Arnett Muldrow's proposed logo to market the town.

Updated Wednesday, March 10, 2010, 5:50 p.m.

By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net

Davidson should renovate its town logo, downtown signage and branding and undertake a new marketing campaign to promote the town and its businesses, a consultant told the Town Board Tuesday night.

Tripp Muldrow of Arnett Muldrow & Associates unveiled the draft of a marketing makeover that pitches the town as “Davidson: Lake Town, College Town, Your Town.”

Mr. Muldrow of Greenville, S.C.-based Arnett Muldrow, offered his firm’s recommendations for how the town can spur more shopping by local residents and lure more shoppers and businesses from out of town. Since December, Arnett Muldrow has been working with the town and local merchants to learn more about the Davidson market and create strategies for economic development, branding and promotion.

Downtown Director Sandy Lemons introduced the presentation by saying that she hoped the firm’s recommendations would help the eliminate “Exit 30″ from the local vocabulary. “Let’s make a pact – Exit 30, never again,” she said.

She was referring to one component of Arnett Muldrow’s recommendations: That the town re-brand the area off I-77 Exit 30 as a shopping district called “The Circles at 30.”

Mr. Muldrow said the town’s branding “targets” fall into three groups, in this order:

1. Davidson residents, who are the most loyal shoppers at local businesses;
2. Regional customers, including those from Cornelius, Huntersville and Mooresville, as well as certain Charlotte neighborhoods;
3. Visitors, including those visiting Davidson College.

Residents, business owners and town officials who attended the session asked a variety of questions and made a few suggestions for revising the proposal.

One resident questioned the use of the word “lake” to describe Davidson. She noted that there’s not currently any public lake access here and said that she doesn’t think of this as a lake town. But others, including those whose jobs are to promote the region and who deal with people from outside town, thought it sounded like a good idea.

Bill Russell, head of the Lake Norman Chamber, said he often hears visitors gushing about Davidson and the lake. “The most scenic part of I-77 is in Davidson,” passing between lakes Davidson and Norman, he said. “They get their impression of Lake Norman from Davidson.”

Sally Ashworth of Visit Lake Norman said she thinks the proposed tagline “is right on target.”

Another resident suggested that the arts were underrepresented in the marketing plan.

Someone else asked how the marketing plan would be carried out. Mr. Muldrow said his firm “may play a role.” And various tasks outlined for the plan would need “a lead dog” – a town employee, business leader or resident – responsible for ensuring that tasks get done, he said.

TAX DISTRICT QUESTIONS

Some of the conversation during the hour-long presentation focused on issues such as shopping habits, integrating the town’s three shopping districts (Main Street, South Main Street and the Exit 30 area), and economic development.

Mr. Muldrow also brought up a touchy issue that the town raised and then tabled last winter – expanding its MSD, or municipal services district.

An MSD, permitted under North Carolina law, allows municipalities to levy tax surcharges on defined districts to pay for specific services. In Davidson’s case, the MSD encompasses Main and South Main streets. The money raised through the tax on commercial property owners pays for the town’s downtown director, business promotion and economic development efforts.

Last year, the town proposed expanding the district to include the Exit 30 area, arguing that its business promotion and downtown efforts benefit all parts of town, and the cost should be shared. But Exit 30 area business and property owners shot down the idea. (See coverage under the “MSD” tag.)

At some point, Mr. Muldrow said, Davidson will need to explore either eliminating or expanding the district. “You need to make a decision. It really needs to be either all or nothing,” he said. With revenues coming from just the Main/South Main district, “It really presents a marketing challenge,” he added.

The proposed marketing plan included new banners for downtown, prototypes for advertisements promoting the town in publications elsewhere around the region and state, and “branding messages.” Mr. Muldrow also suggested the town appropriate money for incentives to get local businesses to use the logos and branding message in their own marketing materials.

THREE-YEAR PLAN

The draft Mr. Muldrow outlined Tuesday envisions initial efforts in 2010, with a major thrust in 2011-12. There was no discussion Tuesday of how the town might pay for the program.

Ms. Lemons, the downtown director, said Wednesday afternoon she hopes to begin implementing some of the graphics as soon as possible. For example, the consultant’s new logo for Concerts on the Green could be put to use soon if it’s approved by the concert committee. And she hopes to persuade the Town Board to include money in the 2010-11 budget to begin running advertisements outside Davidson.

First steps in the plan would include updating the town’s shopping map, seeking money for new wayfinding signs to highlight shopping and dining, and creating a newcomers’ welcome package. Mr. Muldrow also suggested a new “front page” for the town website that would incorporate the new branding while also linking to the town government site.

Later efforts would include a regional advertising campaign.

“These are draft recommendations. We are still working on refinement,” Mr. Muldrow said. The firm plans to incorporate Tuesday’s feedback into a final plan to come later.

Ms. Lemons said the draft still needs work. “We need to fine-tune the draft and we need to discuss things in more detail,” she said. She would like the Town Board to give its “blessing” eventually as well, she said.

Download a copy of both Arnett Muldrow’s initial study and the recommendations. (It’s a large PDF, 20 mb) CLICK HERE>