BRAND BOOK

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Main Street Station: The Brand

Welcome to the Main Street Station Brand Book

This book is meant to serve as a guide for defining and protecting the Main

Street Station brand whenever any type of communications are created.

So - what exactly is a brand?

It’s what Main Street Station stands for: its identity to all who see, visit, or

engage with it. It is everything the building is, the image it projects, and the

meaning it embodies for Richmonders and visitors alike.

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Why “Brand Ourselves?”

Our brand will be our roadmap for clarity.

It describes who we are to all audiences, helping us drive towards meaningful

goals and creating clear touchpoints for people to connect with us.

Our brand positions us in the marketplace.

By having a distinct and recognizable brand, we move beyond simply just

“being there” and tell a richer story about what role we play and why we add

unique value to the community.

A unified brand generates a collective identity.

It solidifies Main Street Station’s purpose and goals, inspiring everyone

to support its mission and work toward it together.

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The Main Street Station Brand

For more than 100 years, Main Street Station has linked Richmond to the world,

and the world to Richmond. It’s now undergoing a transformation that will

reawaken its role as Richmond’s premier multimodal transportation hub, while

creating new opportunities for locals and visitors alike to connect with the

places, people, cultures, ideas, and experiences that make living here so great.

Many know it to just stand tall and “wave hello” to all who pass it by, but now

Main Street Station and its surrounding village have much more to say.

How the station and its village “connects”

Catalyst for

Community Growth

Richmond’s

Gathering Place

Gateway Destination

for Visitors

Premier Meeting &

Event Space

Transportation

Network

Business Leaders &

Opinion Leaders Residents

Visitors & Tourism

Officials

Event & Meeting

Planners

Residents, Officials &

Opinion Leaders

Creative incubator

Richmond cuisine &

culinary cultivator

Stoke investor interest &

investment

Retain talent

Programming 17th

St Market

Festivals & events

Pop-up dining & retail /

markets

Reestablish as RVA’s

front door and perfect

place for orienting

yourself to the city

RVA / VTC Welcome

Center

Excursion tours

Flexible, world-class

event space (45,000 sf,

jaw-dropping views)

Expert food service input

Seamless transport &

easy traveler access

High speed rail

BRT / GRTC / Trolleys

Bike share / trail

Electric car charging

Megabus

Taxi / Uber

Parking

Ro

le

Au

die

nce

A

ctio

n

Most strategic spot

for Richmond’s hub;

Reclaims station’s

historic purpose Ra

tio

na

le

Richmond needs a

central space to

gather downtown

Elevates Richmond

brand to grow investor

& business interest

Dynamic & unique

infrastructure

that serves a city

that loves festivals

& events

Ideal platform to

introduce city to

visitors & elevate this

growing part of RVA

economy

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The Elements of Branding

There are four basic elements that go into defining and shaping a brand.

Brand Strategy: In simple terms, what we are trying to accomplish with the brand.

Brand Promise: The strategic statement that captures

who you are and why the target should care.

Brand Architecture: The blueprint for the brand. It takes the emotional proposition

of a brand and diagrams supporting messages, organized under key benefits the

audience will experience. Architectures are created for different audiences to articulate

the nuances of messaging to different constituencies within the context of the brand.

Brand Personality: Sets the tone for all brand communications.

The following pages show each of these elements as they relate to the Main Street Station brand.

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Show what happens when a landmark connector

is given the opportunity to do what it can do best;

not just changing a building, changing a city.

The MSS Brand Strategy

The MSS Brand Promise

This simple strategic statement encapsulates

The core of what Main Street Station does -

offers an authentic, impressive venue which creates

opportunities for discovery, enjoyment, and connection.

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A magnificent space for Richmond to feel more connected.

The MSS Brand Promise

A magnificent space for Richmond to feel more connected.

WHY: Creating that rich,

fundamental feeling that

comes from connecting to

places, people, flavors,

ideas, cultures, etc.

OUR ROLE OUR AUDIENCE THE RESULT

WHO: Crafted with the spirit

of the city and those who love

it in mind, so that residents

and visitors get an authentic

Richmond experience

WHAT: A one-of-a-kind

destination, restored to create

lasting impressions;

thoughtfully and carefully

designed for maximum utility

and wonder

Main Street Station Brand Architecture

A brand architecture is a diagram of a brand’s promise, benefits, and rational support

messages. Separate architectures are typically written for each audience to articulate

the nuances of messaging to different constituencies. They often feel similar, since they

are all “on-brand,” but specifics are adjusted to build connection with each target.

