The Town of Herndon is taking on a new identity that it hopes will distinguish it from the rest of Northern Virginia.
The town’s years-long rebranding push reached a milestone on Tuesday (Jan. 28) when the Herndon Town Council voted unanimously to adopt “Live Differently” as the concept and tagline that will guide future marketing efforts.
Recommended by an advisory task force appointed in January 2024 by then-town manager Bill Ashton II, the concept succinctly tells Herndon’s story as a small town with convenient access to urban amenities like Metro and Dulles International Airport, consultant Steve Chandler said when presenting the proposal to the town council at a Jan. 21 work session.
“We believe Herndon offers a refreshing change to the rest of the D.C. metro area,” he said.
Hired by the town last year, Chandler’s destination marketing firm ChandlerThinks launched its rebranding study for Herndon in June, using focus groups, one-on-one interviews, walking tours, an online community survey, foot traffic data and other tools to learn what both residents and outsiders think of the town.
Through that research, the consultant identified four “pillars” representing the attributes of Herndon that people most value:
- Its close proximity to Dulles and D.C.
- The distinctive “look, charm and experience” of historic downtown Herndon
- The community’s “friendly, welcoming small-town spirit”
- The population’s diversity
ChandlerThinks presented its findings to the branding advisory task force earlier this month, ultimately resulting in the recommended concept.
As a tagline, “Live Differently” could be adapted for a variety of messages, Chandler noted, presenting mockups of an ad campaign that also encourages people to “work differently” or “play differently.”
While the study didn’t look at a full redesign of Herndon’s logo, the consultant suggested a revised color palette with red and gray as the defaults and other hues coming into the mix only in specific contexts. Green, for example, could be associated with the parks and recreation department.
In addition, the consultant and task force landed on a capital “H” with a starburst as a potential logo icon — a symbol that could be used on town communications, facilities, merchandise and marketing materials as an abbreviation of the full Town of Herndon logo.
“We wanted to create something that energized you all,” Chandler said, explaining that the design aims to strike a balance between serious and fun. “…You have great flavor to you.”
Though council members embraced the recommended tagline, the icon drew a more skeptical reaction. Vice Mayor Clark Hedrick questioned its necessity, noting that he couldn’t think of any major cities, let alone small towns, with widely known icons, while Councilmember Cesar del Aguila felt it didn’t reflect the town’s commitment to diversity clearly enough.
Responding to Hedrick’s comments, Chandler countered that an icon can be a valuable identifier for Herndon residents, even if out-of-towners don’t immediately recognize it.
“[The] residents you serve, that’s who matters most,” he said. “Our responsibility is speaking to our residents. If they’re excited and have energy behind their community, that’s attractive.”
Del Aguila proposed that the town enlist local artists to design an icon. Another council member floated the possibility of a community contest, but others worried that could turn into a “Boaty McBoatface problem,” in Hedrick’s words.
Instead of getting submissions from the general public, del Aguila advocated for turning to professional artists. The town, after all, leases space to organizations like Arts Herndon, and an arts center is envisioned as the centerpiece of the stalled downtown redevelopment project.
“I just think it would be a missed opportunity if we don’t engage with our arts community,” del Aguila said. “Otherwise, why do we have an arts community? Why do we want it to tout it as something that’s unique and adds value to the town? But I get it. We want to be cautious.”
With the council unable to reach a consensus during its work session, the brand concept approved this week didn’t include a logo, though Herndon communications director Anne Papa advised that the town should come up with a “graphic representation” of its new branding in the future.
Now in his fourth term, del Aguila said shaking up Herndon’s brand has been a priority for him since he first got into office, and Mayor Keven LeBlanc recalled participating in the town’s previous branding task force in 2012.
“I think this is a showcase of what we can do to continue to propel the town forward and to hold to our vision, as the vice mayor and Councilmember Del Aguila mentioned, of truly being a unique and different destination and home for the residents of Northern Virginia,” LeBlanc said before the council voted at its Tuesday meeting.
ChandlerThinks will deliver a marketing plan to the town within 30 days of the branding concept’s approval. Papa said her team has already requested that funding for implementing the branding be included in the town’s upcoming fiscal year 2026 budget.
