing
on everybody's list (if they had families) and that SAT scores and participation were an
index of that. Crime was very far down the list, unless they were looking to buy something
affordable in North Portland. Even people without children, or with grown children, were
interested in the performance of schools as a marker of community involvement and
pride.
Tigard was regarded as roughly equivalent in school quality compared to everywhere else
with the exception of Lake Oswego, which has a reputation even outside of Portland for
having excellent schools. These realtors also said that their clients were pretty savvy
about researching school performance themselves and would come to them specifically
with the intent to move to LO (or the Riverdale or Lincoln districts) because of SAT scores.
011 This has had the direct knock on of driving up property values in LO.
One respondent was, herself, a veteran school teacher at Alberta Rider and observed that
while she was heartened that the voters had, every year, voted for school bonds, her class
sizes are getting larger and larger each year (she has 37 in her class next year).
(See a breakdown of metro-wide 2010-12 SAT scores and participation under Appendix 2
below).
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/1
•� 8. Homelessness
Nearly everyone made a comment about the high visibility of homeless people they
notice in Tigard, particularly those begging at major intersections and onramps. They
would usually go on to acknowledge that this is a feature of all of the Portland Metro
Area, not just Tigard (though two observed that Lake Oswego doesn't seem to have any
visibly homeless people) and may be a phenomenon of the overall bad world economy
more than Tigard's in particular.
0-N9. The Joy Theater
We had a particularly illuminating conversation with the new owner of the venerable Joy
Theater, Jeff Martin. He long had his eye on this property as an historic site and one
deserving of rejuvenation. In an age of the multiplex, the local, single screen cinema has
become almost an anachronism. But Martin has invested heavily in upgrading the Joy,
with digital projection and even the capability of 3D, making it a competitive "first run"
theater. On the night we interviewed him, he was showing a double feature; Man of Steel
and Star Trek: Into Darkness, both in 3D. Acquiring a liquor license he has also been able
to turn the Joy into a pub theater (like the Bagdad or Laurelhurst), with special, quirky film
festivals on some nights and as an attractor for film-nerds.
Martin's experience with the city was positive and seamless. His friction was with
,11
Washington County, who has been imposing seemingly capricious requirements and
regulations; all coming as a surprise to him (for instance, the county just reclassified the
Joy as a restaurant because they offer iced beverages). His wish was that the city should
do more to encourage and help small entrepreneurs like him and even coach them in
dealing with supra-governmental bodies (county, metro, state).
0114
"If I can't make this a go, the property owner wants to turn the Joy into another mattress
warehouse store," he said. And Tigard would lose a beloved landmark.
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Competitive Opportunities
1. Find something tangible to make Tigard known for
No other town or neighborhood in the entire Portland area is identifying itself with a
feature (even, ironically, Lake Oswego). This is a wide-open opportunity. All websites
sponsored by those cities speak in only the most bland and generic terms about their
schools, their parks, their commitment to quality. But no one is highlighting a specific
feature.
We see this is as a golden opportunity to make Tigard known for something specific
and tangible. As Santa Fe, NM, is known for art, as Brevard, NC is known for its
waterfalls, as Lenox, MA is known for the Tanglewood Music Festival, and Ashland is
known for the theater arts, Tigard might have an opportunity to claim to be known for
something.
2. Green Spaces / The Tualatin River / National Wildlife Reserve
For instance, there's the Tualatin River. Lots of towns and neighborhoods around Portland
have rivers and green spaces, but no one has branded themselves as the home of those.
Tigard has the Tualatin River running through it, one of the natural rivers of America (at least
aesthetically), and is laced with linked green spaces along both the Tualatin and Fanno and
Summer Creeks (all tributaries of the Tualatin). Rated as one of the more polluted rivers in the
country in 1989, it has, with the aid of the EPA, the CWS and The Tualatin River Keepers,
become among the least polluted. The TRK would be a valuable ally in this association with
Tigard (since they rent canoes at Cook Park all summer). Cook Park itself is a beautiful example
of a nature preserve along a gorgeous, unspoiled river. And Summer Lake Park and the Fanno
Trail are examples of integration of nature and residential neighborhoods. We have done as
much or more than any other satellite municipality in the Portland area to do this.
And while the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge is not inside the city limits, its proximity
could easily be associated with Tigard. Then there is the ongoing development of green spaces
and trails throughout Tigard.
