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CITY OF WATERBURY
Cities are businesses, too – and the former Brass Capital of the World was struggling to figure out its "current brand" so that investors would take notice and make inquiries about Waterbury’s commercial properties.
BIGGEST CHALLENGES
- WORX research identified preconceived and optical challenges within target audiences – some of whom viewed Waterbury as a less-than-ideal area for their business.
- A brand narrative would need to be thoughtfully developed that accurately portrayed the positive things happening in the city.
- A unique marketing communications plan would need to be created to reach prospective investors and out-of-market business leaders in targeted, cost-effective ways.
- The brand and marketing communications had to avoid the pitfalls that have caused the vast majority of place branding and economic development marketing initiatives across the country to fail.
- The partnership with the City of Waterbury needed to generate sizable, tangible results – including Grand List growth and investment transactions.
KEY COMPONENTS
Market Research
Comprehensive research was conducted by WORX over a 12-month period – including community focus groups, online forums, sentiment studies, qualitative insights and quantitative analyses – to determine current perceptions and theming opportunities.
Brand Platform
From the research findings, WORX created an ambitious brand platform – including identity, messaging, photography, videography and asset libraries – aimed at both in-market and out-of-market communications.
Community Partnerships
WORX helped arrange a public-private partnership whereby local business leaders can collaborate with the City, support the initiative, and take an active role in attracting others to Waterbury.
Omnichannel Communications
New communications platforms were created – including a website, social media channels, email marketing, and podcast series.
Digital Marketing
An exhaustive set of digital marketing campaigns were launched across the Google and Microsoft Bing networks, with weekly monitoring and optimizations made by the in-house WORX digital marketing team.
Tracking Technologies
User behavior and lead generation tracking technologies were integrated by WORX, giving the City of Waterbury real-time data on interested businesses.
Digital Technology Tools
WORX custom-built several digital technology tools – including a Commercial Properties searchable system, an interactive Downtown Map, and a Digital Dining Guide.
WINNING RESULTS
Since launching the new website in November 2020, nearly 100,000 individual users have visited TheWaterbury.com annually.
The Waterbury Talks podcast series has been downloaded more than 4,000 times, and is ranked in the Top 50% of all podcasts by Buzzsprout.
In the first two years, the Visionary People original content video series had more than 750,000 views on YouTube.
Between 2021-2023, more than 6,500 searches for commercial properties were performed by prospective investors from outside Waterbury.
In a two-year timeframe, over 5,000 detailed sessions were conducted in the custom-built Commercial Properties tool by prospective investors.
Through digital data tracking and analysis, more than 2,500 organizations and individuals have been identified as prospective investors in Waterbury.
Across five social media platforms, The Waterbury has built a following of several thousand people and garnered more than 4.6 million impressions.
The Waterbury Facebook engagement rate is more than 5,000% above the social media platform’s benchmark.
The Waterbury Instagram follower audience has grown more than 300% larger than the estimated rate.
EXTENDED SUCCESSES
- In 2020-2022, the City of Waterbury welcomed 43 new companies, creating 662 jobs.
- In 2021-2022, large property transactions in the City of Waterbury generated $145 million in revenue.
- Amazon plans to build a massive distribution warehouse on a 160-acre parcel in Waterbury – a property its commercial development group found through the WORX initiative.
- The Waterbury bond rating has been upgraded to AA- Positive – the highest level in the city’s history.
- From 2020-2022, the City of Waterbury Grand List has grown by more than $191 million.
- In 2022, the Waterbury brand won a national award for excellence in branding from Graphic Design USA magazine.
- In 2023, the three-part video docuseries produced by WORX – 3x10: How Waterbury Rebuilt Itself as a City of Strength – won a national award for excellence in videography from Graphic Design USA magazine.
National Design Award Press Conference
Waterbury Mayor Paul Pernerewski and WORX President/Chief Creative Officer Grant Copeland on how the docuseries has brought more attention to the marketing that's already influenced millions of dollars in economic development interest.
SERVICES USED
- Marketing Strategy
- Branding
- Digital Marketing
- Website Development
- Video Marketing
- Photography
- Social Media
- Advertising
- Content Marketing
- Marketing Technology
- Usability
- Data Analysis
- Sales Communications
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