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Destination Branding Project
Summary
The City has hired a consultant to assist with destination branding and tourism. This project aims to create a marketing campaign that highlights all the cool things about Puyallup the downtown core and helps Puyallup to be known as a place where people want to be, and that is attractive to both locals and visitors.
To assist us, the City has hired Rotator Creative, out of Tacoma, who will embark on a series of outreach methods to gain an understanding of what makes Puyallup a destination for visitors. Over the course of several months, Rotator will engage with local stakeholders and the community at large. The results of these findings will be presented to the project team and City Council, with a plan for attracting visitors to Puyallup. This may include the design of a new tourism brand that inspires visitation to Puyallup.
Background
Retail, hospitality (food and hotel accommodations), and tourism are critical to the livelihood of Puyallup, bringing billions of dollars into the local economy and employing tens of thousands of workers. Spending by locals and tourists has a real and measurable positive impact on our economy. COVID-19 had a devastating impact on retail, hospitality, and tourism in the City of Puyallup, with a 25 percent decline in food and hotel accommodation spending at the start of the pandemic, and a slow crawl back to normal numbers. The historic cancellation of the Washington State Fair in the fall of 2020, along with the cancellation of numerous associated events such as the popular summer concert series, led to a loss of over $1 million in ticket sales taxes alone. Events at the Fair and downtown Puyallup draw almost 4 million visitors annually to our city, with about $50 million of indirect spending at local businesses.
Building on this success of a marketing campaign to shop and dine locally in downtown Puyallup during the winter of 2020, the City applied for and was awarded $40,000 in Lodging Tax Funds to continue its destination marketing efforts.
In 2021, the City sent out a Request For Proposals (RFP) to hire a marketing consultant that would help create a brand for Puyallup and incorporate it into a tourism marketing campaign. The City received 12 responses and selected Rotator Creative to lead this project.
In the coming months ahead, Rotator will begin researching and learning more about Puyallup from residents and stakeholders – what is good, what is great, and what people love about it. Rotator will take this information and work with City staff to create a marketing campaign that encourages both visitors and locals to explore and discover Puyallup’s rich, dynamic lifestyle that is unique from other cities.
Outreach
Design Charrette
On Wednesday, May 25, staff hosted a charrette at the Pioneer Park Pavilion with our consultants, Rotator Creative, who will be leading our branding and marketing campaign project. Rotator was selected to create a new marketing campaign that tells Puyallup’s story and why it is such a cool place to visit. Two sessions were held, the morning session from 9 am to 10:30 am and an afternoon session from 4 pm to 5:30 pm. Over 30 key community stakeholders attended and participated in fun, interactive exercises that got them thinking about all the things that make Puyallup a great place to live and visit. Below are some images taken at the charrette.
Community Events
During the summer of 2022, Rotator attended several Farmer's Markets and Summer Concerts in Pioneer Park to engage with locals and visitors on what makes Puyallup a cool place to visit. Folks who visited their booth got to play a fun game of cornhole with some mood boards, which could help inform the new tourism brand. Rotator spoke one-on-one with event attendees and used the information in their findings on Puyallup as a destination. Below are some images from the outreach.
Second Design Charrette
On November 30, Rotator and staff reconvened at the Pioneer Park Pavilion to show community stakeholders three draft designs concepts, which would inform the new tourism brand. Like the first meeting, participants engaged in a series of fun exercises to get their creative thoughts flowing. Participants were asked to place a sticker on the design that they preferred. Over 25 people were in attendance. Rotator will use the feedback from the meeting to craft the final design recommendation, which will be presented to the City Council in 2023.
Contact
For more information about this project, please contact Eric Johnson at ejohnson@puyallupwa.gov or Meredith Neal at mneal@puyallupwa.gov.