101 So Tigard could definitely start branding itself as the town where nature flourishes.
3. What people say about where they live matters
In the neighborhood of Eastmoreland, property values are often $50k-100k more than the
virtual identical house three blocks east in Woodstock. This is because Eastmoreland is
perceived to be a better neighborhood; it has Reed College. People think that that proximity
#h of such a prestigious institution enhances the entire neighborhood.
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The opportunity for Tigard (especially vis-à-vis Beaverton) is to identify a similar attractor and
keep talking it up. If you give people a tangible thing they can talk about, then they will use it
as the reason they live here. They become more loyal to Tigard as their hometown, are more
willing to vote for bond measures to enhance it, and may even brag about where they live.
The idea should work in the same way that residents of Santa Monica or Scottsdale are proud
of their own enclaves and emphatic that they DON'T live in LA or Phoenix.
4. Events
n Cultural events are tremendous opportunities to brand the city. Portland has the Rose
,. Festival, the Bite, The Naked Bike Ride,The Big Float, the Gerding Theate . Many
neighborhoods have street fairs (which all seem to run together in an indistinct haze).
Currently, Tigard has one main cultural event, the Balloon Festival. And it has just had
its second annual Main Street Fair. Much can be done to pump these up even more.
But other events could be quirkier, and so help the unique personality of Tigard.
For instance a film festival (ala Telluride, Sundance, or even Cannes) held in and
around the Joy, a canoe and kayak event (in collaboration with the Riverkeepers), a
Bird Count (in collaboration with the Portland Audubon Society), or an archery event
(in collaboration with Archers Afield and the National Field Archery Association).
5. Star businesses
Some cities and communities have greatly benefited from having star retail
businesses, unique places that serve as attractors to those neighborhoods and
enhance them. Examples are Powell's in The Pearl, Mississippi Pizza, Doug Fir, or
Voodoo Donuts. One business we've identified that has the potential of being one of
—• those unique attractors for Tigard is the Joy Theater (already mentioned). Others are
potentially Buster's BBQ("A vegetarian's worst nightmare"), Morlan's Plumbing
Supply (the Hippo Hardware of plumbing), the Decorette Shop, Archer's Afield, House
of Reptiles...all of them unique places that can serve as attractors to the city.
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Social Media Snapshot
Social media is such an important factor in marketing today. However, not everyone
needs to have a million friends, followers, likes, pins, connections, etc. in order for it to
be an effective part of your marketing and communications strategy. The social
component is something you should work on to help your overall efforts of increasing
awareness and reputation.
Twitter: @CityofTigardOR (main Twitter account)
727 Followers/ 230 Following/2,173 Tweets
Your Twitter presence is pretty good. You don't have a high # of followers but your tweets are
regular. You tweet reporter style which is very informational but not very conversational. You
utilize both RT's (retweets) and hashtags and your account is very active. There are a few
other Twitter accounts related to this account but offering different information. Some of
them are: @TigardMainSt /Tigard_Roads/@KennyAsher (Tracking Tigard) However, it is
pretty obvious what each one is for and is not confusing with the main City of Tigard account.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/CityofTigard
402 Likes/ 36 Talking about you
Since Facebook is the largest social media channel in the world right now, it makes sense to
^ have a presence here, and you do, it's just not very engaged. Four hundred likes in a city of
50,000 is not that impressive. Your writing style is the same here as it is on Twitter, "reporter
'^ style." However, there should be more of a focus to get the community involved. And this
would be the best place to do it.
Linkedin: www.Iinkedin.com/company/city-of-tigard
150 Following/ 116 Employees/0 Products listed /0 Recommendations/0 Jobs listed
You have a face on Linkedln and that's it. There's not much activity here. No job postings but
they are posted elsewhere. This could be improved but the effort is probably not worth the
reward.
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/Tigardvision
2 Videos/0 Subscribers/ 256 Video views (all)
/11 We couldn't tell if this was an official City of Tigard YouTube account. It looks to be. But then
we wonder why it wasn't called "CityofTigard" instead of Tigardvision. The account hasn't
been used in years and was never active with only 2 videos. This would be a great area for
improvement. Get some videos up (see Further Recommendations below).
