Forge Your Path is a talent attraction brand campaign representing 10 counties in East Central Indiana. Mindy Kenworthy, President of the East Central Indiana Regional Partnership (ECIRP), approached IronGate to lead this initiative.

The ultimate challenge was to attract and convince people to live and work in East Central Indiana. Another hurdle we encountered was attempting to entice 10 counties to buy-in and cooperate, when their instincts were to compete against each other. The final challenge was defining a methodology that would organize, create, and implement such a large initiative with a vast array of moving parts. The great fear in such a large initiative is to start strong, only to have it fade away due to lack of commitment or zeal.

First there was a strategic planning session that included 50 people from all 10 counties. Attending were representatives from economic development, chambers of commerce, tourism, business, health and education. A 10 county committee was developed. This group was named Elevate ECI. They met every month for an entire year. As the committee worked, they shared their findings and results through online communications. This was important to promote interest and to maintain transparency. Building trust was very important among the committee members and the counties. This endeavor created the foundation for a name and brand platform — along with other important initiatives such as funding, communicating and marketing. During the second year of the process, the name, brand identity, brand platform, and website, were created and built.

We were successfully able to keep all the counties working together towards this common goal of establishing the structure to attract and maintain people within the region. The methodology outlined below accomplished the task of organizing and creating this framework.

The brand campaign launched in August of 2020. The scope and scale of this initiative were very challenging, given that it had to be built from the ground up. The client had to report progress to their funding streams on a regular basis, which strengthened communication and team building. We were able to keep all parties engaged and on task throughout the process.

Our idea was to create a brand that offers a sense of belonging — using an empathetic message that told people they mattered here in East Central Indiana. The talent attraction brand name developed was “Forge Your Path”. This name was actionable, aggressive and empowering. The logo design reinforced the sentiment that this region is a mosaic comprised of individuals, different paths, and unique opportunities all coming together and working as one. A robust website was designed and developed, acting as the centerpiece for the new brand initiative, offering helpful tools and content. Three different target personas were identified along with unique messages for each. A digital campaign and social media were launched in the last quarter of 2020.