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Phase 1: Market Research and Investigation Project, Research and Engagement Manager: Richard Cassis Research and Engagement: Mary Ann Rood, Jackie Short, Daniel Grove, George Puig To meet and exceed the requirements of the RFP, our process will achieve a better understanding of who Sunny Isles Beach residents are, will gain useful feedback on how the City is perceived by its stakeholders, will evaluate how past and present planning strategies have moved the city forward, and how it should be marketed to key stakeholders we would: A. Analyze all publicly available data on demographics; business licenses; progress/actions on City Commission initiatives – current and proposed – including but not limited to transportation and pedestrian safety initiatives, facilities and new park development projects; Public Arts Advisory Committee findings and initiatives. If necessary, follow-up interviews will be conducted with subject matter experts and leaders in each of these areas to better understand their impact on the community. B. Review existing research or performance data provided by the client as well as from sources including but not limited to: a. Sunny Isles Beach Tourism & Marketing Council b. North Miami Association of Realtors® c. Aventura Sunny Isles Beach Chamber of Commerce d. Commercial and residential property managers C. Review and analyze marketing campaigns and events including but not limited to: a. Attendance and income (where applicable) data from: i. Beach Bash ii. Family Movie Nights iii. Sunny Isles Beach Jazz Fest iv. Russian Heritage Weekend v. And others considered important and indicative of community engagement by the City b. Review of creative and message development process including: i. Interviews with City communications professionals ii. Interviews with Advertising/promotion/ public relations agencies retained by the City D. With results and findings from A. through C. we develop proprietary research conducted including: a. An online survey that reaches broadly across the Sunny Isles Beach community including residents, business owners, employees and other stakeholders. The survey will be designed to provide a clear view of the community’s strengths and challenges as well as the messages that will more fully engage the community. i. We have learned that by using a community organization’s email lists, or those available from other public entities including schools, economic development organizations and even faith groups we can reach survey participants saving significant project dollars that can be used for marketing or other opportunities that may arise. ii. The survey will uncover key components of the Sunny Isles Beach brand image both current and desired future imagery as well as the messages for and challenges to the brand image. iii. We will seek to ensure that a minimum of 200 completed surveys are collected and will watch the demographics of the return to ensure that they are a match to that of the population so that all segments are accurately and fully represented in the results. iv. We understand that many of the residents may speak a language other than English and we can provide a language option in the survey so that this presents no barrier to participation. BRAND VISION INTERNAL PERCEPTIONS BRAND POSITION OWNABLE MESSAGE BRAND IMAGE EXTERNAL PERCEPTIONS FUNCTIONAL BENEFITS HEAD ATTRIBUTES FACTS EMOTIONAL BENEFITS HEART INSIGHT: EXPECT PUSH BACK While what stakeholders say and contribute during community engagement processes is vital to the development of a strong brand — verbally, visually and in spirit — parsing what their commentary means during the launch of the brand’s visual component (the logo) is typically a challenge and comes with the territory. Example: The development of the brand in De Pere went phenomenally. The recommended brand received strong support from the steering committee, who met regularly through the process. Staff and elected officials supported the brand, and voted 6 to 1 in favor of adopting it. However, the one dissenting Alderman launched a vocal campaign against the brand on Facebook after the vote, which led to a few loud oppositional voices in the community. What this has confirmed for us is that municipalities need to be prepared for push back from the community. Brands need to be lived to be embraced, and even the most successful brands in history received negative reactions when not seen in context (Nike’s swoosh and “Just Do It” were heavily panned in focus groups, yet it is celebrating its 30th anniversary and is regarded as wildly successful). City leadership needs to hire a team that uses a defensible and comprehensive process that builds the Brand, and then needs to recognize they have taken the right steps and stay strong if there is opposition. 12 SPARC DESIGN INC. | RFP 19-07-02 | CITY OF SUNNY ISLES BEACH | CITYWIDE RE-BRANDING 4. Approach ⁄ Methodology continued