Overview:
With Gwinnett’s ongoing downtown revitalization at the fore, the City of Lawrenceville approached ACG with the task to create a logo and campaign that would establish a separate “sense of place” for their downtown square and help bring more residents and visitors to the square for shopping, dining and entertainment. The city wanted to assert the message that “there is always something going on in downtown.”
Outcome:
After some brainstorming and collaboration with the city’s communications team, ACG pitched “The DTL” as the new name for Lawrenceville’s downtown scene, which was received with unanimous delight and approval from the staff. The DTL plays on the literal abbreviation for “DownTownLawrenceville,” the nickname for Atlanta (The ATL), and the colloquial usage of DTL – date/time/location, signaling that Downtown Lawrenceville is on par with Atlanta, but closer to home, for hip things to do and places to hangout.
A logo was designed in line with Lawrenceville’s brand standards that emphasized the “square” that is the main heart of the city’s downtown as well as, in its simplicity, the casualness with which the city hoped to center visitation around. “Come hang out in The DTL for happy hour.” “Come spend Friday night in The DTL.” “McCray’s is hosting Bingo Night in The DTL—grab a friend and come join in the fun!” Several ads and other usage in collateral and promotional merchandise were mocked up as well, before meeting with the city’s video vendor to bring them up to speed on how to plug into the campaign with some intentionally targeted social media content and video ads.
ACG quickly determined The DTL needed a home of its own, separate from the government website and social profiles, which came with restrictions and susceptibility to appearances of favoritism regarding merchant promotion. They proceeded to design and launch a new, mobile-first website (including integration with an Instagram channel they established and handed over to the video vendor to populate with content) completely devoted to the viewers’ ease of access in finding what’s going on in Lawrenceville at any given moment.
The campaign is ongoing. Print and digital ads are created weekly to target new and recurring objectives in line with overarching brand identity and message.
