Is Carmel 'built for big dreams?' City rolls out new logo, rebranding effort

Indianapolis Star

3 hours ago

Carmel is 'Built for Big Dreams' — at least according to the city's new tagline.
The affluent Hamilton County community spent $125,000 to collect feedback and generate a new tagline, logo and comprehensive strategic plan, fulfilling a campaign promise from Mayor Sue Finkam.
'I've been testing (the new tagline) in speeches and comments, and it resonates very well with people,' Finkam said. 'You can see that they get it.'
People come to Carmel, or stay in the city, with dreams of putting their children in the best school system possible and living in a neighborhood surrounded by incredible community, the mayor said.
The process to come up with the new tagline, a new logo and the city's new strategic plan started shortly after Finkam took office in 2024, with a community survey. The city spent $40,000 to conduct the survey and got about 7,200 responses. The survey included questions on the city's brand, why residents moved to Carmel, why they stayed and their satisfaction with city services.
From there, Carmel spent $85,000 to partner with Florida-based North Star Place Branding + Marketing. The marketing company's research included interviews and group discussions with residents, business owners and other stakeholders and additional surveys.
The company tried to survey residents of three cities that Carmel is often compared to. North Star wanted to find out what residents of Naperville, Illinois; Dublin, Ohio; and Franklin, Tennesse, thought of Carmel compared to their own cities.
But there weren't enough residents with knowledge of Carmel in those three cities to conduct the research.
'There are a lot of people who might be hearing about Carmel and have absolutely zero understanding of what Carmel is and what we stand for,' Finkam said. 'Even though we've been on the best places to live rankings for years, people recognize the name but still don't know much about the city.'
Finkam hopes that will change under the city's new comprehensive strategic plan and rebranding efforts. In addition to the new tagline, Carmel is rolling out a new logo. The four pieces that make up part of the logo pay homage to the four families that laid out, in 1837, the Town of Bethlehem, which grew into the City of Carmel.
'We have about 28 different logos that have been used and we're trying to clean those up,' Finkam said. 'Our street department logo is completely different from our building inspection teams logo.'
Standardizing the city logo will make it easier for residents to identify city workers, the mayor said. Costs to standardize the logo will be low as city staffers had been directed to hold off on printing letterheads and ordering new uniforms until the new logo was ready, the mayor said.
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'It's very minimal costs,' Finkam said. 'We're trying to do this very frugally to make sure we give most value to the taxpayer.'
The strategic plan, which hasn't yet been fully released, will integrate initiatives across all the city's departments based on pillars of 'improving livability, innovating for impact and investing in people.'
'Part of this effort with strategic planning was not just how we present to the outside world but how we deliver our services and the mission city staff aligns around,' the mayor said.
Better marketing of the city benefits Carmel's businesses and helps attract more residents and visitors, Finkam added. Jack Russell, president and CEO, of Hamilton County's OneZone Chamber of Commerce agreed.
'A strong brand builds confidence — and Carmel's refreshed strategy and identity send a clear message that this is a city where business, community and culture thrive together,' Russell said in a news release.
The city expects to release the full strategic plan later this year.
'We believe that developing a strategic plan that's tied to community research, with the refreshed visual identity, will help us align what we try to do within the city every day and also how we're trying to attract and inspire people outside the community,' Finkam said.