Think Hopkins Marketing Strategy; Elverum
CITY OF HOPKINS
Memorandum
To: Honorable Mayor and Council Members
Mike Mornson, City Manager
From: Kersten Elverum, Director of Planning & Development
Date: December 11, 2018
Subject: Think Hopkins Marketing Strategy
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PURPOSE
The purposed of the discussion at the City Council work session is to inform the City Council of
a new initiative that will inform and strengthen our City’s marketing campaign, Think Hopkins.
INFORMATION
The City of Hopkins, in partnership with the Hopkins Business and Civic Association, launched
the Think Hopkins marketing campaign in 2006. The work was initially led by a committee,
with consultation from CityImage marketing firm. Over the years, the campaign has been
managed by the Community Development Coordinator with an annual budget of $15,000. The
intent has always been to get the word out of all things great about Hopkins with the website
being central to the campaign.
While it has served us adequately, there are several reasons that staff is interested in taking a
fresh look at our messaging:
Hopkins is a dynamic community and the Think Hopkins brand does not fully convey
this.
Staff and HBCA board members have turned over and they lack a connection to the
brand. Who are we trying to target? What are our key messages? Why does HBCA
contribute funds to this effort? These are some of the questions that have been asked.
SW LRT will provide an expanded market area and create new opportunities to promote
our city.
Timing is ideal in that the Think Hopkins website is scheduled to be relaunched under
the CivicPlus platform and any changes to our brand can be made during website
development.
City staff has hired Alan Schutte, Platt Hollow Road, to guide the community through a
strategic briefing process. A strategic brief is a short 1-2 page document outlining the strategy
for a creative project. It is the map that guides the creative team on how to best reach the
campaign's goals.
Alan will be at the December 11, 2018, work session to describe the strategic brief process
and answer any questions you have. It is important that everyone with a stake or interest in
the outcome be involved from the beginning by completing the strategic brief worksheet –
including the City Council.
The work will be launched at a community meeting in January. Anyone who wants to help
shape the branding of Hopkins will be invited to attend. They will be guided through the
strategic briefing process and how to fill out an effective brief. Participants will be given three
weeks to complete their worksheet. Alan will then sort through all of the completed briefs,
looking for the key statements and themes.
The initial results will be presented at a follow-up meeting. With the community’s input a final
document will be delivered. Staff will then decide if additional work is needed to develop a
positioning statement and/or tagline. The strategic briefing process will also tease out whether
or not additional graphic design or perhaps a new logo is needed.
The cost of the creative briefing process will not exceed $4000 (and may be less) and will be
paid out of the Think Hopkins marketing budget. Alan Schutte has also proposed a second
phase of the work to develop a tagline and/or positioning statement for a cost of $750-1,500.
FUTURE ACTION
The Strategic Briefing process will inform future action. Based on the direction of the final
briefing statement, it will be determined if the current logo, tactics and image is supportive of
the desired message or if alignments are necessary.
Attachment: Proposal from Platt Hollow Road