When the new logo for the Pikes Peak region flopped last November, it was back to the drawing board for the Colorado Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau.In April, the CVB’s chief executive officer, Doug Price, updated the El Paso County Board of County Commissioners about the latest logo.A brand has to do three things: influence businesses to move or stay here, build a sense of community among residents and attract visitors to the area. Featuring the Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak, the logo clearly represents Colorado Springs, Price said.ìThe process we went through to get the new logo design was worth it,î he said.According to the CVB’s Web site, the first logo was the product of the CVB’s Community Branding Task Force, which was formed in March 2011.The task force consisted of representatives of the CVB, the city of Colorado Springs, El Paso County, the Colorado Springs Regional Economic Development Corp., the Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce, the El Pomar Foundation, the Colorado Springs Sports Corp. and the Colorado Springs Housing & Building Association.As reported in the Nov. 21 issue of the ìGazette,î the task force selected Stone Mantel, a local marketing company, to research tourist and business attitudes toward the Pikes Peak region and design three logos and 112 tag lines and test market them.The task force chose a logo and the tag line ìLive it up!î The CVB, funded by membership fees and a tax on hotel rooms and car rentals, paid $111,000 to the marketing company, as disclosed on its Web site.When the logo and tag line were unveiled last fall, local designers used Facebook (http://facebook.com/RebrandTheSprings) to express their disappointment and offer other logos they felt were better.The CVB responded by asking designers to submit their ideas to a panel, which then picked three finalists, each of whom would be paid $1,000, with the winning designer receiving $2,000, according to a Dec. 9 article in the ìGazette.îAnd the winner …In January, the branding task force chose Troy and Sara DeRose, a husband-and-wife team who owns Fixer Creative Co., a graphic design company in Colorado Springs.And fix is what they did. The logo was unveiled April 2 to a chorus of favorable reviews.The tag line ìLive it up!î will be used in conjunction with the final logo.Writing on her blog, Sara DeRose said ìLive it up!î made her cringe the first time she heard it, making her think of spring break in Cabo San Lucas in 2012. It didn’t make sense until she heard it represents living at high altitude ñ with big plans and expectations of excellence.The Space Symposium held in Colorado Springs in April is the kind of event the final logo is designed to attract. The symposium brought 9,000 visitors and almost $4 million to the area, Price said.The CVB is already using the final logo on ads at Denver International Airport and Kansas City International Airport ñ two key markets for attracting visitors and businesses to the Pikes Peak region.Price said the CVB is reaching out to businesses and organizations in El Paso, Teller and Fremont counties, encouraging them to incorporate the final logo and tag line on their Web sites and other advertising materials.Coordinated use of the final logo will help create community and small mini-destinations throughout the region, he said.In May, the CVB started presenting quarterly classes for organizations interested in how other businesses are using the logo and incorporating it into their marketing plans.The final logo and tag line, along with usage guidelines that explain color, font and font size, can be downloaded at http://visitcos.com.There is no charge to use the logo, Price said.
