Details

24 October 2021

In September 2021, we launched our new brand, thanks to the Hamilton Development Corporation’s help in securing a state grant. As a remit to help local businesses, we thought that we should ‘walk the talk’, and we know that putting the effort into a professional identity is an appealing way to attract people to your offering, so voila! We put ourselves out there and went through the process and are so happy that we did!

Beverly-based Marketing agency Communications Inc. won the RFP bid that the Town put out on our behalf,, and their team was wonderful to work with; if you need any marketing or brand work, we recommend you check them out. They are also an all-women team recently certified as a women-owned business. Here’s a summary of the work we did and our Brand statement:

Brand Promise.

Local HW works to give a collective voice to the business community so we can all participate in the larger community conversation and make positive impacts that benefit everyone. We know our towns have an awesome offering and we work to make it visible, desirable and accessible to the wider community. We believe that thriving local businesses are essential for a vibrant community and we nurture all of this. In Hamilton and Wenham, our businesses matter because they are often ambassadors for us to the wider community. They provide services and resources; they can be first impressions and market makers, introducing people to our towns and to each other and act as the handshake to our community. The quality of this handshake can keep people coming back, wanting to live, work or just hang with us.

Brand Value. Shop Local HW is a catalyst for placemaking and making the intangible value of ‘The HyperLocal Economy’ visible to the community. Our local businesses will never compete with Walmart or Amazon on price, but we’re not about that. We see the deeper value of the local exchange on every level.

Brand positioning/USP.

While there are currently no other initiatives that work to amplify the local business community, there have been similar efforts made in the past and we honor them. These efforts lasted for a few years then disappeared; you can probably find ghost websites if you look, made by well-intended community members who rolled their sleeves up and did the work. It is important that we aim for longevity and sustainability, which is why it’s so important to launch the Membership Program and nurture it. Our Unique Selling Point is that we are positioned to be a conduit for additional resources and other similar opportunities, and we have the ability to cohere the business community so they have that One Voice.

Our Value Proposition is that we exist to cohere the business community while also connecting with residents and other stakeholders. Together we will help to create a welcoming atmosphere that will cultivate a supportive local economy as well as attract a regional interest.

This is Your Organization.

If you’re a small business, sole proprietor or enthused entrepreneurial resident of the North Shore (not just Hamilton and Wenham), we invite you to join Local HW and be part of something exciting, positive and fruitful. Join us today.