About Paris, Texas
Paris, Texas, was named the county seat of Lamar County in 1844, named after Paris, France, and was incorporated in 1845. The city’s location along the Texas and Pacific Railway in the late 19th century played a significant role in its development. The population of Paris, Texas, is 24,695 (2022), and the city serves as an economic hub of the region.
The Project
In a collaborative effort between the Economic Development Corporation, the Lamar County Chamber of Commerce, and the Visitors and Convention Council, the City of Paris adopted a new unified approach to sharing their DNA.
The process began in October 2021 with place branding company, North Star, leading the charge.
DeadCat founders, Broadway and Lea, were asked to join the steering committee through the process of branding all four entities.
“As we look toward the growth and prosperity of our community, our brand was developed to equip all four entities and our citizens as we communicate and grow through municipal activities, event recruitment, culture, assets, and amenities. Paris, Texas, is the gateway from Texas to the upper 48 states with a rich history, strong community, and compelling future. Like the people that call Paris home, our City continues to dig deeper and reach higher in all that we do. The City of Paris is our home, and this is our unique story.”
After the steering committee agreed upon the brand, logo, colors, and look, it was time to implement them. DeadCat Media was commissioned as the city-wide Brand Manager for a 12-month process of activating the brand across all entities.
The Brand Manager role included developing visuals, signage, sub-logos, video, photography, print materials and apparel designs.
The Process
We began the process by outlining a 12-month action planned that aligned with North Stars recommendations.
• The Website – Our first step included developing a branding initiative website that educated our community on the branding process, the look of the new brand and most important, the mission. The website, found here, would serve as the overall resource to communicate with the wider community.
• The Video – As part of this process, our team worked with all four entities as well as community stakeholders to develop a video showcasing the new brand. We knew it would be crucial throughout this process to communicate that a brand is more than a logo. We wanted people to have ownership in not only what the new brand would look like, but ownership in our overall mission and renewed outlook as a city.
• Ambassadors and Key Stakeholders – During Q1 we held stakeholder meetings with focus groups involving members from different industries such as manufacturers, city employees, chamber ambassadors, real estate development, education and community leaders. These presentations included sharing the story of the brand development, the process and of course, the outcome. We attracted brand ambassadors through this process that would help share the vision of the new brand.
• Press Release: Announcing the brand can be a delicate process. As always, some people will love change and others will not appreciate it as much. We developed a press release and distributed it to all local media outlets to keep the communication structure consistent as much as possible. That press release can be found here.
• Graphic Design – The design element of this project was a massive undertaking.
We started with collecting all exisiting print materials, social media designs, signage and documents from each entity and created an internal database to keep track of versions. Our team then started with high priority tasks such as email signatures and business cards. From there, we updated all socials, print materials, signage and created templates for future use.
• Training and Resource Packs – At the conclusion of the contract, we knew that the integrity of the brand depended on training others to use it correctly. DC Media hosted six training sessions with employees from all entities and provided them with design templates and resources to make their jobs easier in the future.
By the Numbers:
• 7 Community Presentations
• 26 Face-to-Face Appearances
• 6 Brand Training Sessions
• 46,750 Business Cards Printed
• 364 Designs Produced
• 32,000+ Social Media Views
The Product
After the contract was complete, our team held a final review with the head of each involved entity. This review included an overview of all deliverables, a compilation of feedback on the new brand, and a SWOT analysis of the brand for each entity to be aware of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats going forward.
