Roeland Park looks to Benedictine students for city rebranding

Roeland Park is on the road to finding itself, and the city may look to college students for guidance.

In an effort to attract new residents and new businesses, the city is planning to “brand” itself. In January, the city sought proposals from marketing firms and individuals who could help establish the city’s identity.

There are many factors when it comes to municipal branding, said Roeland Park City Administrator Keith Moody. It could be changing the city’s logo, modernizing its website or creating a catchy tagline.

But more importantly, he emphasized, it’s about capturing the city’s spirit.

“Marketing Roeland Park will help us stand out, give us an edge over the competition,” he said.

Moody said Roeland Park has several redeeming qualities, many of which are overlooked.

“Roeland Park is one of the first suburbs of Kansas City, so it has a lot of history and character,” he said. “There is a lot of diversity in home styles and we’re in a convenient location. We’re a mature community with beautiful trees. These are all things you can’t replicate.”

To get the ball rolling, the city created a branding committee in January to review marketing proposals and recommend the best one to the city council.

The city received 18 proposals, ranging from a huge marketing firm in New York to students from Benedictine College, which has a satellite campus in Roeland Park.

In the end, the committee chose to recommend a proposal from Benedictine College, because it was affordable, local and it would give MBA students the chance to build a resume.

The cost of the proposal is only $3,000, which would pay for a summer intern.

The city had put aside $18,500 in its 2016 budget for the branding project.

At a workshop on Monday evening, the Roeland Park City Council consented to have Moody draft an agreement with Benedictine College, which will be discussed at another workshop on April 18th. If the council concurs with the agreement, it will go before a city council meeting for official approval.

“I like the idea of giving young people a chance and we do have the safety net of saying we don’t like it in the end,” said Councilwoman Sheri McNeil. “I do think because they’re trying to learn and because they’re young and energetic, they will probably try to do a really good job for us.”

Clay Johnston, MBA assistant professor and marketing program chairman at Benedictine College, said the undergraduate and graduate students who are slated to be involved in the project are energized by the idea of gaining real world experience.

“This is a project that could make them more valuable to a potential employer,” Johnston told the council. “There’s no education like doing. Listening to a lecture is a lousy way to learn.”

Johnston, who has 15 years of marketing experience, assured the council he is going to be extremely hands on with the process, acting more as a consultant to the students, rather than an instructor.

In his proposal, Johnston said his marketing students would collect data through focus groups, surveys and in-depth interviews with residents.

Once a brand for Roeland Park is established, the proposal indicates it could take two years to implement it.

The first phase would include updating the city’s website, establishing a significant social media presence, and redesigning business cards and stationary with the city’s new logo.

The second phase would focus on new signage throughout the city, promoting the new brand.

The third would be advertising the new brand through media outlets, and also through events, such as a fair, charity 5K, or art festival.

Not all council members were enthused by the proposal, however.

Council President Becky Fast, who is also an adjunct professor for the University of Kansas and Washburn University, expressed concern that working with students could be tricky, since some may graduate or move on before the project is finished.

But Johnston insisted that would not entirely be the case.

He anticipates that within the first six weeks of the fall semester, his students should have the research they need to go move forward with the branding. He told Fast that the final outcome of their work should be revealed to the city council at its December meeting.

Plus, he added, as the project manager, he will be the common thread throughout the entire process. A summer intern would jump start the project before the fall semester begins.

Johnston told the council that someone on the project would update the council about its progress at each council meeting.

He also vouched for the caliber of students who would be conducting the work.

“I’m struck by the quality of the students we have — these are outstanding young men and women with a desire to make careers for themselves,” he said. “We hear a lot about millennials and their strange quirks, but these are the kind of students who instead of going to South Padre island for spring break, they’re going to Haiti to help people. They have a very different mindset.”

Councilman Michael Poppa was the only branding committee member who voted against recommending Benedictine College’s proposal. He would like to see the city go with a reputable marketing firm that has relevant experience with municipal branding.

“I believe it is too important of a process to be a student project,” Poppa said. “This is going to be something that carries us through the next five years, to attract new businesses and residents. You can’t compare a college’s class project proposal to one from a company.”

Some residents who have been following the branding committee for the past few months have the same reservations.

Susan Sanders, a UMKC librarian who lives in Roeland Park, has no doubt the students would make a good effort. After all, she said, their reputation is at stake and the project could be a significant accomplishment for them.

But, she’s still hesitant.

“I’m worried about the city working with graduate students who don’t have much experience with city branding,” she told The Star.

She also hopes Benedictine College students would remain impartial when it comes to branding Roeland Park.

“The school has a strong Christian message, so I just hope it wouldn’t bleed into the project,” she said.

Roeland Park resident Jim Haley said he’s worried about the project’s consistency.

“You really want the same set of folks working on it from start to finish,” he said.

Despite their concerns about the proposal from Benedictine College, the two residents are optimistic about the city’s branding effort.

They think the Roeland Park is on the right track.

“It’s really important to focus on branding in this kind of competitive culture we live in,” Sanders said. “People pay attention to where they choose to live. A brand is a way of telling a community’s story, so I applaud the city for pursuing it.”

This story was originally published April 5, 2016 at 1:24 PM with the headline "Roeland Park looks to Benedictine students for city rebranding."