Business & Tech
The Little City To Go National At Expo This Fall
The City of Falls Church will promote its trademarked brand name in October.
"The Little City" is going national this Fall as the City of Falls Church will be a vendor at the National Trademark Expo in October. Over 20 companies and government agencies will be at the Alexandria campus of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to educate the public on the value of branding and trademarking.
Falls Church coined the term “Little City,” in 2009 with the help of the Falls Church based advertising firm SmithGifford, to capture the essence of one of Virginia’s smallest independent cities which boasts more than 11,000 residents within its’ two and half mile framework.
The City used funding from the Economic Development Authority to acquire the rights and was officially issued a trademark for the term “The Little City” by the U.S.P.T.O. in 2010.
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“The EDA thought it would be a good investment of their funds to develop a brand for the city, similar to what we’re all familiar with, with the ‘I Heart New York’ or ‘Don’t Mess With Texas’ and ‘Virginia’s For Lovers’ brands that have been established and successful,” said Rick Goff of the city’s EDA office. “They wanted to try establish a similar identity that would give us something to attract new investment to the city, new businesses and at the same time promote the city and the existing businesses and arts and culture events.”
You’ve probably seen the Little City logo around town in restaurants’ and businesses or even the city issued bumper stickers and magnets.
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Among the other brands on display will be UPS, Geico, The Hershey Company and others, with promotional items, children’s games and educational rhetoric for the general public to highlight the importance of branding.
“We’re small but we’re still a full service city, it was important to cast that message out there,” said Goff. “We’re small but we’re urban and so far I think that its been a popular message, it is slowly catching on.”
Erik Pelton, a Falls Church based trademark attorney, helped the city acquire the trademark in 2010.
“The purpose of the expo is to educate the public about trademarks, and about the role that trademarks and brands play in commerce and products and activity,” Pelton said.
