Page 48 - Murfreesboro, TN Comprehensive Plan: Chapter 7, Economic Development

7.48 Chapter 7

DRAFT 12.02.15

7.8 Program-Backed The best marketing vehicles for these internal audiences
generally are: newspapers, regionally-focused lifestyle
and business magazines, local TV and radio, billboards
Marketing and social media. To reiterate however, local marketing
efforts should only be pursued after the city has
built internal economic development capacities and
By themselves, and without solid programmatic programs, and never in-lieu thereof. It is also important
substance behind them, city marketing and branding to note that “earned media” in the form of positive
campaigns are often hollow exercises in civic boosterism. news stories about the City (to the extent that they
They can also be a tremendous waste of money. Their can be generated and transmitted) is many times more
ability to deliver on real economic development goals powerful than paid advertising.
absent a marketable “product” (i.e., true assets, place- STRATEGY 7.8: Develop an authentic city brand and
quality, funded programs and realistic strategy) is internal marketing strategy as a follow-on activity to the
grossly oversold. That said, they can be an effective way programs listed previously.
to help overcome a poor or undefined community image ACTIONS AND INITIATIVES
and get the message out about a city’s successes and
positioning if other, more fundamental programs have 1. Engage the public in conceptualizing the city brand.
already been put in place. More to the point, marketing 2. Use social media to develop the brand and to
should cap-off (not comprise) a city’s economic transmit news on city successes and activities.
development program. It should also be targeted to a 3. Regularly update the formatting and content of the
well-defined audience.
city’s website.
The Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce and 4. Create and regularly update a new economic
Tourism Convention Bureau do a good job of marketing development website.
Murfreesboro via various (mostly tourism-related)
collateral. The Nashville Regional Chamber and the 5. Develop specific, routinely refreshed collateral on
Greater Nashville Regional Council market the entire city economic incentive programs and real estate
region, including Murfreesboro, at the national and opportunities.
international level. Their messaging, on the other hand, 6. Consider creating a marketing line-item within the
is more purely economic development-focused with city’s economic development for regular content
an emphasis on regional demographics and selected development and select “media-buys”.
economic clusters. All are focused primarily on external
audiences.
The logical audiences for a Murfreesboro-specific
marketing campaign, on the other hand, should mostly
be internal to the region. They include: companies and
residents already residing in the region who may be
considering relocating for: cost, lifestyle, location or
education reasons; real estate brokers and developers
looking for opportunities to develop and lease/sell
property to the former; and current Murfreesboro
residents to help “validate” their city and compel them
to communicate its value proposition to all of the above.
The City’s marketing or branding message should be
memorable, authentic and somewhat aspirational. It
should succinctly capture the essence of the city and the
opportunities it offers in a believable way. One possible
angle is Murfreesboro’s classic city-in-the-country feel
and its emerging college-town identity. Another is the
City’s existing medical/health/recreation focus and its
potential lifestyle appeal to so-minded individuals and
households.