Stockbridge officially unveiled its first-ever branding campaign Monday during a City Hall celebration of speeches, food and socializing.
The city’s new tagline -- “Where Community Connects” -- was revealed in a new logo that includes red and gold swooshes under the Henry County town’s name. Stockbridge has spent $50,000 so far on the campaign, including design fees, focus groups and community meetings.
Stockbridge hopes the initiative will help it drive business development, residential growth and tourism. It’s especially important, leaders said, after the city went through a bruising secession attempt last year when one of its wealthiest communities -- Eagle’s Landing -- sought to break away and form a city of its own.
“This is more than just words, this is about you and it is about us,” City Councilman Alphonso Thomas said Monday. “It doesn’t mean anything if we cannot come together and move this forward.”
Susan McFarlane-Alvarez, an associate professor of corporate and cultural communication at Clayton State University, said branding campaigns help cities differentiate themselves when competing for resources. It’s a particular benefit to small towns that can’t compete with the name awareness advantages of big cities like Atlanta or Las Vegas when trying to stand out from the crowd.
“What it can do is give it a sense of personality and give it a sense of place on the map so that people will associate certain values and characteristics with Stockbridge,” McFarlane-Alvarez said of marketing efforts.