The City of Ames has taken the first steps toward achieving its goal of creating a unifying community vision.  

Christie Harper, president and founder of Brand Endeavor, has been in Ames this week to begin the first phase of the 19 week-long project that will ultimately give the city its own brand.

“What we’re not talking about is a snappy logo or clever tagline,” Harper said at the City Council meeting Tuesday night. “We think about a brand as a promise. A promise is something that creates value.”

Brand Endeavor of Marina del Rey, Calif., was selected out of 10 visioning companies to lead the project. A Consultant Agreement with Brand Endeavor for the amount of $78,500, which includes travel, was approved Jan. 25 by the City Council.

Some examples of brand promises Harper presented are, “Walt Disney: Creating magic for families” and “Beverly Hills: The ultimate playground for people who enjoy the best of everything.”

However, Harper pointed out that companies such as BP and Enron are well-known, but do not necessarily have good reputations. Therefore, a brand needs to not only have awareness, but also value.

This week the company began the first part of the process, called the “discovery” phase, by conducting interviews with various community sector representatives.

Harper said some of the questions the groups are being asked include what are the best and/or worst things about living and working in Ames, how would Ames be described to outsiders, what are competitive cities to Ames and how does Ames stack up against them.

“Then we’ve asked a lot just about the people: the type of people, what do people value, what do people have in common, that kind of thing,” Harper said.

Harper said that while it is too soon to go into detail, the interviews have already shown consistency in residents’ responses.

“I think basically what we’re finding is that everybody wants the best for Ames,” Harper said. “In general people want Ames to continue to progress and to be better than it is now.”

After the initial interviews with representative groups, Brand Endeavor will send out an online survey in March in order to get everyone’s opinions included.

“Every single voice will matter in that survey,” Harper said. “We really want to know what people want Ames to be and what people feel Ames has to offer and what it doesn’t have to offer.”

The company will then return in April with the results from their research on the city and its residents, and present a strategic platform with a chance for feedback.

The final presentation to City Council will be in early June, where Brand Endeavor will include recommendations as to what the city should focus on in its brand.

Harper said it is important that everybody agrees on the vision and direction of the city. “Then when those decisions come up about development opportunities or events … we can say: ‘Is this supporting that long-term vision?’ And if it is, let’s do it. And if it’s not, let’s don’t.”

Harper founded Brand Endeavor in 2008 after working eight years for global consulting firm Siegel+Gale. Her company does brand research and strategy with clients that include cities, universities and non-profits, as well as other types of companies.

Harper said she was interested in the visioning project in Ames because it seemed like a great challenge and a great opportunity.

“I think the bottom line is we knew we could help,” Harper said. “We saw the challenges that were presented and we knew that what the city needed is what we do really well.”

“It’s kind of like, keep what’s great about [Ames] today and just kind of evolve it a little bit to potentially provide a little bit more of those services that people want,” Harper said.