The following pages show the primary architecture for Main Street Station,

followed by iterations for the three key audience groups shown here.

Richmond Residents

Community / Business Leaders

Chamber / Convention SBA / Entreprenuers

Elected Officials Tourism / Mtg Planners

Visitors

Brand Promise: Overall

A historically accurate,

future-thinking reinvigoration of

an iconic city landmark

Energy spills into the

surrounding “village,” including

a reimagined 17th Street

and new innovation hub

A safe, convenient gathering

place for local residents

Unforgettable, dynamic space for

a variety of uses including events,

music, food, etc

Designed with the

people who love

Richmond in mind

Centrally located amongst

Richmond’s best: history,

outdoors, food, art...

A stunning gateway for

showcasing RVA to the

world

Multimodal transportation and

high speed rail will create

unprecedented access within

and beyond the city

Creating new opportunities to

discover and rediscover the

city, its people, sites, flavors,

culture..

Removes visual and physical

barriers that stand in the way of

downtown coming together

A magnificent space for Richmond to feel more connected

Pro

mis

e

Ke

y M

es

sa

ge

s

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Brand Promise: Richmond Residents

You may think you know MSS,

but you’ve never seen it like

this before

Rediscover MSS’s “village,”

including a reimagined 17th

Street and new innovation hub

Enjoy refreshingly open

gathering spaces, that we’ve

made safe and easy to access

An ever-changing space

that comes alive with events,

music, food, and people

An iconic place to help you

love your city even more

Created with the help of

those who love and know

the city best

A central launch point

for you to experience all

that makes Richmond’s

great: history, outdoors,

food, art...

Take advantage of

unprecedented access within

and beyond the city,

including multimodal

transportation &

high speed rail access

Discover ways to create deeper

connections with the people,

places, and experiences that

make Richmond great

See downtown reawakened

and the city come together

Pro

mis

e

Ke

y M

es

sa

ge

s

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A magnificent space for Richmond to feel more connected

Brand Promise: Community / Biz Leaders

We’re injecting new energy into

the station and its surrounding

“village,” reestablishing a

central downtown experience

Breathing life into an international

beacon for Richmond’s identify

Be part of this historically accurate,

future-thinking revitalization of

an iconic city landmark

An unforgettable, dynamic space

that is made better by your

involvement

Crafted using an inclusive

process in order to

create authentic

Richmond experiences

Expert input from those

who know Richmond

best, including food,

events, innovation…

A central spot for

showcasing Richmond

and elevating its creativity,

history, culture,

art, cusine...

Creating a multimodal

transportation hub, including

high speed rail, provides

unprecedented access to

Richmond and for Richmonders

Removing physical and visual

barriers in the Bottom so that

downtown can come together

The most strategic spot to launch

residents and visitors alike to

discover more of the city

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rom

ise

Ke

y M

es

sa

ge

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A magnificent space for Richmond to feel more connected

Pro

mis

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Ke

y M

es

sa

ge

s

A magnificent space for Richmond to feel more connected

Brand Promise: Visitors

You may have seen us before,

but you’ve never seen us like this -

come discover more!

A safe, convenient destination that

is a must-see stop on my travels

An energetic place that’s

steeped in history, but always

feels fresh with events, music,

food, people, art…

The ideal place for

discovering what

Richmond’s so great

An authentic sampling of

the city’s best: food, music,

art, culture, history…

A centrally located

launch point for my trip

to Richmond, creating

opportunity to always

discover and rediscover

This multimodal transportation

hub, including high speed rail,

makes it easy and exciting to

travel to Richmond.

We’ve readied a variety of ways

to make exploring Richmond

easy, from visitor information to

last-mile transportation.

Connect with the people,

places, and experiences that

make Richmond great

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The Take Away

Main Street Station is more than

just a train station:

it’s a place I need to experience

Expressing Our Brand:

Conceptual Direction

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Let’s get connected!

If you have any questions about the Main Street Station brand,

please contact Jeannie Welliver at Jeannie.Welliver@richmondgov.com

We would be thrilled to help.

All images in this Brand Book are for position only and

cannot be used without permission of the photographer.

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