2003-2004
How DCVB Uses The “Durham, NC, USA” Brand To Draw Visitors

Durham, NC, Brand Essence or Personality —

• Cultural (history, visual arts, cuisine, performing arts, festivals, sports, etc.)
• Location (North Carolina; Research Triangle; Durham, NC, MSA)
• Unique features and assets (Distinctive architecture, home to RTP, Duke, and NCCU, co-owner of RDU)

Durham, NC, Brand Positioning —
Spicy, genuine, indigenous, and homegrown, unique sense of place (“a there-there”), eclectic, mix of very different cultures and populations, community with a soul, outspoken, relaxed and serene sense of self, heavily wooded, hills and dales, streams and lakes, parks and recreation areas, greenways, trails and scenic byways.

Durham, NC, Brand Values —
Innovation, tolerance, ethnic diversity, deferential, strong sense of pride and identity, making a mark on the world without saying goodbye to yesterday, unpretentiousness, constantly evolving and reinventing economically from agrarian/mills/plantations to tobacco and textiles, to education and research, to health care and biotechnology.

Durham, NC, Brand Promise or Payoff —
Residents and visitors will experience a very ethnically and architecturally diverse community with a unique sense of place and indigenous, but highly acclaimed, festivals, dining, shopping, museums, historic sites, sports facilities and events, performing and visual arts and entertainment, film locations, meeting and convention facilities.

Durham, NC, Brand Architecture –
Historic font for the word “ Durham” with the head of a “bull” depicted inside the letter “D.” Tag line of “Genuine, Textured, Authentic,” graphic representation using architectural details of historic tobacco warehouses, now converted into shopping, entertainment, residential, office space, and retail. Media campaign juxtaposing “Durham Greats” contrasting images with brick detail.

Threats to Durham, NC, Brand —
Insufficient promotion and marketing, misperceptions (e.g. small, Southern, backward), misreferences to the greater region as Raleigh-centric vs. polycentric (no dominant city), misuse of the airport name as a community, over-reaching by neighboring communities, outdated perceptions of schools and crime, hostile public discourse among ethnic groups, developments inconsistent with Durham design guidelines or unique sense of place, inattention to beautification and clean-up.