Though it’s now 145 years old, the Town of Herndon’s identity continues to evolve.
A small-town feel and diversity were among the salient attributes highlighted by an emerging brand strategy, a consultant reported to the Herndon Town Council at a work session on Tuesday (Oct. 1). But questions remain on how the town will engage its minority-majority community.
Hired to assist with the town’s ongoing rebranding efforts, which will help with future marketing, ChandlerThinks spent the summer gathering feedback from more than 1,100 participants, including about 600 town residents, through 21 one-on-one interviews, six focus groups and a community survey.
“It’s been a fun exercise thus far,” Greg Fuson, director of research and community engagement at ChandlerThinks, said.
Despite the breadth of the participants, town council members said more work needed to be done to capture the views of different communities who now make up a majority of the town’s population.
According to Census estimates, Herndon is 37% Hispanic, 35% white, 16% Asian, 7% Black or African American, 1% Native American and 4% multiracial or “other.” A majority of residents (53.7%) speak a language other than English at home.
ChandlerThinks offered its community surveys in English, Spanish, Korean, Urdu and Farsi, but Fuson conceded that “we can’t force them to participate,” leading some groups to be more engaged than others.
“If we’re not capturing the voice of the majority of our community, I think that’s concerning,” Councilmember Donielle Scherff said, noting that the town has made strides in identifying community engagement strategies.
The town’s brand rests on four general pillars. Its close proximity to D.C. and Dulles place value on its location, historic downtown provides a distinct experience than other suburbs, a friendly small-town spirit permeates the community, and ethnic diversity is an integral part of the town’s identity and character.
However, some community members said the town government appears to struggle with its own identity. Most see the town as a place to live, not a place to visit or own a business. Feedback from people who don’t live in Herndon suggested that issues like crime, infrastructure and the perceived quality of its schools give the town a negative reputation.
“That’s a total perception,” Fuson said, noting that Herndon’s public schools get a B+ rating on Niche.com. “…It goes back to, if we think it’s really good, we’ve got to tell our story better when other people are saying negative [things] about it.”
Downtown Herndon and other community fixtures like the train depot and caboose, the Washington & Old Dominion Trail, and town green are also critical features of the town’s identity, the survey found.
However, the survey noted a “disconnect” between the vision for Herndon’s future and the current state of affairs, especially as it relates to the stalled redevelopment of downtown Herndon and community traditions.
Councilmember Cesar del Aguila and others also said they were surprised the brand strategy seemed to have “missed the arts aspect” of the town, though Fuson said many respondents mentioned elements like the free summer concert series Friday Night Live! as key features.
“I never worked with a community that talked about an event… more than people did about Friday Night Live,” he said.
The team will return to the council with a final brand platform, story and plan in December, according to Anne Curtis, the town’s chief communications officer.