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/104653782854417436862/
38 Followers/0 Posts
You only have a page on Google+ but nothing on that page. It's okay though because there
isn't much of an audience on Google+.
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^
Search Engine Optimization
www.tigard-or.gov corn has 52,100 pages that are indexed by search engines.
Links
1,190 other sites have linked to your site.
^
Authoritative Links
Yahoo Voices 2011 Best Places to Live in Oregon (Tigard #8):
http://voices.yahoo.com/best-places-live-oregon-2011-7929690.html
List of resources on KOIN website:
http://www.koin.com/on-koin/do-the-right-thing
The U.S. Conference of Mayors: Meet the Mayors:
r1 http://usmayors.org/database_searchlD.asp?idnumber=2900
History of the SW Corridor:
t
http://www.dipity.com/swcorridorplan/The-History-of-the-SW-Corridor-Plan
ICMA (International City/County Management Association) article:
http://icma.org/en/international/Article/4120/City_Honors_ICMA_International_Program_an
d_Key_Participant
City of Tigard Online Marketing Score: 53
Competitors:
Portland 59
r1 Lake Oswego 48
Wilsonville 47
Hillsboro 44
01 Beaverton 43
Tualatin 42
Sherwood 29
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r•
Things Tigard is Doing Right
You are doing a great many things right. Even where there is room for improvement, you are far
ahead on the fundamentals.
1. Consistency of graphic standards
We've noticed that your use of your logo and your other graphic elements are consistent,
wide-spread, and professional. You have already implemented a comprehensive style guide
and you seem to be doing a splendid job of adhering to it in your printed and online
communications. This alone goes a long way to make Tigard feel like a well-run town.
,iN 2. Communication with the community
Tigard's newsletter (Cityscape) are good and regular ways to reach out to and inform the
community. Your numerous pamphlets, brochures and posters are also doing a good job of
informing all the stakeholders (residential and business) of not only the developments,
events, and news of what's going on in Tigard, but in future plans and progress.
We have, however, noticed, that few of the residents and business owners we talked to
were aware of these excellent communications or of the plans of the city. While our sample
was anecdotal, we might, in the future, recommend a more formal research study to see
which vehicles were getting through to people.
3. Vision
Based on the many greenspace development plans and approved bonds, as well as the
economic development activity (e.g. the revitalization of Main Street and the Fanno Creek
Trail), it seems as though the City has a very clear vision for what we are going to look like in
the future. This is, as you know, the first step anyone needs to take when considering
rebranding. When you know this, you know how to align your brand position to it.
4. Events
Besides the Balloon Festival (the only other event like it in Oregon is in Ashland), we've
started an annual Main Street Fair, a skateboard event at Jim Griffith Park, and at least two
farmers' markets. More events can bring in even more attention; but they need to be
promoted better.
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T.�,
Things Tigard Could Do Better
We also noticed some things that are potential weaknesses in your existing brand expressions.
1. Clarity of a brand position
The current tagline, "A place to call home," while feeling good on the surface, does not
really identify a clear brand position for Tigard. Even the section of the style guide which
deals with this line, where you would normally set out that position, doesn't explain what it
means. Moreover, the tagline seems like something any town could use; "Gresham, a place
to call home."
We feel that Tigard needs a more clear position; something more tangible and vivid,
something that could be acted upon. Some possible positions that seemed promising to us
included one based on a commitment to natural spaces, something that the city already
does in its parks, trails, the Tualatin River, conservation, eco-innovation, and tree
preservation policies. Such a brand position, for instance, could be developed around the
expression:
r1
Tigard Green
"Tigard Green" as a brand expression could work to start promoting a lot of positive aspects
of the city, from its parks, to its business-friendly environment ("green" meaning fecundity),
to its ecological policies. The other advantage of "Tigard Green" as a brand expression is
that we are already using this color in our brand.
But some further creative and strategic development needs to be done to evaluate this and
other possible brand positions and taglines to express them. Once you have a clear and
vivid brand position, though, all communications about developments, events, initiatives,
r1 and news about Tigard could then be put in the context of that position.
The advantage of a clear, tangible brand position is not only to promote the city to
prospective business and new residents, but to encourage taxpayer support, and to help
guide policy decisions. If, for instance, the position of Tigard is "Tigard Green," then any
01 policy discussions will have that as their criterion; how will this make Tigard greener? If the
10'1 brand position is, in another example, "The best schools in Oregon," then policy
development will use that as its future criterion; how will this make Tigard schools better?
