The “Richmond Real” campaign’s kickoff party was held on City Hall’s observation deck Wednesday afternoon. (Shots by Jonathan Spiers)
Ten a long time immediately after the regional “RVA” manufacturer took off, the Metropolis of Richmond is introducing its personal brand id aimed at advertising and marketing tourism and economic advancement in the city precisely.
Known as “Richmond True,” the new brand name marketing campaign was unveiled at a kickoff function Wednesday on the observation deck at the leading of Town Hall.
The party showcased different swag merchandise featuring the campaign’s “R” logo and slogans, as very well as constrained-version offerings from nearby businesses like Bev’s Ice Cream, Yard Grove, Gelati Celesti and Ruby Scoops.
In an intro movie that preceded his own remarks, Mayor Levar Stoney declared, “This isn’t your grandfather’s or your grandmother’s Richmond.”
“This is a new Richmond that I consider can be embraced by all people, all walks of daily life,” he additional. “Richmond has been at the middle of history — the fantastic, the poor and the unpleasant. We have occur a lengthy way.”
The online video set the tone for the intention of the campaign, which is to show Richmond in a new light and give it a new identity following decades discovered generally as the funds of the Confederacy.
The city worked with neighborhood advert company West Cary Group to produce the campaign. Chief Administrative Officer Lincoln Saunders claimed discussions with West Cary founder Moses Foster started in 2020, amid the protests that followed the murder of George Floyd and preceded the eventual removing of the Accomplice monuments that for many years dotted Monument Avenue.
“Some months later on, we had been operating to create out our setting up about strategic communications and construct much better communications and connections with the two our citizens and people outside the house the city,” Saunders said.
“West Cary Team does a lot of operate with regional entities like PlanRVA, so that is how we started off speaking with them about a citywide branding and engagement principle. This is just the to start with section, in my brain.”
West Cary Group’s Moses Foster delivered remarks together with Mayor Levar Stoney.
With the tagline “Real folks, actual places, real tales,” the brand name functions an “R” symbol with areas on every side that Foster reported are meant to symbolize the city’s Northside, Southside, West Close and East Conclusion. He explained the R as supplying a connection to each and every location and evoking an perspective of openness in the city.
Stoney mentioned the metropolis and West Cary Group invested a year building the manufacturer with input from many stakeholders, including citizens, enterprise entrepreneurs, learners and nonprofits.
The city’s expense in the work totaled about $450,000, such as manufacturer enhancement, style and design and the marketing campaign launch, which will continue on through the summer time, according to Stoney’s office environment.
Swag goods exhibiting the new emblem and slogan.
Foster, who was concerned in developing the “RVA” brand name along with Enterprise Richmond, VCU Brandcenter and other area ad agencies, acknowledged that marketing campaign in his remarks but described “Richmond Real” as the city’s personal.
“We’ve obtained a model for the region, and which is RVA, but we desired to create some thing exclusive for Richmond, due to the fact we are actually distinct,” Foster reported, noting similar efforts carried out by neighboring counties in the location.
“We’ve absent by means of a great deal of modify in Richmond more than the past pair of a long time. We want to emerge from that alter in a better put. We want to think about exactly where we’re heading and who we’re going to be as opposed to wherever we have been.”
A banner describes the design at the rear of the brand.
The branding campaign joins other initiatives to update the city’s identification. Last yr, the Metropolis Council adopted a new official city symbol that replaced the previous graphic of a bridge crossing the river in front of the downtown skyline. The new emblem characteristics a silhouette of a bateau boatman and 9 stars symbolizing the states of which Richmond was once the funds.
The new emblem will carry on to be employed for formal city business enterprise, and the “Richmond Real” brand name will be utilized for advertising endeavours this kind of as tourism and financial enhancement.