Branding Broken Arrow

Sunday, February 18th 2007, 4:39 pm

By: News On 6

Broken Arrow city leaders hope a new and improved image will help attract more people, and business to the city. News on 6 reporter Chris Wright reports weâ€™ll soon be seeing the bedroom community in a new light.

In Broken Arrow, new restaurants are opening and housing developments continue to pop up. In an effort to encourage more growth and attract more affluent residents, the city has decided to give itself an image makeover.

"How can we bring in more folks, more business, make ourselves a destination city," said Keith Sterling, Broken Arrow Director of Communications.

After asking themselves that question, city officials decided the answer was to hire an advertising firm to conduct a re-branding campaign. Over the next few months the firm will meet with a committee composed of business owners, residents, school officials and other members of the community. The committee will evaluate the city's identity, and discuss where they see Broken Arrow heading in the future.

Local business owners say the branding of BA makes sense.

"Broken Arrow, this is their opportunity to tell their story, and brand names have become just like a common language spoken worldwide," Jan Gordon with Gordon Realtors said.

Of course, you can't have a new brand without a new logo. After its research is completed, the advertising firm will create a new logo for the city, Broken Arrow officials say their current one is a little outdated.

Broken Arrow feels a revamped image is necessary as it continues to try to attract more people and more businesses.

"Part of that process is getting that image out there, and letting people know that there's a lot in Broken Arrow," Sterling said.

The new logo will be put on billboards, in magazines and anywhere else that will give the city more exposure. The re-branding campaign is modeled after ones already conducted in suburbs of Oklahoma City and Kansas City. Officials in Broken Arrow say those campaigns were successful, and they hope to have the same success with theirs.