Final Progress Advisory Panel Report - Knight Program in ...

• Expand co-marketing efforts with student organizations – invite
and welcome them more openly. A wide variety of student
organization activities could bolster corridor vitality, and initiatives
such as annual design competitions involving art, architecture,
engineering, and other creative fields could provide talent,
ideas, and energyCreate a college/university student advisory
council for the Duluth Creative Corridor to provide feedback,
ideas, and volunteer development strategies.
Top Five Recommendations
Brand ≠ Slogan. Convene all groups with
a role in marketing Duluth (the GDC,
Downtown Council, Visit Duluth, Duluth
Area Chamber of Commerce, Duluth
Economic Development Authority, Visit
Duluth, etc.) to (A) determine Duluth’s
“brand” or “essence” and (B) devise
the best strategies to capitalize on or, if
necessary, change that brand.
• As with hospitals, recruit security staff from colleges and universities
to lead community safety groups and help them learn
more about innovative ways to address safety perceptions. Such
efforts should supplement and coordinate closely with efforts
by the City of Duluth Police Department.
• Put a UMD logo on the DECC and invite UMD and other colleges
to place banners around downtown (rotated) as part of a
co-branding and partnership building approach.
Downtown Is Downtown, Old or New.
Begin treating downtown, Canal Park, and
the lower Hillside areas as all part of one
“downtown.”
By the Numbers. Begin to quantify
successes (or lack of) in attracting residents
to downtown and in dollars reinvested
in the charrette area. That gives heft to
marketing and points to areas in need of
attention.
Authenticity Matters. After creating
Marketing
the Duluth Creative Corridor, use it to
illustrate and market Duluth’s future as a
Duluth has done a remarkable job re-positioning itself among
home for young creatives, families, and
empty-nesters in search of city life.
residents of the upper Midwest as a family vacation spot and
Capitalize on the Big Mo. Act quickly,
destination for outdoor enthusiasts. With its spectacular shoreline,
before the energy generated by the
unusual hilly topography, tourist-centered Canal Park area,
charrette team’s return visit dissipates.
and burgeoning downtown nightlife and arts scene, Duluth could
become a national destination for vacationers and new residents – if the city is able to use both creative marketing
and authentic place-making. As Mayor Don Ness told the editorial board of the Duluth News Tribune,
Duluth should aim to join cities like Boulder, Colorado, and Asheville, North Carolina, as a nationally known
mecca for outdoor enthusiasts and young creatives.
The city boasts 3.5 million tourist visitors a year, so clearly its marketing team has done its job well. But the
city’s messaging could be better grounded through a more unified strategy. That does not mean one big slogan
for all marketing messages. It means that the many agencies and people who help shape the city’s marketing
must work together with a common understanding of their purpose. Studying the motivations and profiles of
the many different types of people and groups attracted to Duluth and determining the appropriate branding
for places within the city, the downtown, and the Duluth Creative Corridor will take time and intellectual rigor.
(For example, an outdoor enthusiast and an urban arts visitor may require a different approach.) When that
analysis is completed, the appropriate agencies and leaders must use those brands as their guideposts for deciding
on their underlying goals, the markets they are targeting for each of the goals, and how to strategically craft
messages and campaigns for each different target market.
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