Dallas is the ninth-largest city in the United States and the leading business and financial center in the Southwest. More people in Dallas—and the world—should know this, which is why Visit Dallas, the official destination marketing organization for the City of Dallas, has taken the lead in creating a unified, enduring brand identity.
While Dallas has long been home to a vast array of vibrant experiences and culture, the city has never truly identified a clear differentiator nor established a destination brand. Simply put, there are many people outside of Dallas who don’t know much about it—other than the city’s claims to fame, such as the Dallas Cowboys or the hit television series, “Dallas.” Why would they want to visit or live here? The new branding efforts will tell the story and answer that question.
The vision for this new destination brand is larger than Visit Dallas alone. The goal is to create a competitive positioning platform that can be adopted citywide, building equity and interest in Dallas as a world-class destination. As an initial step, Visit Dallas formed a committee comprised of a diverse set of stakeholders, along with consulting as many community leaders as possible—economic development, civic, business, arts/culture, and hospitality leaders; restauranteurs; sports and events pros; local media; and residents—to guide the effort. Following an extensive RFP search, the committee selected the aptly named umbrella agency Vision Collab, an alliance of four independent agencies, to conduct extensive research and develop the brand platform that will be used to bring Dallas’ new brand to life. “On the precipice of such exciting changes in our city, doing the work to define a cohesive identity for Dallas is one of monumental importance,” says Carrie Freeman Parsons, chair of the board at Freeman Company and Visit Dallas board chair.
Successfully establishing a destination brand requires universal community adoption, and building brand equity and awareness can take years. This group of change-makers are up to the challenge and know the potential impact of this new Dallas brand can generate unprecedented awareness and reach that will benefit the community as it continues to grow and change.
Coming soon—a new brand advertising campaign to increase domestic business and leisure visitation to Dallas, among a few other surprises.
