North Carolina begins its 1st state branding campaign

What does North Carolina mean to you?

A new project to officially brand North Carolina is asking residents that question as it seeks to define the state.

The N.C. Department of Commerce is partnering with UNC’s Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise in the Brand N.C. Project.

David Rhoades, director of marketing for the department, said the project targets a wide range of audiences, including college students in the UNC system.

“The Brand N.C. Project is trying to engage the university community, particularly the 16-campus university community but also citizens statewide, to provide us their perspective and their input on what they think makes North Carolina, North Carolina,” he said.

Rhoades said the brand will hopefully be used to market the state.

While North Carolina has been associated with branding in the past, Rhoades said that based on his research, he thinks the project might result in the state’s first official brand.

Nicholas Didow, a professor at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School who is working on the project, said five UNC graduate students and 17 undergraduates are involved with the effort after the commerce department contacted UNC for assistance.

“We have gladly partnered with N.C. Commerce to help compile basic research findings, core concepts and examples of creative expression for the statewide brand,” he said.

He said the commerce department, the Kenan Institute and other stakeholders will also work with a professional marketing firm to hone the final project starting this summer.

UNC-system President Tom Ross said in a statement that he was pleased students are involved in the project.

“In many ways, our students are North Carolina’s future,” he said.

There are "two contests":http://www.brandnc.org/contests/ to attract involvement in the brand from North Carolinians, including a creative expression submission where participants can express what North Carolina means to them with art forms like photography, dancing, poetry and sculpting.

Ashley Gremel, a UNC senior economics major and business minor who is working on the project, said the contests will be a good way to promote artistic reflection on the state’s positive attributes.

“It allows us to reflect on what is unique and positive about North Carolina, and what it really means to be living in this state,” she said.

The second contest will have student teams competing in a business case competition for the state’s new brand.

The state’s defining hallmark for UNC sophomore Lauren Moore, a North Carolina native, is its students.

“We have really excellent colleges and schools,” she said. “I have been really inspired this past summer seeing students mobilize, like in the Moral Monday movement where a lot of my peers were out there marching for higher pay for teachers and better working conditions for educators.”

state@dailytarheel.com