This is how a strong brand position has a dynamic influence on an organization, by keeping
the organization on track with its goals.
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2. Get the word out on the website
As we noted above, we were impressed by the breadth and depth of information available
r about Tigard, both on the city's and the library's sites, but also on all of the links to related
organizations. One could get lost looking up all that Tigard has to offer. But that's a
problem, too; one could get lost.
Compared to what other municipalities are doing on their sites, Tigard's website is very
hard to navigate. The homepage looks and feels daunting; it is a tad cluttered and dull.
There are featured news items, but they are lost as mere HTML links, without imagery or
with little emphasis. So important notifications can be lost.
Though our conversations with residents and business owners were relatively small in
number (about a couple dozen), we were struck by how little nearly everyone we talked to
knew of Tigard, or even what was going on here. Four people, for instance, though avid
bikers and outdoors enthusiasts, were unaware of the trail system or park development
going on in Tigard. Three other business owners did not know of the resources available to
them to help them navigate the layers of municipal requirements in the city, county and
state.
We see this as a failure to communicate. A redesigned website, one that could
accommodate and showcase news, would help enormously.
3. Give love to get love
A recent story in The Oregonian about the storage device company LaCie (soon to be
acquired by Seagate) moving its offices and facilities to Tigard from Hillsboro, should have
been on the home page of the Tigard site. This is a big win for the city. But even The Times
had no mention of it. And news of it was buried on the Tigard website, even hard to find
under an organic search.
Every time Tigard wins a new business (e.g. the recent opening of a new Harbor Freight
Supply store on 99W, the acquisition of the Joy last year, even a new store at Washington
Square), there should be a feature story about it on the Tigard homepage. We want to
create the impression that this is a vibrant, growing city. It will also sew good will among the
business community that the city publicly recognizes and is enthusiastic about promoting
them, welcoming them to Tigard, and doing everything it can to help them flourish here.
4. More cooperation and visibility of events
A number of people we talked to who had either moved to Tigard within the last year or so,
or who had moved here from elsewhere in the area, had not heard of the Balloon Festival.
Some people had heard of it but were under the impression that it was part of the Portland
Rose Festival. The visibility of Tigard's sponsorship of events like this, as well its relationship
with organizations like Tualatin River Keepers, The Broadway Rose Theater, Friends of
Trees, or The Intertwine should be increased.
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Things Tigard Should Do Immediately
1. Define our brand position
Before we do anything like redesigning the website, we should first get at Tigard's true brand
position; what do we stand for? An effective brand position should be based on actionable
criteria, something tangible. The trouble with "A place to call home" is, as we've pointed out,
passive and vague. It's not something the city or the citizens can act on.
This is the next step in what we call a Brand Spark (this Marketing Scrub is the diagnosis
phase). The process involves generating some substantive positions and narrowing them down
to one, resonant one. One, "Tigard Green," seems like an obvious one. But we would
recommend further development and exploration. Others could be viable based on what
we've discovered in The Scrub; for instance, one based on "The Best Schools in Oregon" or
"Tigard's quirkiness" or "Best for Business". What developing a brand position will do is define
what Tigard stands for. The generation of a slogan or tagline can follow, as well as the redesign
of the website.
It does not necessarily mean that Tigard needs a new logo. There is already so much equity
invested in the existing logo and graphic standards that, unless the agreed-upon brand
position is at odds with it, it could probably be kept.
2. Make Tigard's homepage a front page
r1 Whenever there are breaking stories about developments in Tigard, particularly good news
(e.g. the acquisition of LaCie from Hillsboro), there should be a story about it on the home
page. Even before a redesign of the website, it can be used to dynamically alert visitors to
what's going on in Tigard on a daily basis. The idea is to build regular traffic to the site as the
place everyone should go for the straight skinny.
3. Get a simpler URL
Tigard.gov and Iivingintigard.com are both available. Get them now. Rule in internet
,.� branding: hyphens, backslashes, and .nets all suggest weakness and second tier.
4. Do some formal market research
While we, in the course of this Scrub, did some informal one-on-one market research, we
found out enough to warrant further professional data collection. Questions that popped up
that we think need more data are the importance of school performance, the attractiveness
of parks and green spaces, the degree of awareness of Tigard's initiatives, and the support for
r1 small business.
