I've been meaning to post these for some time but following are the marketing and brand audit reports prepared by the DU Daniels School graduate students last summer as part of their Littleton project. Let me make a few remarks re: context of the study, if you please.
The intent here was not to overtly create a business recruitment tool...at least not an active one. If it’s passive, in that individual businesses can see for themselves the advantages of locating in Littleton, then great. But I don't believe anyone viewed this project or follow-on activities as an attempt to create a direct recruiting environment. More to the point, the take away here wasn't ever a plug and play solution but rather an audit report to put a stake in the ground and challenge staff to raise the creativity bar so that we (i) better lever Economic Gardening / Business and Industry Affairs Dept.; (ii) improve the value proposition with citizens (i.e., help citizens have a better customer experience); (iii) encourage visitors to take a closer look at all Littleton has to offer re: sales tax growth; and, (iv) invite small and medium size businesses to consider the advantages of locating in Littleton due to relatively greater profitability vs. our competition (Centennial, Lakewood, Arvada, etc.). That last one isn't intended as a direct recruiting approach which has been deliberately avoided to date for a variety of reasons.
Ultimately all this theoretically supports strong housing demand / property values and schools; potential job growth close to home; makes it easier for the City to provide high quality services using existing revenue collection mechanisms; and, results in a more diversified portfolio of businesses that better fit the character and culture of the community. Certainly this is something that will take time to work through but it's as much an evolutionary cultural shift and mind set for staff that hopefully provides energy and results.
I think we can now have more substantive conversations between Council, citizens, businesses and staff for having gone through the exercise. For example, believe we've a better shot at updating the Web site now that awareness of the issue has been raised. Metrics will come as will information from the community and surveys may be an effective way to collect information broadly (I'm investigating the issue). I don't believe we're deficient in property values or housing demands but at the same time, I believe one of Council's fiduciary responsibilities is to safeguard those elements and seek out opportunities for growth therein.
The intent here was not to overtly create a business recruitment tool...at least not an active one. If it’s passive, in that individual businesses can see for themselves the advantages of locating in Littleton, then great. But I don't believe anyone viewed this project or follow-on activities as an attempt to create a direct recruiting environment. More to the point, the take away here wasn't ever a plug and play solution but rather an audit report to put a stake in the ground and challenge staff to raise the creativity bar so that we (i) better lever Economic Gardening / Business and Industry Affairs Dept.; (ii) improve the value proposition with citizens (i.e., help citizens have a better customer experience); (iii) encourage visitors to take a closer look at all Littleton has to offer re: sales tax growth; and, (iv) invite small and medium size businesses to consider the advantages of locating in Littleton due to relatively greater profitability vs. our competition (Centennial, Lakewood, Arvada, etc.). That last one isn't intended as a direct recruiting approach which has been deliberately avoided to date for a variety of reasons.
Ultimately all this theoretically supports strong housing demand / property values and schools; potential job growth close to home; makes it easier for the City to provide high quality services using existing revenue collection mechanisms; and, results in a more diversified portfolio of businesses that better fit the character and culture of the community. Certainly this is something that will take time to work through but it's as much an evolutionary cultural shift and mind set for staff that hopefully provides energy and results.
I think we can now have more substantive conversations between Council, citizens, businesses and staff for having gone through the exercise. For example, believe we've a better shot at updating the Web site now that awareness of the issue has been raised. Metrics will come as will information from the community and surveys may be an effective way to collect information broadly (I'm investigating the issue). I don't believe we're deficient in property values or housing demands but at the same time, I believe one of Council's fiduciary responsibilities is to safeguard those elements and seek out opportunities for growth therein.
| 11_denver_univ._marketing_audit_1.0_07.31.pdf |
| 11_denver_univ._brand_audit_1.0_07.31.pdf |
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