Council to vote on rebranding
Members of the Red Oak City Council will vote on a logo and slogan rebranding proposal at the next regular meeting Feb. 21.
At the Feb. 7 meeting, Red Oak Chamber and Industry Association Director of Membership and Finance Elaine Carlson and Events and Marketing Coordinator Kesandra Pullen addressed the board about the rebranding process.
The decisions for a new logo and slogan came from several surveys and numerous meetings, Pullen explained.
She explained according to the survey results, some people felt the logo A Shade Better was “prideful” or “boastful.” Others said the motto did not adequately describe Red Oak, while others felt only a “shade better” wasn’t something to take pride in.
Instead of A Shade Better, Pullen recommended Red Oak, the Heart of Southwest Iowa as the slogan. The logo would be the skyline of Red Oak, using shades of red and orange.
Five new logos were submitted to the U.S. Copyright Office, of which two have already been approved.
Pullen explained the “Red Oak, the Heart of Southwest Iowa” would be used for smaller scale applications such as letter heads, business cards, table tents and so forth.
As for what the logo looks like, it is the same graphic that was used for Junction Days 2021. That version of the logo will be used for larger scale operations like banners and t-shirts.
Additionally, Pullen said they also propose a secondary slogan, “Feel our Beat,” for more specific uses within the community.
“It was designed to be used by Red Oak businesses, organizations, the school district, etc. For example, feel our beat for fitness at the Montgomery County YMCA, or feel our beat for caring at the Red Oak Child Development Center, or even feel our beat for innovation at Red Oak Fabrication. You will also note that the ‘heart’ and ‘beat’ are both italicized to give the illusion of ‘heartbeat,’ without actually saying it,” Pullen explained.
Lastly, a standalone “Feel our Beat” logo was submitted for copyright approval.
“From a standpoint of geography and proximity to the neighboring communities and region, Red Oak truly is the heart of southwest Iowa and America’s heartland. From a marketing standpoint, the heart is both very versatile and has various applications moving forward, just as the feel our beat does. And this may seem obvious, but from the heart comes love and one of our goals of this new branding is to help bring the community together in a very visual way,” Pullen said.