I
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Further Recommendations
1. Redesign the website
Updating the website to make it look more appealing and easier to navigate will do wonders
to enhance the image of the city. It should, of course, still function as a governmental
resource and interface with the public, but there is no reason it can't also promote Tigard. As
we've shown with other municipalities, the two functions can work in a mutually supportive
way.
Before the site is redesigned, however, we would strongly recommend that a consensus is
reached on the brand position. In this way, content and graphics can be created to support
whatever that brand turns out to be.
2. Create attractors on the website
Attractors are viral reasons for people to look up and come to both the Tigard website, and to
•, make Tigard itself a destination. For instance, one idea would be to do a video portrait of
Tigard from 200 feet. Send up a hot air balloon with a video crew (a small one) and drift over
the city on a Saturday afternoon, finding soccer games, baseball games, backyard barbecues,
events at Cook Park, kayakers on the Tualatin, playgrounds with squealing kids. There would
be no narration, no musical score,just the ambient sounds of Tigard, looking down on it from
200 feet. Edit and upload this video to YouTube and play it on the Tigard home page. Pure
serenity.
3. Define tone of voice and style
Ps While the style guide does a good job as a supplement to the AP Style Guide, we would
recommend that editorial standards be defined to align the content of all city
communications with the brand position.
For example, if the hypothetical brand position is based on Tigard's commitment to
harmonizing with nature, "Tigard Green," the editorial guide would define what those themes
�- are.
The tone of voice should also be defined, with examples. This will make it sound as though
the city is speaking with one voice.
4. Trickle out the new brand
Based on our advice from two other municipalities (Hillsboro and Hickory) who did similar
r- rebranding efforts, it seems wise to avoid a big splash in any deployment of the new brand
position. People think money spent on marketing is a waste, especially taxpayers. Even
thought the results of the marketing can be a better city, a richer environment, rising
property values, more business, better schools and all the follow-on effects, most people
DURA Marketing I Who loves you?J I (503)583-2570 I www.puramarketing.com
would like to think that these things just happened naturally anyway. It's best to keep that
illusion going.
So don't run a big celebration and grand re-opening.
5. More events, but outsource them
Capitalize on the events that we already have, such as the Balloon Festival and the Main
Street Fair. But also create events at other times of the year to keep the awareness of Tigard
alive. Events are highly effective branding tools for a city, bringing residents and businesses
together, raising funds for causes, and building awareness across the whole region. Themes
could be developed around the brand position we create for Tigard.
If you need professional help in producing, managing and creating events, we can connect
,.% you with some highly successful event organizing companies in the Portland area, ones that
are used to working with municipalities and non-profits.
6. Star businesses
To communicate city support for small businesses, run a feature on either an old or new
business each month on the website. As we observed above, Tigard has many hidden, quirky
little businesses, some that have been here for decades. Not many know about them. We are
^ more than just auto supply and mattress warehouses. Businesses like the Joy, Gerber
Legendary Blades, Archers Afield, The Decorette Shop, Bead Bullies, and House of Reptiles
attract enthusiasts from all over the area—who come all the way to Tigard to find them.
Celebrate those star businesses. Make them part of why this town is unique.
— Then there are new businesses that have just moved here, choosing Tigard over all other
neighborhoods and towns. An example is LaCie, the French storage device company, moving
its U.S. operations back here from Hillsboro. Another is Harbor Freight Supply, a national
retail chain, which just opened a new store on 99W. Honor those new businesses publicly,
feature stories about them on the site, and welcome them to Tigard. Don't just leave it to the
Chamber.
Your economic development team is doing a great job attracting business to Tigard. Help
', them out with a marketing effort to show off how we value our businesses in Tigard.
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1
The Unbreakable Rules of Marketing
As a framework for assessing marketing effectiveness, we've developed an evaluation method
based on the Nine Unbreakable Rules of Marketing. Before we give you the score, it would
probably be in order to define those rules:
Rule#1: Consistency
Consistency Beats Ability
Be consistently good and you will ultimately beat anyone who is occasionally excellent.
Rule#2: Perception
Perception is Reality
Perception is what motivates behavior, not reality. Control perception and you'll control behavior.
