Dodge County
CASE STUDY: Brand Development & Digital Marketing
Project Overview
Dodge County—located between Madison and the Fox Cities in central Wisconsin—is a family-friendly vacation destination that offers a little something for everyone, from the stunning Horicon Marsh to a dozen cities and towns filled with historic charm. Dodge County came to us with a branding challenge: How do we highlight the county’s most well-known assets while still encouraging people to explore lesser-known communities? Months of hard work and collaboration with Dodge County’s stakeholders (combined with Pilch + Barnet’s branding expertise) revealed the answer and helped take their destination marketing in a new direction.
01/ Brand Development
Taking a Closer Look
As we do with all our branding projects, we dug into the data first to analyze Dodge County’s existing assets and the current perception of the county as a vacation destination. We worked with the county and local chambers and tourism entities to examine their website traffic and social media engagement to establish baseline data for communities across the county.
Next—using social media advertising, local outreach, and leads from our Wisconsin Travel Best Bets e-newsletter list—we distributed a survey to residents, visitors, and potential visitors both locally and across the Midwest. We received several valuable takeaways from the survey related to visitors’ perceptions of Dodge County, their awareness of the county’s top assets (like the Horicon Marsh), and their travel planning habits and preferences.
A New Direction
Now it was time to develop a new brand for Dodge County, taking into consideration all the data we had gathered as well as the input we received from county and community stakeholders during several in-person meetings during the branding period.
We wanted a brand that would encourage people to move around Dodge County and learn about everything the county has to offer, not just its top assets. We wanted a brand that would guide people to explore these undiscovered areas, to direct them toward things they might not otherwise know about. In other words, a brand that would send them in a new direction.
“A New Direction” plays on the sense of adventure and exploration that we want visitors to have when they come here. The new logo for Dodge County conveys that sense of motion, and the related design elements and color palette reflect the feeling of natural wonder visitors will experience during their visit, whether they’re exploring the Horicon Marsh or the county’s lakes, rivers, and trails.
“A powerful resource exists, ready to break through those imaginary barriers: a network of ambassadors eager to illuminate new trails to try and parks to play in, waters waiting for anglers to cast and downtowns ready to explore. … Allowing these storytellers the opportunity to soar shines a light so travelers can uncover every corner of Dodge County—including A New Direction.”
Dodge County brand statement
02/ Digital Marketing
Inspiring Adventures in Dodge County
Once we had the new brand in place, we began working on a fitting showpiece to introduce it: a visitor-focused website that inspired people to discover Dodge County’s communities, amenities, and attractions. We started the project by working with local chambers and tourism groups to collect information and photos from across Dodge County, highlighting a dozen communities from Beaver Dam to Waupun.
The article-based site focuses on things to see and do throughout the county, and we also paid special attention to the county’s top natural attractions—the Horicon Marsh has its own page with helpful info and related articles and nearby attractions, and Dodge County’s lakes, rivers, recreational trails, parks, and other outdoor amenities also receive prominent placement on the site.
