City Negotiating With Marketing, Branding Firm

Oak Creek is negotiating with Savage Solutions to provide marketing and branding services for the city.

City officials said Oak Creek needs to be better marketed especially with big redevelopment projects at the former Delphi site, lakefront and 27th Street under way.

Savage Solutions has a proven track record and will help the city establish a consistent message and branding, Mayor Steve Scaffidi said. Those efforts will help Oak Creek attract businesses and add to the tax base, he said. 

"It's a big step for us and one we needed to take," Scaffidi said.

The funds to hire Savage will come from hotel-motel room taxes. It's not yet known how much money the city will spend. When negotiations are complete, a contract will come back to the council for final approval.

The Community Development Authority spent roughly $50,000 after it contracted with Celtic, Inc., in 2007 for similar branding and marketing efforts, Alderman Jim Ruetz said.

Celtic helped the CDA establish its own website, develop an email marketing campaign and produce print graphics in the first phase of what was supposed to be a multi-phase plan. Limited resources prevented the city from fully implementing the plan, Oak Creek officials said in a report to council members.