Rule#3: Creativity
Be Creative or Die
People are experts at filtering out the noise of marketing. Make sure your marketing is creative so
it doesn't become noise.
Rule#4: Message
The Medium is Not the Message
It doesn't matter what medium you use, a strong message will find its own wings.
0'1
Rule#5:Simplicity
Work Hard to Keep it Simple
It's easy to get complicated. Simplicity takes work but works.
Rule#6: Reciprocity
Give Love and Get Love
Marketing is all about getting people to love you. Start by loving them first.
Rule#7: Emotions
Emotions Rule the World
,., Emotions motivate. Facts and figures will never move people the way emotions will.
Rule#8: Effort
Go Big or Go Home
Everything you do for your marketing, do it full out. Otherwise don't even bother.
.-. Rule#9: Integration
Everything is Marketing
1 Everything that influences how someone will think of your business, your organization, your
product, even yourself, is marketing.
PURA Marketing I Who loves you?TM I (503)583-2570 I www.puramarketing.com
City of Tigard Unbreakable Rules Score Card
(1-10, 10 being a 10)
1. Consistency 9 All of your materials are consistent in look,feel, and
tone. Use of the city logo, fonts,colors is widespread
and uniform. Good job.
2. Perception 3 The outside perception of Tigard is that there is no
center to it, unless one counts Washington Square as the
center. Its perception is also unfairly linked to that of
99W. The borders of the town are also only vaguely
understood, even by people who have lived and worked
here for years.
3. Creativity 6 The materials that the city puts out look graphically
pleasing and highly professional.They are, however,
fairly straight-ahead in subject and tone.There is no
0-1 humor or emotion (see#7).
4. Message 3 The current tagline, "A place to call home" might be
A1 used of any place.There is no vivid statement that
makes Tigard easier to remember,that guides policy, or
that helps people understand the direction the city is
01 going.
5. Simplicity 5 Website is cluttered and hard to navigate. But the
graphic standards are, in themselves, simple to follow.
6. Reciprocity 7 The attitude of the city feels generous.That it takes
good care of existing parks and is constantly seeking
ways to develop and enhance new parks means a lot to
people living here. Some improvement might be made in
creative ways to reach out to new businesses in helping
them navigate all the bureaucracy.
7. Emotions 3 Many of the main communications from the city are
fairly dry in tone.The tone of the website is utilitarian
and passive. And there is no sense of humor.The tone of
newsletters is perky and polite, but again,fairly dry in
content.
8. Effort 9 Tigard seems to try very hard to engage its citizens and
community.That it is spending time and money to look
I ^ at and improve its own brand and marketing is itself a
sign of high effort. And the huge volume of documents
and channels it uses is also evidence of tremendous
effort.
9. Integration 4 While the city is conscious of its image and active in its
efforts to maintain and improve it, some improvement
could be made in taking advantage of channels and
opportunities to enhance that image further.
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Final Thoughts
The City of Tigard has done a splendid job up to now in so many aspects of marketing. There is
consistency, strong graphic design, and multiple channels of outreach. But as we heard from
many of our businesses and residents here, there doesn't seem to be any center. We need a
center, both literally and figuratively. This is where a strong and vivid brand position would be
invaluable, not just to announce it, but to give everyone a measurable goal to strive for.
Putting together this Scrub for Tigard has been a delightful undertaking for us. Not only does it do
our heart good to apply what we know about marketing in the service of our hometown, it is
gratifying to get to know better the people that make this town work. And now we know why we
live here.
