McMinnville will be changing its slogan and logo.
Design Sensory, a design agency from Knoxville, unveiled its plans to make McMinnville the place to vacation in Tennessee. Making the presentation were Mary Blair and Cassie Givens.
“We want to elevate awareness with a brand launch and innovation of the new brand across various platforms,” said Blair. “We want to unify the community and gain buy-in by developing an identity that captures the essence and the momentum of this community. There’s lots of change going on here. We want to foster recognition within and outside Warren County, attracting audiences seeking and ideal place to live, work and play.”
The logo is a compass with a magnolia tree bloom. At the bottom of the logo is the slogan, “Where Life’s In Full Bloom.”
Givens calls the logo a “mark.”
“It’s a very intentional mark,” said Givens. “You can notice the compass that represents the convergence of your location in the state but also finding your center. The flower is a nod to the nature and the Nursery Capital of the World. There’s a pattern in the back that’s a nod to the Eastern influence.”
Since 2009, the city has been using the slogan “Sow Natural” generated by MMA Creative. That slogan is pronounced “so natural” with the “w” added as a play on words in reference to the area’s nursery industry. Its logo was “McMinnville” with the first “i” made into a tree.
Givens says the current slogan is confusing, too nursery focused, and not encompassing all McMinnville and Warren County has to offer, but the new logo corrects all those issues.
“We asked ourselves, ‘What does your brand promise? What do you want to achieve? What are the key insights?’” said Givens. “What we promise: From rugged waterfalls or winding down for the weekend, your adventure is closer than you think in McMinnville, Warren County. What do we want to achieve? That this new identity will capture the moments and momentum building and coming throughout McMinnville and Warren County. Key insights: we know that adventure tourism will be very impactful to the brand strategy. The community is redefining itself and its potential.”
Design Sensory also generated a positioning statement for the city.
“From our bustling town square and thriving community to peaceful get-a-ways, our adventures are your retreat found only in McMinnville and Warren County,” said Givens.
Design Sensory presented T-shirts and cups to city officials that displayed the new logo and slogan.
Design Sensory will now help the city make the transition with photography, videography, and changing its website, but Blair would like to take it a step further with a competition.
“We would like to randomly place plants throughout those two big metropolitan areas,” said Blair of Nashville and Chattanooga. “McMinnville is going to grow into those area, pardon the pun but it’s intentional. By doing that we are going to start a social media activation campaign. We are going to encourage folks to find those plants that are randomly scattered throughout the city.”
The campaign would be an effort to find a couple from each area to win an all-expenses-paid weekend in McMinnville. Those people would be used to generate the videos and photos for the city’s marketing campaign.
“We believe that we can market in those two metropolitan areas that McMinnville is Tennessee’s retreat,” said Blair. “We believe that will be the marketing message that’s going to take you guys into those areas and get more people coming here.
While cost of the prize package and marketing campaign is not known, Blair says that can be generated and presented to city officials in the next 2-3 weeks.
Funds for the logo and slogan came from a Tennessee Department of Tourism Development grant obtained by Warren County Chamber of Commerce.
