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Date: 10/19/2022
MONSON – myMonson, a new organization in town that supports business objectives in a small business community, is asking for residents to assist in the town branding project.
Aaron Carpenter and Missy Gola from myMonson provided an overview and update on the project during the Oct. 11 Select Board meeting.
Carpenter explained that the branding project was something they entered with the support of the Monson Business Civic Association (BCA). “[The BCA is] basically a collection of business representatives in the area, representatives from town government, representatives from different civic organizations working together,” he said.
He went on to say that the organization received some money from the town through a Regional Economic Development Organization (REDO) grant. The REDO grant funding is meant to assist communities across the state who have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Carpenter shared that some of the money allocated was to be used for various events and wayfinding signage in town. “What happened is that the BCA decided that branding was probably really important to get done first before we started putting signs up in town,” he said.
He explained that myMonson’s work includes branding services, design services, digital media, digital advertising services and more. After putting their name in a hat, myMonson was selected among a few other organizations to carry out this project.
“Part of the branding exercise is to get democratic feedback,” said Carpenter. “This is to go out to the community, to the residents, to understand what’s important to them about this town, what resonates with them – because the objective here is to build a brand that works for everybody – not to exclude anyone’s opinion.”
To gather this feedback, Carpenter shared, they have conducted individual interviews, visited the Senior Center to talk with folks about their experience in Monson, talked with representatives from the town itself and so on.
He noted that they also have a website on which there is an area where people can share their opinions about the town, anonymously.
“Part of what we’re trying to do here, it’s not just a logo,” said Carpenter. He shared that the first thing they are asking for feedback from the town for is a positioning statement. “This is what really describes the town and makes it unique.” By collecting general statements about the town from as many people as possible, they will start comparing that to a competitive set.
Carpenter said, “We’ll read these statements about Monson, we’ll compare them to other communities in the surrounding area and try to pull out the key attributes that make Monson unique and special to the residents.”
From that, they will form a positioning statement. He noted that this is the statement for the town that describes the town from which all the design work happens. Once they have the statement that describes what they’re looking for, they will start designing with color palettes and typography and looking at icons to create the logo.
After the positioning statement is defined, Carpenter said they will move on to what’s called a “brand personality.” He explained, “It’s what you think of when you think of Nike, you think of athletics. There’s an image that’s associated with this, but it’s a personality that the brand can wear.” For instance, if residents think Monson is “exciting” and “lively,” the color scheme would be brighter and neon, whereas a historic and rugged feel would lead to more muted tones.
The personality distribution will be the next source of feedback that myMonson will be looking for. “From there it’s all the design work. It’s the logo, it’s the color, it’s what will actually go up in print material, around the town, etc.,” said Carpenter.
He informed the Select Board that this project is on an accelerated timeline, targeting completion in the middle of December.
As the project unfolds, Pat Oney, Select Board chairman, asked Carpenter and Gola to provide them with updates along the way.
In closing, Carpenter said, “We are really, really looking for that democratic feedback. We’re really looking for people to come to the site and enter this information.”
He added, “We’re honored to have been chosen for this and we don’t take this job lightly. It’s important to both of us.”
Carpenter encourages residents to visit their website at https://mymonson.org/ to learn more about the REDO grants and insert their opinions on this topic.