Cathey Armillas Jeff Berry
cathey@ypuramarketing.com jeff@puramarketing.com
0"1
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J/
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Appendix 1
City Taglines I Official Websites
Ranked by Website Score / City considered local competition to Tigard /Unofficial taglines
City Tagline Website Website
Official/Unofficial grade
Coos Bay www.coosbay.org 61
Portland The City That Works www.portlandonline.com 59
Woodburn www.ci.woodburn.or.us 58
Albany Grass Seep Capital of the World www.cityofalbany.net 56
Salem At Your Service www.cityofsalem.net 56
-. Tigaro A Place to Call Home www.tigard-or.gov 53
Medford www.ci.medford.or.us 51
Gresham www.greshamoregon.gov 50
Lake Oswego www.ci.oswego.or.us 48
La Grande The Home of Northeast Oregon www.cityoflagrande.org 48
Wilsonville www.ci.wilsonville.or.us 47
.- Troutdale www.ci.troutdale.or.us 46
Forest Grove A place where families and business
01
thrive. www.forestgrove-or.gov 45
0.1 Hillsboro www.ci.hillsboro.or.us 44
eik Eugene Tracktown www.eugene-or.gov 44
McMinnville www.ci.mcminnville.or.us 44
^ Beaverton The Best of Oregon www.beavertonoregon.gov 43
Oregon City The End is Just the Beginning www.orcity.org 43
Tualatin www.tualatinoregon.gov 42
Corvallis Enhancing Community Livability www.corvallisoregon.gov 42
�' Keizer Irk Capital of the World www.keizer.org 39
Milwaukie Dogwood City of the West www.milwaukieoregon.gov 38
Bend www.bend.or.us 37
Springfield Proud History, Bright Future www.ci.springfield.or.us 36
1 Canby The garden spot www.ci.canby.or.us 34
Talent Our Name Speaks for Itself www.cityoftalent.org 32
Newberg A Great Place to Grow www.newbergoregon.gov 30
I .. Sherwood www.sherwoodoregon.gov 29
Grants Pass Where the Rogue River Runs www.grantspassoregon.gov 29
Hood River www.ci.hood-river.or.us 25
,-.
IoN
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1
�
,'1
Appendix 2
2012 Portland Metro Area SAT Performance
National Average: 1498 43% participation
Portland Metro Average: 1568 45% participation
School Reading Math Writing %Taking Total
Beaverton
Aloha 509 524 496 32% 1529
Arts &Comm. 587 548 549 76% 1684
Beaverton 540 549 523 41% 1612
Health &Science 476 499 483 24% 1458
Science &Tech 586 695 560 50% 1841
Southridge 552 587 537 51% 1676
Sunset 562 583 544 50% 1689
•—. Westview 567 581 549 44% 1697
_. Average 547 571 530 46% 1648
Hillsboro School District
Century 507 516 481 48% 1504
Glencoe 513 506 488 45% 1507
r
Hillsboro 496 504 470 37% 1470
Liberty 495 488 461 48% 1444
Average 503 504 475 45% 1481
1
Lake Oswego School District
Lake Oswego 587 594 574 79% 1755
(.. Lakeridge 565 573 561 71% 1699
Average 576 584 568 75% 1727
01
01
Oregon City, Parkrose, Reynolds, Riverdale, Sandy, and Sherwood
01
Oregon City 513 518 486 41% 1517
Parkrose 442 446 438 36% 1326
•. Reynolds 502 513 473 19% 1488
Riverdale 554 562 548 75% 1664
Sandy 518 508 483 36% 1509
Sherwood 542 536 524 32% 1602
r Average 512 514 492 40% 1518
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A'1
0,'1
✓'1
eN School Reading Math Writing %Taking Total
Tigard-Tualatin School District
Tigard 547 551 530 37% 1628
Tualatin 536 555 521 40% 1612
Average 542 553 526 39% 1620
West Linn and Wilsonville School District
West Linn 553 562 529 74% 1644
Wilsonville 534 556 511 57% 1601
Average 544 559 520 66% 1623
Portland School District
01 Benson 460 475 454 34% 1389
011 Cleveland 583 585 564 49% 1732
Franklin 511 522 493 35% 1526
Grant 565 549 557 65% 1671
Jefferson 385 393 383 33% 1161
Lincoln 591 589 584 73% 1764
Madison 462 483 445 18% 1390
Metro Learning Center 638 573 577 43% 1788
Wilson 586 576 570 45% 1732
" Average 531 527 514 44% 1573
01 Gresham-Barlow District
Gresham 491 501 466 29% 1458
r„ Sam Barlow 509 512 481 52% 1502
^ Average 500 507 474 41% 1480
David Douglas and Forest Grove School District
01 David Douglas 477 500 448 29% 1425
0'1 Forest Grove 536 528 499 19% 1563
01 Average 507 514 474 24% 1494
r• North Clackamas
,-.. Clackamas 522 549 503 57% 1574
n Milwaukie 499 491 472 44% 1462
Putnam 516 527 484 48% 1527
/'t%
Average 512 522 486 50% 1521
01
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