Arlington Hts. staying with 'Discover Arlington' campaign
Arlington Heights is sticking with the “Discover Arlington” brand to increase retail spending and consumer traffic, but will invest in a consumer survey to determine what the village needs to do next to keep improving in the future.
On Monday the Arlington Heights committee of the whole approved staying with the “Discover Arlington” campaign, while maybe discussing adding a new tagline to refresh the slogan.
Board members also approved spending $16,500 on a consumer survey with Public Research Group, which will question residents of Arlington Heights and the surrounding suburbs on their consumer wants and needs.
The two recommendations came from the Arlington Economic Alliance, a group of business leaders in Arlington Heights, who have been working on determining the future of Arlington Heights' marketing strategy since last year, when some board members had questions about how effective the 8-year-old campaign still was.
The Alliance held several focus groups and meetings to discuss issues including how to promote tourism, maximize exposure online, focus on specific market segments and cross promote the various areas of town, said Chairman Tony Guido.
“‘Discover Arlington' is a work in progress,” said Kris Stabler, a member of the alliance. “Everyone asks, ‘What does it mean to you?' I think that's a good thing because it can mean a lot of things to a lot of people.”
The group also discussed how to grow their online presence through Facebook and other social media and may look at hiring an intern to help manage their Web personality.
The Alliance suggested a tagline of “Always more to discover,” which board members had mixed reactions to but were told that could still be tweaked.
The $16,500 for the consumer research study will be a jumping off point for where the village wants to go next with marketing and promoting the village, staff said.
“I'm looking forward to the research, but I'm more looking forward to seeing what we do next,” said trustee Joseph Farwell.