ANCHORAGE
� Feb. 1, 2007 - After a year of development, a new Anchorage brand
designed to appeal to residents, visitors and the business community was
unveiled today before a crowd of more than 1,000 Anchorage civic and business
leaders.
The brand, �Anchorage Big Wild Life,� seeks to express the unique, larger-than-life
lifestyle of Anchorage residents. Whether skiing the Coastal Trail on a
lunch hour, summer fishing for wild Alaska salmon at Ship Creek, hiking
Flattop, enjoying a fine dining experience with a view of the Chugach Mountains
or taking in a First Friday art exhibition, Anchorage residents lead a
life that�s bigger and a little wilder than most.
The Municipality of Anchorage (MOA), Anchorage Convention & Visitor�s
Bureau (ACVB) and the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation (AEDC)
announced the new brand at AEDC�s 2007 Economic Forecast Luncheon at the
Egan Convention Center. It was followed by a community celebration in Town
Square featuring Alaska wildlife, Native American Music Award recipients,
Pamyua, a figure skating exhibition by 2007 U.S. Figure Skating Championships
bronze medalist Keegan Messing and complimentary T-shirts hung in Town
Square trees for the public.
Two advertising firms, the Nerland Agency, Anchorage, and Stone Mantel
of Colorado Springs, Colo., used existing research on Anchorage and new
research including phone interviews with visitors, decision-maker interviews,
a facilitated public forum and other research to help create the brand.
The MOA, ACVB and AEDC spent $80,000 on developing the brand and the two
advertising agencies donated $20,000 in work.
AEDC President/CEO Bob Poe explained that the brand was created with
three concepts in mind: first, to reinforce for residents their choice
of Anchorage as home � as a special place like no other; second, to answer
for visitors, their call for an exotic, �wild� destination with accessible,
one-of-a-kind adventures mingled amongst sufficient urban amenities and
conveniences; and third, to relay to people and organizations looking to
do business here that Anchorage can provide a high level of business infrastructure
and convenience as well as a quality of life that attracts and keeps employees.
�Anchorage residents are fortunate to be able to live extraordinary
lives in an unmatched setting which appeals to locals and visitors alike,�
said Mayor Mark Begich. �This new brand captures that notion and will help
us attract even more tourists and business investment to our community.�
Anchorage brand research results showed that Anchorage offers a unique,
larger-than-life lifestyle. Nerland and Stone Mantel explained that
extensive brand research unveiled the many benefits that Anchorage provides:
Its functional benefits (convenience, access, beauty), social benefits
(community, opportunity) and emotional benefits (wild, unpretentious, spirited,
open-hearted) are all essential to the brand. And, though these are
just a sample of the benefits offered, investigative conversations with
the focus groups made clear the final brand strategy that inspired �Anchorage
Big Wild Life� � abundance permeates everything here.
Anchorage residents, visitors and the business community can learn
more about the brand and submit stories about how they live big, wild lives
at www.BigWildLife.net .
ACVB is also developing an aggressive �Anchorage Big Wild Life� advertising
and promotional campaign that will launch in California, Washington, Oregon
and Colorado in late March. As part of the effort, ACVB has re-designed
its Web site, www.Anchorage.net , to immediately reflect the brand and
feature the emotional connections that people in Anchorage revel in day-to-day.
�Residents in Anchorage have access to incredible, scenery, adventures
and activities year-round that make living life on a grand scale a daily
experience,� says Bruce Bustamante, president and CEO of the Anchorage
Convention & Visitors Bureau. �An average weekend in Anchorage
is the dream of a lifetime for many and the city and surrounding wild amenities
provide a highly unique opportunity to translate this personal experience
to visitors.� |