By JONATHAN SNYDER
The Bluffton Common Council postponed the selection of a marketing firm for the city’s rebrand on Tuesday after three companies made their pitches.
Council member Chandler Gerber introduced three firms to the council — Reusser out of Roanoke, RJL Solutions out of Indianapolis and Fresh Coast Collective out of Wisconsin.
Fresh Coast Collective started the proceedings with Chelsea Eul joining the meeting via zoom. In her presentation she explained that FCC expanded to design, social media management and web design after originally being a photography and advertising firm.
Eul gave a three-phase process to the board, the first of which being surveys to the public for several months. Phase two will involve the rebrand’s design, where colors, fonts and possible taglines will be introduced. Phase three will give the city guidelines and templates for any social media plans.
Eul stated that if they are selected, the rebrand should be completed by the end of July. Their quote came in at $38,800.
While Eul was born in Bluffton and the company has experience with other municipalities, such as the Minneapolis Northwest Tourism and Explore Minnesota, the distance between the firm and Bluffton seemed to be a cause for caution, said Council member Scott Mentzer. Eul did state that FCC is prepared to work remotely with the city.
RJL Solutions’ Vice-President of Business Development T.J. Collett cited RJL’s experience with municipalities as a key benefit for Bluffton’s rebrand. Collett stated that the firm worked with Vermillion County and the Indiana County Commissioners. Collett also noted that the firm’s clients have almost all been in Indiana, with one exception in Chicago.
RJL quoted their work at $48,125.
Collett said that RJL’s three-phase plan is similar to FCC’s, but with phase one being more about looking at other counties’ rebrands, in addition to surveying the community. RJL also has a grant client process where they look for grants that closely align with the city’s focuses.
Reusser gave a similar presentation with a focus on their work in or near Wells County. Reusser has worked with the Adams County and the City of Berne in the past for rebrands.
Nate Reusser, Joe Beste and Tommy Moore all presented for the firm and are keen on weaving some of Bluffton’s history into the rebrand should they be selected.
Reusser also stated that their rebrand should be finished by the time of the Street Fair should they be selected. Ruesser quoted the project at $20,000.
All three groups were taken under heavy advisement by the council, with the council giving compliments particularly to RJL. Mentzer further said he wanted to work with a firm specializing in similar municipalities.
In addition to the presentations, the council tabled a decision to invest money into creating a master plan for Wells County. This plan allows the Wells County Economic Development staff to identify places where each municipality in Wells can improve. Bluffton will have to pay close to $14,000 for the plan should they approve.
The council tabled both decisions because Bluffton’s contract with Economic Development still needs some details finalized. Council member Rick Elwell was hesitant to spend money before the contract was signed. Gerber noted that while he approved of the decision to table, he wanted to make sure that the council had a timeline to follow so that the situation did not drag needlessly.
All members of the council except for Janella Stronczek were present on Tuesday.
jonathan@news-banner.com
