The City of Carmel is looking to rebrand.

Local officials are working with Jacksonville, Fla.,-based marketing firm North Star to research the city’s existing reputation and strengths and use that information to determine a set of ideas and images that set an expectation of what the community is about, according to a new website dedicated to the project, DistinctlyCarmel.com.

Rebecca Carl, City of Carmel director of marketing and community relations, said the goal of the initiative is to uncover the city’s values and present them cohesively.

“It’s an identity, about who we are as a city,” Carl said. “We need to catch up with the beauty of the city and be able to tell the story of who we are, what we stand for.”

Later this month, North Star consultants are set to visit Carmel to gather input from more than 150 community members through a variety of focus groups or individual meetings. Feedback will also be gathered online.

Carl said North Star will use information gathered to craft new branding that aims to bring consistency to the city’s marketing efforts within and beyond Carmel.

“While our built environment is so beautiful, we literally have like 27 different logos. The brand is not just a logo, it’s who we are and what we stand for, but our visual representation outside of our city is all over the place. They’re all nice, but they don’t connect,” Carl said. “It’s a good economic driver to have something that’s integrated so people can make the connection with the market and what we’re trying to do and who we are as a city.”

The city is spending $85,000 on the rebranding effort. Carl said a project committee and Carmel Mayor Sue Finkam both selected North Star as its top choice after reviewing proposals from several local and national marketing firms. The new branding is expected to be unveiled in the fall.

Learn more and provide feedback at DistinctlyCarmel.com.