City Branding – How Rebranding Boosted Community Trust and Engagement in Santa Cruz

Rebranding that unified communications and earned trust

Context & Challenge

When the City of Santa Cruz issued an RFP for Communications and Rebranding Services, they were clear about the mandate: revitalise the municipal brand, standardise communications, and deliver a toolkit that every department could use with confidence. The brief called for market research, a full brand strategy, brand identity (including logo redesign options), and a communication plan spanning traditional and digital channels—plus project management from kickoff to closeout.

As a branding agency that specialises in high-stakes public work, we saw a familiar pattern: multiple departments communicating well-intentioned messages without a unifying brand identity. The outcome was inconsistent city branding, diluted trust, and missed opportunities to activate residents, businesses, and visitors. Our challenge was to create a credible rebranding strategy that aligned leadership, staff, and community—without losing the city’s history or spirit.

‍

Approach / Strategy

We anchored the engagement in four tracks that mirrored the City’s RFP scope:

1. Market research & insight. We designed a research plan to map audiences, sentiment, and message clarity, combining desk research, staff workshops, and resident input (surveys and intercepts). The goal: evidence for decision-making, not opinions.
2. Brand strategy. We defined purpose, values, personality, positioning, and a citywide narrative that could flex from public safety to tourism. A usable brand strategy turns into better day-to-day marketing strategy; that’s how we designed it.
3. Brand identity design. We developed distinct routes for a refreshed visual system—including logo redesign options, typography, colour, and layout grids—with accessibility and legibility at the core. We planned for multi-department execution before we drew the first line.
4. Communication plan. We built an integrated plan covering web, print, signage, social, media relations, and community engagement—with KPIs and a maintenance cadence so the brand isn’t a one-and-done reveal but an operational habit.

Throughout, we treated this as a rebranding case study in disciplined stakeholder alignment: fewer slogans, more clarity; fewer formats, more consistency; fewer approvals, more enablement.

Creative Process

Discovery to direction. We started with stakeholder interviews (Mayor/Council offices, City Manager’s Office, department leads) and frontline staff. We isolated message friction: internal teams worked hard, but the public wasn’t always seeing a single, empathetic voice.

Identity sprints. We built three fully-fledged design systems—each with a different balance of heritage and modernity—so decision-makers could compare whole systems, not single logos. Each route was tested for small-format clarity (badges, favicons), large-format impact (fleet, banners), and wayfinding usefulness.

Language first. We wrote the brand story and tone guidelines before final polish on the mark. Voice influences form; we wanted a system where friendly, plain-language copy sits naturally with a confident civic visual identity.

Toolkit thinking. We created a citywide brand toolkit with templates, do’s/don’ts, and pattern libraries so communications teams could execute fast without constant designer intervention. This is where brand identity design services create operational ROI.

Execution & Deliverables

Research deliverables

• A documented research plan; audience and sentiment findings; and an action plan to apply insights in services, outreach, and community engagement branding.

Strategy deliverables

• Brand purpose, values, personality, target audiences, positioning, and key messages—written to be copied and reused across departmental contexts (Utilities, Recreation, Economic Development).
• A cross-functional marketing strategy that aligned campaign priorities and evergreen information delivery.

Identity deliverables

• Three distinct logo redesign directions; finalised master logo + lockups; typography; colour palette; iconography; layout system.
• Accessibility checks (contrast, legibility), plus wayfinding considerations for city facilities.

Toolkit deliverables

• A brand toolkit with templates for council reports, press releases, social posts, slide decks, mailers, signage, and fleet livery—delivered with editable files and rules to keep usage on-brand.

Communication plan

• An integrated digital marketing strategy and social media marketing strategy with content pillars, channel roles, cadence, and a measurement model.
• A maintenance rhythm and governance model so the city can review performance and update assets quarterly.

Project management

• Clear workback schedules, risk registers, and decision logs; status updates and a closeout report per the City’s requirements.

Tangible Outcomes (KPIs, quotes, business impact)

We measure rebrands on adoption and clarity before we talk hype. For municipal projects, “success” is everyday usability.

Operational outcomes

• Toolkit adoption. Departments used the new templates within weeks; requests for ad-hoc design tasks dropped meaningfully as staff self-served from the library.
• Message clarity. Plain-language guidelines reduced copy length and increased completion rates on key notices (e.g., service updates).
• Governance. A lightweight review process replaced rounds of subjective edits, freeing leadership time.

Communication outcomes

• Channel cohesion. Social posts, press releases, and web updates now look and read like they come from one City.
• Engagement signals. Early indicators showed steady lifts in reach and reactions on community updates; sentiment in comments improved as message tone normalised.

Measurement we tracked

• Brand-asset adoption by department
• Template usage vs. bespoke design requests
• Web clarity indicators (task completion, time on task for top resident services)
• Social reach and engagement trends by content pillar
• Media pickup and message consistency

What we heard

• “It’s easier to communicate quickly without sacrificing consistency.” — Internal comms lead (paraphrased)
• “Residents recognise the City immediately—signage, posts, and notices match.” — Facilities manager (paraphrased)

These results reflect the City’s original objectives—brand revitalisation, increased awareness, improved perception, and ongoing support—codified in the RFP scope and deliverables.

Lessons Learned

Design for enablement, not theatre. Civic brands live in staff hands. Templates, rules, and governance create more value than one-off hero visuals.

Language is the first design system. The most visible improvement came from consistent tone. The brand strategy and messaging architecture made every department sound like one team.

Invest in maintenance. The quarterly review cadence is where small fixes prevent big drift. A brand that learns together stays together.

Next steps we recommend

1. Extend the communication plan with community co-creation—short resident panels to pressure-test messages for clarity before citywide rollouts.
2. Launch a citywide content marketing strategy that turns recurring services (permits, recreation, recycling) into helpful, repeatable series.
3. Layer destination and economic development messaging into the same system so tourism and business climate strengthen the core city branding story (think destination branding without creating a competing sub-brand).
4. Continue staff training—brief, hands-on clinics for power users in each department to keep the toolkit alive.