Connecting/Synthesizing/Transforming
I first looked to secondary research to get a basis of where I wanted to go. The area I was working with was barely a two-mile strip but the city is so small, I started my research looking at all of Andover. This is because Andover’s identity would play a big part in Andover Road’s identity. The first place I looked was the city of Andover’s website. This gave me an idea of how the city perceived itself and the type of image it wanted to project. In the article 5 Place Branding Principles for Successful Brand Development and Management, it states that “[c]ooperation is about finding common ground between stakeholders, private and public sector and civil society, in order to determine what makes a place unique and attractive” (The Editorial Team, 2015). When I develop the brand for Andover Road, I want to make sure that is does not clash with Andover’s brand. This area needs to be part of the community, not fighting it. I looked to other sources that talked about the area and had information about events and statistics. I even looked at reviews for businesses in the area. Once I had a good understanding of the place and the people, I started on the primary research. This involved taking pictures of the area and asking people questions.
Problem Solving
The main problem I had to work with was the fact that it was a small in area in a small town very close to a larger city. Andover Road’s identity could easily be swallowed by the identity of Andover itself. On top of that I had to find what features to accentuate that would make it more appealing than Wichita. Having a theme of big city feel, small town flare is all well and good but why go to a place that feels like a big city, when you can actually go to the big city. In his article, Di Somma (2016) writes “brand differentiation today is really about what a brand does for ‘me’ not how it revolutionizes whole swathes of a sector”. So during interviews I added questions to find out what about the area brought people in and why they might go to Wichita instead. I tried to aim some of the questions at what Andover Road did for that person.
Innovative Thinking
In regards to innovative thinking, I tried to find out what areas in Wichita built their identities on. From there I tried to think how Andover Road was different or what amenities were similar and how being offered by a small town elevated them. I tried to incorporate how a small area might be a benefit rather than a hinderance.
Acquiring Competencies
The main compentency I learned was how to deal with interviews. I found interviewees were more comfortable if they knew what types of questions they were going to be asked. I also found doing a short run through before hand warmed them up and made them more talkative when the recording started. With some trail and error I also found how to position my mic so I get the best sound from the conversation and not the background noise.
Reflections
When I first went into this project I thought a good theme would be to make the area a nerve center or a bussling hive. I also considered using its proximity to Wichita as a pull. While going through the secondary research I came across the area’s farming origins and it’s reinvention in 1991. Part of the issues they had in the nineties was their dependence on Wichita so I knew the relationship between the two had to be thrown out. During interviews though, I found people mostly liked the area for its convenience and how easy it was to get around. So moving forward I will play with the idea of the area being a fast track or play with designs that use movement.
References
Di Somma, M. (2016, December 11). Is Brand Differentiation Still Possible? Retrieved from https://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2015/02/is-brand-differentiation-still-possible.html#.XNh_sC-ZPRY
The Editorial Team. (2015, January 26). 5 Place Branding Principles for Successful Brand Development and Management. Retrieved from https://placebrandobserver.com/5-place-branding-principles-to-guide-brand-development-management/