Marketing the City

The City Council has made marketing a focus and supported the City’s eff orts to market and promote Casa Grande to the rest of Arizona and to the world. “Casa Grande has great potential,” said Renée LouzonBenn, president of the Greater Casa Grande Chamber of Commerce. In previous generations, chambers of commerce, rather than city government, had the marketing expertise and took the lead in promoting a city and its businesses. So, it’s only natural that the City of Casa Grande and the Casa Grande Chamber are planning to work together in a “city marketing organization” (CMO) to attract new businesses, new residents and tourists. CMO will include an advisory committee from the City and a committee of local business owners. “We all have a common purpose,” Louzon-Benn said. “If the City is doing well and the chamber is doing well, we have a prosperous community. That takes partnerships.” Meanwhile, existing eff orts continue to invite the millions of drivers on Interstate 10 between Phoenix and Tucson to pull off the freeway and see what they’re missing. Eff orts seem to be working. In December, Lucid Motors fi nished construction on the fi rst phase of an electric-car factory. The City identifi ed marketing as one of the fi ve pillars of its strategic plan. Some of the components include creating an image of the City that residents and businesses rate favorably and focusing on social media. The City has reached its goals to deploy “social listening software” and “generate positive and timely content based on monthly evaluation and sentiment reports,” according to Latonya Jordan-Smith, the City’s public information offi cer. Jordan-Smith said the City is “committed to helping people reimagine Casa Grande as a vibrant, safe place to live, raise families and start a prosperous business for generations to come.” The chamber created a website, CasaGrandeIsOpenForBusiness.com, with help from the City and Arizona Public Service Co. People can use the site to look for local businesses in one place. The chamber also redesigned its main website. The site features big, bold video and still images, including one from the Neon Sign Park. Casa Grande is spelled out in colorful, neon-looking letters inspired by the park, which has become a focal point downtown. “The City’s new branding was largely infl uenced by the Neon Sign Park,” said Holly Rakoci, director of Casa Grande Main Street. The nonprofi t focuses on improving and promoting the City’s downtown. The Neon Sign Park and other downtown initiatives support the goal to “create an image of the City that residents rate favorably” as outlined in the strategic plan. “The City works to help bring new businesses downtown and helps promote the area — especially the Neon Sign Park,” Rakoci said. “With how many businesses are coming to Casa Grande, I am very optimistic about Casa Grande’s future.”