Queen Anne’s Introduces a New Place Brand — Where Shore Living Begins
New Positioning Signals the Arrival and Start of a Special Place
Queen Anne’s County today debuted a new place brand – Where Shore Living Begins. The unified marketing identity strengthens the county’s connection to Maryland’s mainland and reinforces its position as a beautiful and bountiful home for new businesses and families and an alluring destination for vacationers and day-trippers. Highlighting Queen Anne’s unique location and lifestyle, Where Shore Living Begins differentiates the county from others in Maryland and surrounding states.
The county’s Economic & Tourism Development team introduced the place brand at the Queen Anne’s County Chamber of Commerce’s Economic Outlook Event held at Grasonville’s Prospect Bay Country Club. Department Director Heather Tinelli said the new place brand is the culmination of a five-month discovery and outreach process that engaged community and business leaders from throughout the county.
“As we thought about our county’s identity, we were challenged to answer one simple question: Why choose here?” Tinelli said. Where Shore Living Begins invites individuals to live in, work or visit Queen Anne’s County and experience the best of two worlds: An Eastern Shore lifestyle with unparalleled access to ‘big city’ amenities. Valuing our natural resources, rich heritage, and outstanding quality of life, it celebrates what makes Queen Anne’s unique.”
County Marketing & Destination Development Specialist Katie Clendaniel said Where Shore Living Begins also serves as the foundational positioning for variations adopted by the economic development and tourism team such as Where Shore Ventures Begin, Where Shore Memories Begin and Where Shore Business Begins. In addition, it can be applied to market-specific industry groups or activities including Where Shore Calls Begin (waterfowl hunting), and Where Shore Romance Begins (weddings and romantic getaways).
Activation to incorporate the new place branding has already begun, according to Clendaniel, Where Shore Living Begins is now featured in a variety of marketing outreach, including the department’s new visitor guide, billboards, and other advertising.
Queen Anne’s brand discovery process was launched in early March with five focus groups and multiple interviews conducted with individuals representing diverse industries, interests, and geographic areas from Stevensville to Sudlersville. Additional insight was gained in April through an online survey completed by approximately 300 county residents, business owners and visitors.
Responses from the stakeholder research were analyzed to discern commonly held beliefs, aspirations, personality traits and characteristics of Queen Anne’s. A competitive analysis followed to understand how other locations were positioned in the region.
“There were many takeaways from the stakeholder research, but one really stood out – there is a deep commitment to maintaining our community’s Eastern Shore way of life,” said Tinelli. “We view ourselves as separate but not segregated with easy entry to Annapolis, the DMV and Baltimore to the west as well as Wilmington, Philadelphia and South Jersey to the north.”
A unique and memorable logo and word mark accompany the new Queen Anne’s brand. The logo features a stylized Q in a gradient of rich blues and greens that illustrate the county’s deep connection and interrelationship of land and waterways. At the mark’s center is a seed-shaped kernel reflecting the county’s agrarian roots that leads to a curved opening symbolizing water and wind.
With the support of a USDA Rural Development grant, the department engaged Choptank Communications to facilitate the discovery and community engagement process and create and design the Where Shore Living Begins brand.
To learn more about Economic & Tourism Development in Queen Anne’s County, go to visitqueenannes.com or choosequeenannes.com. Follow us on social media @visitqueenannes or @choosequeenannes.com.
Categories: Economic Development, Press Release, Travel & Tourism
Tags: branding, Economic Development, Tourism