Municipal Heritage Economic Development Branding

Town of Marana, Heritage Project: “Where Old Tracks Break New Trails” Brand

Stakeholders in Marana knew that the community’s heritage was a valuable resource and so included it as one of five strategic focus areas. The community understood that its future would prove to be richer and better thanks to Marana’s knack for turning unexpected challenges into opportunities. 

As project lead for Marana Heritage Project, WestWordVision constructed an authentic brand based on the area’s historic prime position along an ancient trade corridor.

Using historical context and broad community stakeholder wisdom, we identified and mapped six defining personality traits that formed the basis of our community identity.

The upshot: Marana is revealing to the world a showcase for controlled, visionary growth. It Authentic Brand, created from its heritage and inheritance, is setting it apart from neighboring towns and cities. Most of all, our Marana brand points the town toward its destiny as a destination, a wide open place where American Western heritage and rural ways live within a short distance of cities but a world apart from them.

Bringing together our quantitative and qualitative research, we created an Epic Story called Pioneering People On A Corridor of Change. Marana tells their story to newcomers and uses it to attract businesses that share the same values and beliefs. Read the story.