Branding “charette” to help develop town image

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By David Meade

Main Street Williamston is sponsoring a Branding and Marketing Workshop for the Town of Williamston on Tuesday and Wednesday, April 29 and 30.

The “branding charette” is the biggest project yet for Williamston’s new Main Street Program and input from the two day session will be used to develop an “image” that will be key in Williamston’s future revitalization efforts.

“The workshop endeavors to capture the identity of Williamston through graphic design elements and the entire community is invited to be a part of the process,” said Main Street Williamston Executive Director Caroline Alex.

“A key element of successful economic development is understanding a community’s unique identity and how to market those character-defining assets,” Alex said. “This workshop is intended to help us better understand what makes Williamston unique and how to celebrate those things through graphic design collateral such as logos, taglines, wayfinding signage, web sites, banners, advertisements, etc.”

According to Alex, a professional branding and marketing team will gather input through a series of stakeholder roundtable sessions that will include Town of Williamston staff, tourism and economic development entities, local business owners, students and the community.

The public is invited to a community-wide input session on Tuesday, April 29 at 6 p.m. at Town Hall.

“The Branding and Marketing Team will ask for input from community members to help identify the personality, assets and needs of the town for short and long-term branding and marketing recommendations,” Alex said.

“I think this is a very important workshop that will help us discover and ascertain our tangible and intangible assets and what makes Williamston’s personality unique. It will be a time for our community members to become involved with the Main Street Williamston program and the revitalization efforts that exist in our town.”

“Our community members will be given an opportunity to directly shape our town’s future by giving input at the public sessions,” Alex said.

“The Charrette Team will use the input received from the various sessions to guide them in their creation of Williamston’s identity, which will celebrate our uniqueness. We want everyone to be involved and to take pride in this process since this new identity will be what represents our community for many years to come.”

The Branding and Marketing Team will unveil a new look and graphic design plans for the town, the Main Street program, and other entities and festivals on Wednesday, April 30th at 6 p.m. at Town Hall. All community members are invited to attend and give feedback to the team.

The Charrette Team is made up of Randy Wilson from Community Design Solutions, Inc; Ben Muldrow from Arnett Muldrow and Associates and Beppie LeGrand from Main Street South Carolina.

In addition to Main Street Williamston, the Greater Williamston Business Association (GWBA), Palmetto Area Arts Council and the Town are partnering in the charette.

The Town of Williamston is contributing $7000 toward the cost of the charette, while the GWBA is contributing $2000 and the Palmetto Area Arts Council an additional $500. Total cost is $9500.

For more information about the workshop or Main Street Williamston, contact Caroline Alex, Executive Director at 864-617-5986.