Consultant Tells City to Drop Tagline

Ames leaders' vision of fostering creativity, innovation and standing at the forefront of the world's important issues remains solid, but Ames may not be “Heartland's Leading Edge.”

The should give up the “Heartland's Leading Edge” tagline because another city uses a similar line, a branding consultant told city officials this week.

Brand Endeavor President Christie Harper recommended that the Ames City Council consider a new phrase because Council Bluffs uses the tagline: “Iowa's Leading Edge.”

Harper wrote that the lines are too similar and the cities are too close and could be easily confused.

Harper told Susan Gwiasda, Ames public relations officer, that changing the tagline might be disappointing, but reminded Gwiasda that, “the tagline is just a marketing tool for the vision and the vision is solid.”

The tagline and vision statement came from a six-month community visioning process that ended in June.

The vision follows below:

“Ames, Iowa is the Heartland's leading edge. As a city, we are committed to fostering creativity and innovation at the forefront of the world's important issues that the Midwest is uniquely positioned to address, including agriculture, veterinary medicine, sustainability, development, diversity, education and health care. For those who want the charms and convenience of a small town with the opportunities and amenities that come from a major University, Ames' position at the Heartland's leading edge creates a community – and a region – where everyone has opportunities to discover and thrive.”

More than a dozen taglines emerged from that vision statement and Gwiasda said it might just be a matter of picking another couple words.

The company offered to develop a new tagline at no extra charge. Gwiasda said revising the tagline will allow the city to reconsider the proposed logo, an abstract letter A with a forward arrow for public comment.

The logo came from a combined effort on the part of Ames Chamber of Commerce, the Ames Area Economic Development Commission and the Ames Convention & Visitor's Bureau. The organizations were designing a shared logo and agreed to include Ames' vision statement in the design.

A majority of people who commented on the logo didn't seem to like the design as previously reported in Patch .

The Chamber and the Convention and Visitors Bureau responded by tweaking the current design based on public input and reviewing other logos the designer came up with until the similar tagline was discovered.

“We're completely and totally on hold,” said Julie Weeks, Ames Convention & Visitors Bureau director.

PUSH Branding and Design offered the business organizations a number of different logos, all plays on the letter A. Weeks said they are waiting to see what the new tagline will be before moving forward.

Brand Endeavor said the city should work with the former Community Visioning Steering Committee to develop a new tagline for the council's approval.

Gwiasda said the staff will also suggest that the city include public input when choosing the new logo. The Council will discuss the issue at its next regular meeting, Sept. 13.

“The council will ultimately make the final call in what next steps to take,” Gwiasda said.

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