Nebraska City Branding
The town so great they built a state around it
Nebraska City has a lot of things going for it. It’s Nebraska’s oldest town; the home of several apple orchards, vineyards and museums; and the epicenter of Arbor Day. Unfortunately, when it came to marketing and branding, the 160-year-old town was about 159 years behind the times. The blossom, to ruthlessly pummel a metaphor, had long since fallen from the apple tree.
Work we did:
• Rebranding
• Brand Strategy
• Advertising
•Collateral
• WebsiteWhen it became orange:
When we went to the AppleJack Festival and, despite the closure of the main highway leading into town, there was ZERO parking to be found due to the massive crowds in attendance.
Results
Website traffic was substantial, averaging 800 – 1,000 visitors/day during off-peak weeks, and spiking at 7,500/day during AppleJack. Despite the closing of Highway 75, visitor counts were up (the AppleJack festival alone saw attendance grow by 50% to 120,000), and sales tax revenue increased 9.9% year-over-year April through August. Anecdotally, residents said they hadn’t seen the downtown so busy in years, and with younger families to boot.