The City of Bismarck will be unveiling a new look in coming months. The Bismarck City Commission approved the organization’s refreshed logo, new slogan, and brand standards as part of their Strategic Communications Plan on April 27.
Since 2019, as part of the City’s Strategic Plan process, the City has been working to enhance communication throughout the organization, in the form of media relations, branding and public outreach and information. The following year, Agency MABU was contracted to help guide the City on these improvements through internal meetings, an audit of social media, website and communication material and branding workshops.
The agency’s recommendations were identified as part of the 2020-2021 Strategic Communications plan. This included a messaging strategy, a new slogan, a refreshed logo that provides a more contemporary and professionally-designed logomark, and a brand standards manual addressing sub-branding and co-branding for the City’s various departments and divisions.
A branding subcommittee worked closely with Agency MABU on the development of brand standards and identity. The recommended changes were reviewed and approved by City Administration, Department Directors and the City’s Public Information Council provided feedback on the recommendations.
Through this process, Agency MABU developed a set of brand standards for all external communication materials and a new brand identity makeover, which included a logo refresh and a first ever tagline, “Bismarck’s The Spot.” The phrase Bismarck’s the spot plays upon the “x marks the spot” idiom, meaning that the star in the logo mark indicates what you are looking for is found in this exact or specific location. In the Strategic Communication’s plan, the City of Bismarck’s persona was defined as “A City you’re proud to call home!” By incorporating this additional messaging theme, the persona would be slightly revised to “Bismarck’s the spot you’re proud to call home.”
“We are very appreciative of the Commission’s approval and energized to begin implementation of the refreshed brand identity and tagline 'Bismarck’s The Spot' throughout the City’s departments and divisions,” said Gloria David, Public Information Officer. As the City continues on its strategic plan journey, the logo and tagline will gradually be implemented across all communication mediums, and projects continually moving forward. The Commission will also be reviewing the City’s updated Social Media Policy in the near future.