City of Dayton Unveils New Branding Campaign

Author: Tom Biedenharn

October 2008

Representatives from the City of Dayton recently announced a new community branding campaign that connects Dayton’s rich history of innovation with a future energized by that same spirit of creativity and originality.  
The tagline for the City’s new branding initiative is “Dayton Patented. Originals Wanted.”  The campaign will have a local focus, targeting residents and businesses in Dayton and the surrounding region.  The goal is to highlight the many positive aspects the city has to offer and to reinforce Dayton’s image as a great place to live.

“We feel strongly that Daytonians and people throughout this region should be the first to appreciate the many great things we have to enjoy,” Mayor Rhine McLin said.  “If locally we can acknowledge and embrace Dayton’s distinct attributes and assets, then we can better tell our story to others, which helps us compete more successfully for new businesses and residents.  As a community, we are often our own worst critics.  Instead, we should better promote and capitalize on what makes Dayton a good place to live, to locate a business or to visit for fun and entertainment.”

City Commissioner Matt Joseph, who has been a strong advocate of the Creative Class effort, said, “The new branding concept successfully pays tribute to our rich innovative history, as illustrated by the many patents that have been issued here.  But it also looks to a future that welcomes and nurtures the same kind of original people and ideas that made Dayton great in the first place.  Just as important, the brand can be applied whether we are talking about living in Dayton, working in Dayton or playing in Dayton.  We are still very much a community that attracts, welcomes and rewards originality – in ideas, actions and character.”

While still early in its implementation phase, the new campaign will feature real Dayton “originals” telling their stories.  Whether it is the young creative entrepreneurs working for a local high-tech company, or residents like we see in South Park who are transforming their neighborhoods, or the artists who make up our diverse entertainment scene, we have many examples of how creative, imaginative, passionate people are still shaping Dayton’s personality.  Just as the Wright Brothers, Paul Laurence Dunbar and Charles Kettering did in their day, we have our own set of creative ‘originals’ putting their mark on Dayton today.  We hope to capture the interest of even more individuals and businesses who want to be part of this active culture of creativity and originality.

City Manager Rashad Young noted that the new campaign will complement on-going efforts to attract and retain young professionals and the creative class.  

“These smart, creative, energetic people are the kind of ‘originals’ we want to attract and nurture,” he said.  “They represent an important element to Dayton’s long-term success, especially as we continue the transition from a heavy manufacturing-based economy to one centered around new and emerging technologies.”