\n\u201cBeautiful! Can\u2019t wait to visit!\u201d -Mayra Ariza de Salas<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSuch a fun event, can\u2019t wait to do it again!\u201d -Rebecca Steen in reference to the Restaurant Crawl<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI wonder what they\u2019ll put on the banners in January\u201d -Orfelinda Grcevic<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Following the rebranding, foot traffic increased, local businesses reported a rise in customer engagement, and community events saw greater attendance. Social media metrics improved dramatically, with engagement rates skyrocketing. DOIA\u2019s socials have the most positive comments compared to the other government accounts, such as the City of Ontario\u2019s official accounts and Ontario\u2019s Economic development. Our inbox sees many messages of thanks for our prompt reply, and locals will visit the director\u2019s office to express how happy they are with the area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A funny incident occurred when our team was in the middle of a meeting with DOIA. A resident walked into the office and exclaimed, \u201cWho is in charge of all the banners and the Instagram?\u201d The room fell silent, and we braced for a negative response. I raised my hand \u201cI am.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou need a raise! I just wanted to tell you that you have done an excellent job! I\u2019m so happy to be part of the Downtown, you can really see all the change. There\u2019s so many things I\u2019ve learned about my city thanks to you, my family goes to all the events and we can\u2019t wait to see what\u2019s in store! Thank you so much for bringing the community together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
KPIs are one thing, but hearing feedback from the people affected by the rebrand is something completely different.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSocial Media statistics after the first year (2023)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nImpact over social media has almost doubled by the end of the second year, with total followers across networks being about 14.7K.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>Part 5: Analysis & Key Takeaways<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\nThe rebrand of the DTO is a great example of how branding goes beyond the visual. It taps into the culture and the vision of the subject. It also shows what happens when executive and creative departments work hand in hand. We recommend ongoing efforts to maintain community involvement, as it is essential for sustaining the momentum generated by the rebranding initiative. Continued collaboration with local businesses and residents will further strengthen Downtown Ontario\u2019s identity and foster a sense of belonging among its community members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This rebranding project taught us invaluable lessons about the power of community engagement and the importance of preserving history while embracing change. We will definitely be taking this experience into our other projects. Here are some takeaways I\u2019d like to share:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nListen to your audience. You can learn so much about how to tackle a rebrand by figuring out the pain points.<\/li>\n\n\n\n Go beyond the visual: lasting brands impact not only the company itself, but those around it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t be scared to experiment. Our colorful palette had a chance of being deemed \u201ctoo much\u201d but the implementation allowed the residents to view the area as a happening place.<\/li>\n\n\n\n Work with what you have. I cannot emphasize this enough. The Downtown only had about 4 restaurants when we decided to create The Crawl, so we decided to include ALL the eateries- candy shops, Starbucks, etc. It was a success, and the tickets were sold out!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\nThe successful rebranding of Downtown Ontario stands as a testament to the resilience of communities and the importance of listening to their voices. With continued commitment to revitalization and community engagement, Downtown Ontario is poised for a bright and prosperous future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Downtown Ontario Improvement Association (DOIA) is a non-profit organization. Its members include business owners, developers, and stakeholders…\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":160286,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"Discover how Downtown Ontario in California was rebranded into a vibrant, safe hub for visitors and residents.","_seopress_robots_index":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[692,207,11],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[796],"class_list":{"0":"post-160242","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brand-communications","8":"category-brand-strategy","9":"category-case-studies","10":"cs-entry","11":"cs-video-wrap"},"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":692,"label":"Brand Communications"},{"value":207,"label":"Brand Strategy"},{"value":11,"label":"Case Studies"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/www.thebrandingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Rebranding-downtown-ontario-1024x640.png",1024,640,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Nicolle Mendoza","author_link":"https:\/\/www.thebrandingjournal.com\/author\/nicolle-mendoza\/"},"comment_info":3,"category_info":[{"term_id":692,"name":"Brand Communications","slug":"brand-communications","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":692,"taxonomy":"category","description":"Discover the power of brand communications with our insightful articles that delve into the art of connecting with your audience. Learn strategies and best practices to elevate your brand communications, ensuring your message resonates and engages effectively.","parent":0,"count":13,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":692,"category_count":13,"category_description":"Discover the power of brand communications with our insightful articles that delve into the art of connecting with your audience. Learn strategies and best practices to elevate your brand communications, ensuring your message resonates and engages effectively.","cat_name":"Brand Communications","category_nicename":"brand-communications","category_parent":0},{"term_id":207,"name":"Brand Strategy","slug":"brand-strategy","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":207,"taxonomy":"category","description":"Brand strategies are made out of so many different steps, from defining a brand purpose and positioning to brand identity. See some examples here.","parent":0,"count":94,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":207,"category_count":94,"category_description":"Brand strategies are made out of so many different steps, from defining a brand purpose and positioning to brand identity. See some examples here.","cat_name":"Brand Strategy","category_nicename":"brand-strategy","category_parent":0},{"term_id":11,"name":"Case Studies","slug":"case-studies","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":11,"taxonomy":"category","description":"We love to analyze successful and not so successful brand strategies worldwide and see what we can learn from them. Read our branding case studies here!","parent":0,"count":37,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":11,"category_count":37,"category_description":"We love to analyze successful and not so successful brand strategies worldwide and see what we can learn from them. Read our branding case studies here!","cat_name":"Case Studies","category_nicename":"case-studies","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"authors":[{"term_id":796,"user_id":53,"is_guest":0,"slug":"nicolle-mendoza","display_name":"Nicolle Mendoza","avatar_url":"https:\/\/www.thebrandingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/cropped-Nicolle-Mendoza-96x96.jpg","0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrandingjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrandingjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrandingjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrandingjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrandingjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160242"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrandingjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160242\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":160570,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrandingjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160242\/revisions\/160570"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrandingjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrandingjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrandingjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrandingjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160242"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebrandingjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=160242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}