Defiance County, OH, is a region brimming with potential. From expansive outdoor areas featuring a world-class parks and trails system, wildlife reserves, and state parks to long-standing communities brimming with shopping and dining, museums, and historical landmarks, Defiance County truly represents the confluence of recreation, work and life.
In 2023, the Defiance Main Street & Visitors Bureau sought to modernize its visual identity, which by then had become dated, lacking both consistency across other community entities and an emotional appeal to potential visitors. The Defiance Main Street & Visitors Bureau approached McDaniels Marketing to complete a rebrand that would unify community entities — including the Main Street & Visitors Bureau and city and county governments — and promote the region as a premier destination to visit, live and work. McDaniels Marketing was also tasked to redesign the bureau’s website and visitors guide utilizing the new brand, logos and colors with all-new design, writing and photography.
Working closely with the Defiance Main Street & Visitors Bureau and other local stakeholders, McDaniels Marketing crafted a strong brand that built on Defiance County’s position as an outdoor destination and its legacy of daring and innovative enterprises by bold, outside-the-box thinkers, simultaneously honoring the region’s proud history and its bright future.
After spending months researching — including conducting focus group tests and visiting Defiance County in person — the McD team identified the strengths, weaknesses and opportunities inherent in Defiance County and leveraged that information to craft a new, unifying brand for the county. The new brand family consists of logos for Defiance County, City of Defiance, and Defiance Main Street & Visitors Bureau. The logos’ bold type represents the strength and confidence that has been present in the culture of these communities since the founding of Fort Defiance in 1794. A bridge element represents the connections and closeness between the communities of Defiance County, and a three-point embellishment represents the three connecting rivers as well as a sunrise — a symbol of opportunity. Each logo has a specific primary color palette that works well with the others, creating brand unity throughout the family. A new tagline, “It’s Our Nature,” leverages the city and county’s bold name as an attitude shared by the community, positioning them as proud of their heritage and ready to defend it. The tagline also promotes the region’s pristine natural areas — such as the rivers and nature preserves — for leisure and recreation.
The streams of your life often seem to run parallel to one another — never meeting, always separate. While appearing disparate, these currents inch closer and closer until they converge in one special time and place. Defiance County, Ohio, captures the spirit of that existential confluence with unparalleled opportunities to visit, settle down, build your career, and enjoy your life. The rich earth provides moments of peaceful solitude in the wide-open, natural spaces that define the Northwest Ohio outdoors. Blaze a trail at Thoreau Wildlife Reserve, cast a line at Oxbow Lake and Wildlife Area, or stroll around paved paths of the Reservoir Nature Trail. Catch a breath of fresh air at our world-class parks, each boasting unique recreational activities for all ages including a water park, splash pad, and playgrounds. Launch a canoe or kayak and paddle not one, not two, but three pristine rivers — the Maumee, the Auglaize, and the Tiffin — each flowing from one adventure to the next through stunning, Midwestern environs. The stories of our forefathers live on at the historical sites that preserve our heritage, from the remains of our namesake fort to the well-preserved and immersive Auglaize Village. Get up close with global artifacts of a bygone era at the Andrew L. Tuttle Memorial Museum. Area residents steal the spotlight with local productions at the Defiance Community Auditorium and the Stroede Center for the Arts, while the intimate Huber Opera House and Civic Center welcomes touring and local acts to nearby Hicksville. Fallen in love with Defiance County and want to extend your stay much longer? Join a friendly community welcoming all walks of life and create the lifestyle you choose, from stately houses that have stood over city streets since the early 1820s to the home of your dreams built from the ground up. Equip your children with the knowledge and skills needed through their journey into adulthood at our public and private schools — and continue their education locally at our private institution, Defiance College. Want to bring your business vision to life? Join a supportive economic environment and follow in the footsteps of the innovative minds that have called Defiance County home — repurpose a historic storefront in a picturesque downtown or transform acres of undeveloped land into opportunity for both you and your future workforce. Discover the potential awaiting you in the Defiance area and follow the flow of life to an unforgettable convergence.
Based on the new graphic identity and messaging, the McD team then redesigned the Defiance website as well as its visitors guide, identifying some of the Defiance area’s most important attributes that would become the focal point of its marketing efforts. This meant highlighting the region’s historical attractions, outdoor spaces, and shopping and dining in Downtown Defiance. Gathering information from past materials, the creative team and McD Digital worked together to outline both digital and print pieces and worked together to build each out with narrative-driven content and bright, crisp photography, resulting in two companion pieces that matched the fresh look established by the rebrand.
The new brand has provided a refreshed look for Defiance County, capturing the essence of a community that honors its past while looking ahead to a promising tomorrow. Once the website was launched, McD distributed a press release through PR Newswire that was picked up by hundreds of news outlets across the country. In addition, we also launched a Facebook/Instagram campaign that resulted in over 14,000 clicks to their new website and over 326,000 impressions at a cost per click of .08.
“In the summer 2023, we knew as a community and as an organization we needed to make some positive changes to highlight and promote Defiance County,” said Kirstie Mack, Executive Director of the Defiance Main Street & Visitors Bureau. “After multiple interviews, our organization chose to work with McDaniels Marketing and their amazing team. They completely revamped our website to meet our needs and gave us the boost we needed to move forward with a rebranding project.
“The entire team has been instrumental in fulfilling new project ideas and they have traveled to our community twice in the last six months. They are not just sitting behind a desk — they are putting their boots on the ground and really getting to know Defiance and Defiance County. As the Executive Director, I would highly encourage other organizations to consider working with this great team for your next tourism project.”
Let us help you take your marketing strategy to the next level with McD Marketing. Contact Randy McDaniels at rmcdaniels@mcdmarketing.com or call (309) 346-7412 for more information.
