Visitors are now captivated by Cleveland County’s vibrant blend of live music, Southern craft beer, diverse cuisine, and plentiful outdoor recreation, making it a premier destination for both town and country experiences.
Quintessential Carolina Culture
Cleveland County’s new messaging strategy invites visitors to experience authentic Carolina culture, while celebrating what makes it such: roots-music, world class barbeque, laid-back rivers and trails.
Brand
Identity
Classic Americana colors and a subtle nod to guitar strings, our new logo and accompanying visual assets capture the brand’s reimagined personality: “Carolina’s Land of Rhythm and Roots.”– our hat tip to the county’s famous love for roots music.
Content Creation
New commercial photography and short-form videos help showcase the walkable downtown, hand-crafted goods, farmers markets; live music, and outdoor recreation.
Website
Our team developed a new destination website with SEO marketing and a custom tours module, to ensure ease of visibility from both search engines and visitors.
Community Engagement
Local community members, government leaders, and stakeholders, all contributed to the identity upholding their home as the Land of Rhythm and Roots.
Destination by Design partnered with Cleveland County Tourism to create “Carolina’s Land of Rhythm and Roots,” a destination brand playing off the county’s Americana-roots music legacy, home to legendary banjo player Earl Scruggs, while diversifying its broader tourism appeal. The project included a new logo and visual identity, commercial photography and video, and a new LandofRhythm.com website with SEO marketing and a custom tours module.
In North Carolina, community branding and destination marketing come together especially well for counties with a strong cultural identity looking to broaden their visitor appeal. Cleveland County’s rebrand reflects that pairing, using classic Americana colors and a subtle nod to guitar strings in its new logo, then extending that identity through short-form video and photography showcasing the county’s live music, craft beer, and outdoor recreation.
A place known for one signature draw can use branding to reveal everything else it has to offer. Cleveland County’s rebrand does exactly that, moving beyond its famous roots-music legacy to spotlight world-class barbeque, laid-back rivers and trails, and a walkable downtown, with local community members, government leaders, and stakeholders all contributing to an identity that upholds their home as the Land of Rhythm and Roots.
Community branding is the process of developing a visual identity, messaging strategy, and content library that captures a place’s unique character and communicates it to visitors. For Cleveland County, that meant a logo built around the county’s musical heritage, new commercial photography and video, and a destination website designed for both search visibility and ease of use by visitors planning a trip.
Cleveland County sits in the foothills of western North Carolina, best known as the childhood home of legendary banjo player Earl Scruggs and a longtime center of Americana-roots music. That musical heritage remains central to the county’s identity, even as its new brand works to introduce visitors to its craft beer, barbeque, and outdoor recreation as well.
