Zeeland residents 'Feel the Zeel' with new marketing campaign

By: Deborah Johnson Wood

One day they weren't there; the next day they were. Colorful Z's and Feel the Zeel slogans appeared one Monday morning, spray painted on sidewalks, the Chamber of Commerce, the middles of roadways, on police cars, City Hall—even on the heights of the city water tower—in the dark of the night.

"People were calling the city offices and asking about it, people were asking each other what it was all about," says City Marketing Coordinator Abby deRoo. "Our response was 'No comment. Watch for an announcement.'"

That announcement came a week later, when Zeeland revealed its branding campaign after five months of research, planning, and creative work by a marketing committee and Holland-based The Image Group.

The campaign's central figure is the fictional Zeelander, Fred Zeely, and his "family" who recently moved to town. They are so enamored with Zeeland they truly Feel the Zeel and spent a night tagging the town with the logo. They videoed their escapades and posted the video on Zeely's blog, thezeel.blogspot.com.

"We got all the permits and permissions in place before any spray painting was done," deRoo says. "We did it as a teaser to get people talking."

The city hopes to attract new residents and businesses, and retain the businesses and industry Zeeland has now.

"Zeeland is a small, vibrant community that has amazing schools, so we're already attracting young families, but we also want to attract young entrepreneurs," deRoo says. "We're still the same family-friendly community, we just wanted to show our cool side, too."

Source: Abby deRoo, City of Zeeland

Photograph courtesy of Abigail DeRoo

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].