Schaumburg to use recent study of village’s perception in region for marketing campaign

Schaumburg officials plan to use data from a recently completed perception study for an upcoming marketing campaign.

The study was again conducted by Florida-based North Star Place Branding + Marketing and was able to compare findings with pre-pandemic data from 2017. It resulted in a detailed 391-page report.

The company’s Director of Projects Sam Preston recently told the Schaumburg village board the study surveyed people inside and outside Schaumburg with the aim of figuring out how the village should be promoted.

The planned marketing campaign is intended to raise the village’s regional visibility and could launch by the end of the year.

Although there were a few subcategories for respondents’ levels of enthusiasm, 58% were generally considered promoters of the village who gave high marks for its safety and livability. The scores were better than in 2017 and blew away the national average, Preston said.

“What you’re doing is exactly what you want to be doing,” he added. “This was a very refreshing project for us to work on because it was positive across the board.”

Nevertheless, Mayor Tom Dailly and Village Manager Brian Townsend recognized in the findings some signs of where a marketing campaign may want to go.

While Dailly said the study didn’t provide many surprises, it confirmed there’s a regional perception of expensiveness about Schaumburg, including its housing stock.

Though the market has created a largely well-to-do, affluent community, there are also small single-family homes and multifamily units within the means of a greater number of people, he added.

“There are plenty of townhouses and condos that are extremely reasonable and maybe we don’t do a good job of promoting that,” Dailly said. “There is affordability here. We just have to point that out.”

Townsend believes the marketing campaign should address the village’s newer features.

“The community never stagnates,” he said.

Schaumburg Communications Director Kassondra Schref and Economic Development Director Matt Frank are considering 20 marketing firms that responded.

“After the agency is awarded, there will be a series of meetings where the perception study will be reviewed in greater detail,” Schref said. “The direction that follows will be a collaborative effort, incorporating input from the village board, staff and the agency’s recommendations.”