Biggest Little City Movement Non-profit Board to Disband and Donate Brand Assets to City

Edit July 20, 2015: View the $234,000 budget below.

Edit July 21, 2015: The RGJ finally reported on this story and is indicating the non-profit is now back-pedaling on its $43,500 intellectual property price tag. The group is now going to “turnover the rights to the city for $1.”

—

The docket for Wednesday’s City Council meeting includes the potential adoption of the Biggest Little City brand and R logo with a cost of up to $234,000. Those dollars would come out of the City’s general fund, according to the meeting agenda.

It’s one of three logo options the City Council may vote upon.

Option 1 replaces the City’s current logo with the R logo and Biggest Little City tagline. The cost is estimated at $234,000 to purchase “official city documents, trash cans, signs and signal lights, street name signs, sewer covers, park signs, gym floors and monuments.” It would take one to three years, and existing materials would be replaced as supplies diminish.

Option 2 would continuing using the R logo as a secondary campaign logo on informal materials, in conjunction with the existing City logo, which would remain as the City’s official logo. The $234,000 price tag applies to option 2, similar to 1 above, in order to replace printed materials.

Option 3 would keep the existing City logo, which was adopted in 1999 with community input.

Options 1 and 2 would require $20,000 for reclassified position, from an office assistant to a graphics coordinator.

To use the R logo, for options 1 and 2, the City Manager would have “to execute an Intellectual Property agreement in the amount not to exceed $43,500 to acquire the logo design and intellectual property assets from the non-profit ‘Biggest Little City Movement.'”

The non-profit said that its assets are worth more than $1 million, which includes public relations, project management, research, design and production.

The $43,500 is included in the $234,000, as is the $20,000 staff position increase.

Read more about the options at the City Council meeting packet. The staff report begins on page 613 in the pdf file.

What do you think? Should the City cough up the $234,000 to start using the R logo and its brand assets? Which logo do you like better? Please leave (civil) comments below.