City's branding campaign expected to launch in May

On July 8, The Lakeway Visitors Commission selected Nashville-based Northstar Destination Strategies to develop a branding campaign—a program that would define Lakeway's unique features.

The Branding Lakeway Project aims to create a local policy to attract visitors, grow the community's tourism industry and provide information on what Lakeway has to offer, Northstar Community Brand Supervisor Adam Winstead said.

"Your brand is what they say about you when you're not around," he said. "Reputation and communities are no different—Las Vegas, Dallas, Austin. Branding is what you do about it."

Commission members spent several months researching the best company to manage the program and chose Northstar for its experience and ability to marry analytical and technical approaches to determine a city's brand, LVC President Sandy Cox said.

Northstar began researching the city Dec. 9 by touring the area and presenting its process to residents in an evening meeting at City Hall.

The company is gathering surveys and conducting interviews in January, with results anticipated in early March, Winstead said. The campaign, expected to launch in May, will culminate in developing a product that may include a new city logo, visitors' guides, outdoor billboards and banners, he said.

"We already have a brand," City Manager Steve Jones said. "It's just learning what that brand is and communicating it to the outside world."

The program is funded by the city's hotel occupancy tax that was adopted in 2012, Jones said.