A pair of companies under contract to help Gulf Shores develop a “brand” completed an initial phase last week.

Great Destination Strategies of Seattle, Wash., and Total Destination Marketing of Tualatin, Ore., did preliminary work with members of the community through focus groups and other meetings.

“Their mission this trip was fact finding and data gathering,” Andy Bauer, director of Planning and Zoning for the City of Gulf Shores, said. “They really wanted to hear from citizens of Gulf Shores and their idea or opinions about branding and wayfinding.”

The city approving hiring  the firm in June at a cost of $200,000. Representatives of the two companies also made a presentation to the Orange Beach City Council on Tuesday and gave a preliminary price of about $170,000 to implement the plan in that city.

According the the company’s website on the Gulf Shores project, www.greatds.com/gshome, The Brand Initiative and Wayfinding System will produce the following:

•       An identification and profile of Gulf Shore’ most important markets and their perceptions of Gulf Shores

•       A brand positioning for Gulf Shores – our brand promise. Descriptions of the brand and key messages

•       An understanding of our competitors

•       Strategies for how to integrate the brand messages into our products, services and marketing

•       A visual identity (brandmark or logo) and a verbal identity (tag line)

•       Templates for applying the logo to various media

•       A 12-month implementation plan

•       A wayfinding signage system, vehicle and pedestrian navigational signs, gateways, banners and information kiosks.

The first six or seven months will concentrate on developing the brand.

“The branding is a little bit harder to understand,” Bauer said. “They really wanted to ask questions to the citizens and business owners, let them give their own opinions.”

Bauer and planner Jennifer Watkins were looking at upgrading signs around the city when they came upon the group’s work on branding.

“We have some business information signs, but they are outdated,” Bauer said. “And we don’t have any entryway signs. We thought we needed that because we are a tourist type community and it could be done better.

“Me and my co-worker Jennifer, especially Jennifer, started doing some research on way-finding and she kept coming across this term brand.  We didn’t know what that was and she’d search and everything we saw said you need a brand before you do anything. Everything hangs on that.”

While the group was here, Bill Baker with Total Destinations Marketing and Mary Klugherz with Great Destinations Strategies also made a presentation to the Orange Beach City Council.

“Your brand is a promise, your reputation,” Klugherz said. “It’s what people expect from you. It may sound very simple, but you have to define what that is.”

John Kelsh, also with Great Destinations Strategies, said the two cities are tied closely together.

“We had a little time and we thought it might have compromised what we had to say a little bit, but we got it out,” Kelsh said. “We wanted them to know what we were doing for Gulf Shores because the two cities work together closely and have a good relationship. They are both promoted under the same banner. Obviously we are interested in considering the whole thing. Not to doing anything to take away from the good work they’ve been doing together so far.”

Kelsh and other representatives of the company spent a week in Gulf Shores and along the Gulf Coast gathering information.

“We quite a full week,” Kelsh said. “We immersed ourselves into the local culture. We hit a lot of restaurants, a lot of shops and a lot of beaches. Basically tried to experience the places like anyone else would as well.  What we did this week was critical data gathering on the ground.”

The representatives working on the project will spend a few weeks analyzing the data before beginning the next phase.