New Downtown Medford Brand

October 19, 2012
By Greg Stiles
Mail Tribune

Saying it's proud of its past and looking to the future, the Heart of Medford Association will unveil its new brand for marketing downtown today:

"Metro Medford. Historically centered. Progressively inspired."

"A duality emerged in our process," said Diane Raymond, Heart of Medford Association executive director. "People are very proud of our heritage, and people are anxious to move forward and be progressive. Those two things became clear, but the question was 'How do you marry those things together?' "

The brand, which includes the tag line "Good life. Good living," will be introduced in a series of gatherings beginning with an invitation-only gathering for HMA members and community leaders on Main Street this morning.

The scope broadens during at 5-8 p.m. gathering at Vogel Plaza, on the corner of East Main and Central Avenue, featuring live music and a light show. From 8-11 p.m., a launch party open to the public will take place at the Sparta Building, 401 E. Main St., featuring a 17-piece band. Reservations are required at www.heartofmedford.com/launch.

The new brand and logo, developed by Avant Marketing Group of St. Louis, has a bold "Metro" and a scripted "Medford" with a checkered background. The "Metro Medford" brand gives a nod to the nation's 207th-largest metropolitan statistical area (albeit one that includes all of Jackson County) and fourth-largest in Oregon.

Following a 2010 market survey, city officials, community leaders and residents were asked to fill out online surveys to help the rebranding effort. "We had a very successful turnout," Raymond said. "People told us what they thought and then we synthesized it with our market research. This wasn't something from a bunch of people, sitting in a room wondering what we should call downtown. It was a very organized process. People told us what they thought, we listened, and I think we have a home run."

While the brand is designed to market downtown Medford's commerce, it fits with other recent rebranding efforts as well, she said. "This brand belongs to everyone downtown," Raymond said. "The Commons is another brand, just as Travel Medford is another. This will be complementary to those other brands."

The Commons is the redevelopment area that includes the Lithia Motors headquarters, while Travel Medford is the visitor and convention division of the Chamber of Medford/Jackson County.

A Metro Medford website will go live in about two weeks, Raymond said, with a Facebook page and other social media efforts appearing in the near future as well. "We've done this in such a short time," Raymond said. "We haven't been able to pull off everything at once."