For the first time in 50 years, the San Mateo County/Silicon Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) embarked on a major destination rebranding. The Peninsula region of the San Francisco Bay Area lies immediately south of San Francisco, reaching from its famous neighbor to the north into the high-tech Silicon Valley enclave. The destination marketing organization (DMO) had trusted Simpleview as its technology company for years. That trust and familiarity gave it the confidence to hire Simpleview to help reimagine its brand. The discovery process was a blend of creativity grounded in data. Working with a market research firm that conducted stakeholder interviews and traveler surveys, the Simpleview team immersed itself in the destination, exploring its abundant natural assets and gathering inspiration. While graced with both scenic beauty and the excitement of a cosmopolitan community, it quickly became apparent that San Mateo County suffered from a lack of place identity. While everyone knows where San Francisco is, few could place its neighbor to the south. When Simpleview’s experience design (XD) team test-marketed a few name variations, The San Francisco Peninsula won by a long shot because it immediately grounds the region with a sense of place. The San Mateo County & Silicon Valley CVB agreed with the inspired choice, and from there, a new tagline soon emerged: South of San Francisco, North of Expectations.
