News Release: 3/28/2018 - McMinnville Tourism Has a New Brand!

McMinnville's New Tourism Brand is Revealed 

Last year, the McMinnville-Warren County Chamber of Commerce applied for the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development Marketing Assistance Program with plans of giving our community a fresh look. It was unforeseen at that time the fortuitous relationship the Chamber would form with marketing and advertising firm Designsensory on this project. Out of Knoxville, Tenn., Designsensory boasts multiple Addy Awards for its creative work, adding accolades every year.

The agency was impressed with McMinnville and its offerings, resulting in the successful creation of the new economic development website. Once the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development released the FY2017-2018 Marketing Co-op Grant, McMinnville-Warren County Chamber of Commerce President Mandy Eller immediately contacted Designsensory, requesting a quote for similar web and video development specifically focused on tourism. "I included a rebranding project first," said Eller. "So that we could have a similar quality of design across all of our marketing efforts, such as that reflected in the new ECD website." Eller wrote the grant to focus only on the rebranding project first to ensure a timely completion for the grant deadline.

Eller and McMinnville Mayor Jimmy Haley, along with members of the newly formed Tourism Development Board, took Designsensory's creative team on one of "the greatest FAM tours we've ever had," said Designsensory Senior Account Manager Mary Blair during the brand reveal before Tuesday night's city meeting. Blair manages the project for Designsensory and is no stranger to destination marketing having 13 years prior experience, leading Visit Knoxville during the city's downtown revitalization. Blair said she immediately saw McMinnville is sitting on a "gold mine," and explained the creative process undertaken to arrive at the new logo and tagline. Designsensory gathered information and feedback from the newly formed Tourism Development Board (TDB) and began the process of audience analysis and positioning for the brand.

After weeks of working together with the board, the logo was complete: a hand-drawn dogwood bloom laid over a compass. The bloom emphasizes McMinnville's beauty, embracing its history as the Nursery Capital of the World. The compass implies the central location of McMinnville being within a two-hour drive of more than two-million people. Finally, the tagline, "Where life's  in full bloom," speaks to the energy of its residents and the possibilities for progress and growth. "We wanted to have a brand that would look good not only on letterhead, but t-shirts, hats, coffee mugs, bumper stickers, flags for downtown, you name it," said Eller. "We want this to incite a sense of community pride."

T-shirts and mugs were also handed out Tuesday night to members of the city board by Blair, who encouraged those present to be "ambassadors of the brand."