Greater Winston-Salem Inc

Rebranding in Winston-Salem embraces the past and future.

Winston-Salem, NC, wanted a brand identity that elevated its national presence while remaining true to the area’s historic roots. With “Winston-Salem: Where It Starts,” DCI created a visual identity that places Winston-Salem at the intersection of old and new, artistic and scientific, gritty and immaculately designed.

Services Branding & Marketing Strategy

The Challenge

Inspired by industry and driven by innovation, Winston-Salem's city identity was intertwined with its history in tobacco and textile manufacturing. Today, its iconic brick factories have been repurposed into modern amenities alongside one of the country’s foremost urban technology parks. The problem? Winston-Salem had no clear destination brand image or visual identity on the national stage and lacked cohesive messaging among internal audiences. So DCI tapped its city branding and research expertise to create what became a successful city brand.

The Solution

In conjunction with messaging and a marketing strategy, DCI spearheaded the branding campaign for Winston-Salem, developing a place brand strategy that, like the city, holds extremes – old and new, artistic and scientific – and amplifies them to attract business investment, talent and entrepreneurs. Elevating Winston-Salem’s economic development offerings to stakeholders on a national stage, DCI engaged its expertise in placemaking and place marketing to develop a brand strategy and creative city logo design that was forward-looking while paying homage to the area’s rich history.

The Results

A Dynamic Tagline

With the tagline, “Where It Starts,” the new branding effort ties back to the foundation of innovation and discovery on which Winston-Salem was built as well as the potential it offers to build the ideas and businesses of tomorrow.
An Inspired Color Palette

Blue, red, yellow and white graphic design nod to North Carolina’s flag – a state with very positive perceptions among corporate executives and site selection consultants.
A Flexible Campaign

The tagline offers flexibility to substitute other words for “It” depending on the message – such as “Where Innovation Starts,” “Where Business Starts” or “Where Life Starts.”

Inspired by the history of the region and the blue, red, yellow and white of the North Carolina flag, the new brand places Winston-Salem at the intersection of the past and the future.

The new brand preserves the hyphen that is so important to Winston-Salem residents.

With the tagline, “Where It Starts,” the brand ties back to the foundation of innovation and discovery on which Winston-Salem was built as well as the potential it offers to build the ideas and businesses of tomorrow.

The tagline offers flexibility to substitute other words for “It” – such as “Where Innovation Starts,” “Where Business Starts” or “Where Life Starts.”