Roselle studies new marketing strategies

Roselle officials say their village has plenty of assets to attract residents and business owners.

The trick, however, is to spread the word and make more people take notice.

That's why this month the village is launching a new effort to re-brand its image by changing the look of its newsletter, brochures, Web site and other media that explain what the village is all about.

"Our goal is to have a unified look and feel to all the village communication and the way we represent ourselves," said Melissa Brito, Roselle's community relations coordinator. "We want to make sure everything we're putting out, people say, 'Oh, that's from Roselle,' the same way they see the golden arches and say, 'That's McDonald's.'"

Trustees created provisions for the program in the village's current budget. They also created the new community relations coordinator post, hiring Brito last March.

Starting this month and in early October, village officials will host focus groups for residents, community leaders and local officials to discover what they feel should be emphasized about Roselle. The workshops will be lead by Custom Direct, a Roselle-based marketing communications company and member of the Roselle Chamber of Commerce.

"We want to see where they'd like to see Roselle go and get a feel for what is grounded in the community," Brito said. "It's important to have that authenticity to move forward, so when we're representing ourselves, we're representing our true community."

Local residents won't notice any changes until late winter or early spring, when the village is slated to unveil redesigned newsletters, new-resident packets, Web site improvements and more. Some changes will go unnoticed to residents, since they will involve materials used to woo out-of-town businesses to open or relocate in Roselle.

Village Administrator Jeff O'Dell said traditional staples like the village's rose logo will remain, despite the visual changes to Roselle-generated media.

"It's not a matter of making Roselle better because I think we are better," O'Dell said. "We are just trying to find a better way to get out the word of all the good things Roselle has to offer."