Sincerely Theirs: Lee’s Summit settles on a slogan, looks for a brand manager
Lee’s Summit is thinking about you. Leaders of this suburb, located 16 miles southeast of Kansas City, are spending thousands of dollars on plans to get you to drop by the 65 square miles of city and stay for a while.
On October 18, the Lee’s Summit City Council voted 6-2 to spend $80,000 on a “brand manager,” who will develop a plan over the next seven months for the city’s new slogan, “Yours Truly.”
“We think it’s very important to come up with one brand identity,” says Nancy Bruns, Lee’s Summit Chamber of Commerce president. The chamber is expected to announce the hire in the coming weeks. “People see the same message, and it resonates more.”
City building is no longer just infrastructure improvements and trash removal. Cash-strapped communities are betting their budgets that community branding matters. Even suburbs like Lee’s Summit are getting into the business of destination marketing.
“Before the downturn, Lee’s Summit was totally hopping,” Bruns says. “We didn’t have to market the community as much as we may need to in the future.”
