Updated November 25, 2008 Angels Camp, CA November 2008 Branding, Development, & Marketing Action Plan Funded by Community Development Block Grant #06-CDBG-2510 2 Angels Camp, CA October 2008 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION AND SCOPE OF WORK ................................................................... 5 THE BRAND PROMISE .................................................................................................. 9 STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES, OPPORTUNITIES & THREATS ...................................... 13 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................. 17 RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................................... 29 1. Commit to the Brand Promise ................................................................................... 30 2. Create and Empower the Brand Leadership Team ................................................... 32 3. Promote Plan Adoption by the Community at Large ............................................... 35 4. Hire A Graphics Design Firm .................................................................................... 37 5. Develop a Brand and Logo “Standards and Practices Manual” ............................... 38 6. Conduct Brand-Building Outreach in the Community ............................................. 40 7. Develop a Main Street Plan ....................................................................................... 42 8. Downtown Destination Retail District Development ............................................... 45 9. Adopt Historic Commercial District Ordinances ....................................................... 48 10. Recruit Business Into Downtown Destination Retail District ................................. 49 11. Provide Technical Assistance For Retail .................................................................. 52 12. Develop Comprehensive Wayfinding System ......................................................... 56 13. Create Two Marketing Brochures ............................................................................ 58 14. Create a New Angels Camp Website ....................................................................... 61 15. Develop Public Relations Resources and Place Advertising Strategically ............. 68 16. Design and Sell Logo Gear ...................................................................................... 67 17. Periodic Facilitation .................................................................................................. 70 DOWNTOWN IDEA BOOK ........................................................................................... 71 SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION ................................................................................ 89 Interview summary .................................................................................................... 90 Claritas demographics [immediate market, visitor markets] ..................................... 93 Sample case histories (other downtowns) ................................................................ 99 Sample ordinances ..................................................................................................... 110 Wi-fi models ............................................................................................................... 119 Destination Development contact information ......................................................... 120 Angels Camp, CA October 2008 3 4 Angels Camp, CA October 2008 Introduction and scope of work Angels Camp, CA October 2008 5 Introduction and Scope INTRODUCTION AND SCOPE OF WORK • A description of the recommendation. • Who would be charged with implementation. • The associated cost (if any). Angels Camp, California, is a small town with a rich history located in the • Possible funding sources. foothills of the western Sierra Nevada Mountains, 50 miles east of Stockton. • When the recommendation would be implemented. Situated at the junction of Highways 49 and 4, Angels Camp is on a heavily • The rationale for making the recommendation. traveled route to and from the higher Sierras. Highway 49 is a north-south arterial that meanders through the Sierra foothills for 317 miles, designed The development of this plan was accomplished through the following scope nearly 100 years ago as an all-weather road linking several gold rush era of work: towns. Highway 4 is a major east-west arterial that originates in the Bay Area and crosses the Sierras. The highest elevations of this route are closed in the Task 1. Community Assessment, Marketing winter. Effectiveness and On-Site Assessment Two people from the DDI team were assigned to assess the effectiveness of The population of Angels Camp is only 3,150, however, nearly 10 million Angels Camp’s marketing. These team members had no idea what com- people live within 100 miles of the community, and 14 million within 150 munity they were assessing and were instructed to plan a trip to the area miles. These populations are expected to grow into the foreseeable future, without any preconceived notions about which communities to visit or stay providing Angels Camp a large market from which to draw. in overnight. Using the Internet, AAA and private guidebooks, calling visitor information, requesting information, and asking specific questions, our team The City of Angels Camp is interested in developing a special identity that took a professional look at Angels Camp’s marketing efforts to determine will attract a portion of this significant neighboring population and revital- overall effectiveness. ize the downtown into a place attractive to both local residents and visitors. The City has retained Destination Development, Inc. (DDI) to assist them in Then, the DDI team made an initial visit to Angels Camp to view the com- an evaluation of downtown Angels Camp’s tourism potential and status as a munity through the eyes of a first-time visitor driving into the area from the visitor destination. community’s primary and secondary markets. The team took dozens of pho- tographs, assessed the signage (both public and private), wayfinding (ease of The primary goal of this effort has been to develop a comprehensive vision getting around), gateways into the community (first impressions are lasting or “brand” for Angels Camp that maximizes its current assets and amenities. impressions), critical mass (shopping and dining options), customer service, DDI has developed this detailed Action Plan, which provides the road map to attractions mix, amenities (parking, visitor information, public restrooms, accomplish this goal, through branding, product development, and marketing etc.), branding efforts, beautification, pedestrian friendliness, attractions, sea- initiatives. The implementation of this plan will result in increased tour- sonality, overall appeal, etc. ism spending in the community, increased overnight stays (overnight visitors spend three times that of day visitors), and a vibrant community that attracts Task 2. Assessment Findings and Suggestions Workshop local residents into the downtown during evening and weekend hours. Following the assessment process DDI presented a workshop where we As the plan title implies, it includes the brand direction what you want to showcased the findings. DDI noted shortcomings or drawbacks and provid- be known for; development what you need to build or do so you “own” ed suggestions on how to increase visitor spending in each area. The work- the brand; and marketing how to tell the world. An action plan is a to-do shop also included community branding essentials to inform and educate the list that involves many organizations since it “takes a village” to implement a participants as to what branding is, the steps involved in branding a commu- successful effort. For each recommendation you’ll find: nity, and how branding can benefit Angels Camp. Information obtained from 6 Angels Camp, CA October 2008 Introduction and Scope the assessment process was used to help develop specific recommendations the region (making Angels Camp worth a special trip over the same things in the plan. the visitor can find closer to home). Task 3. Stakeholder Interviews & Outreach We looked for existing resources that would create the most economical DDI interviewed selected individuals about the community, including retail- pathway to developing a tourism product that could become THE brand for ers and community and city government leaders, to obtain background infor- Angels Camp. Which assets have the potential to deliver the greatest return mation on previous branding efforts and to solicit ideas about viable brands on investment? Every branding effort requires product development so we for Angels Camp. A successful branding effort must be embraced by commu- looked for brand ideas that would leverage current assets. Each promising nity organizations, so understanding which direction would receive the most brand concept was measured against our brand “feasibility test questions” to buy-in is important. This process gave us a sense of where the city wants to see if it passed muster. Once a brand was selected for recommendation, DDI go and which brand has the greatest chance for success. A summary of our created graphic identities and slogans in support of the brand. interviews is in the Supporting Documentation section of this document. Task 7. Product Development Task 4. Research Review Brands are grounded in delivering