vitalink 30th Anniversary Spotlight: Roanoke Innovates

Before it had a unified identity, Roanoke Innovates existed as a loosely connected partnership: the City of Roanoke, several universities, medical institutions, and membership organizations, each promoting the region's innovation corridor in their own way, under their own messaging. What was missing was a shared sense of place and purpose that could unite those efforts under a single, recognizable brand.

vitalink was engaged to help solve that, developing a name, a strong brand platform, and a new website to bring the partners together, including exploring whether a new name might better reflect the realities of a public/private partnership.

The Process

We grounded the new brand in real research rather than assumptions. That meant applying our Perception vs. Reality brand tool, running stakeholder engagement sessions with the partner organizations, reviewing existing materials and marketing efforts already in use, and holding a dedicated name brainstorming session to explore what the region's identity could become.

Throughout the process, we leaned on the insight of talented Roanoke team members, keeping innovation at the heart of the brand from the very beginning. Logo concepts were tested internally before ever reaching the steering committee, and the final identity was backed by a full Brand Style Guide along with an SEO and hashtag usage guide to keep messaging consistent across every partner.

The Handover

The result was more than just a new look. Partners received a complete Economic Development Partner Kit, including an elevator speech, brand usage guidelines, website buttons, a PowerPoint template, a PR template, and social media best practices, giving every organization the tools to represent the brand consistently on their own.

We also built a new, responsive website in collaboration with partner AndiSites, along with training to help the team carry the brand forward confidently on their own.

Today, Roanoke Innovates stands as a single, unified voice for a region built on collaboration, a brand strong enough to represent an entire innovation ecosystem, together.