World Cup branding, site visits, & partner engagement: City of Renton’s redesign scored a hat-trick

Overview

With the World Cup approaching in 2026 and an aging website “breaking all over the place,” Renton's Community Marketing Campaign needed a refreshed visual identity, a modern website design, and a partner capable of navigating the complexities of municipal processes and multi‑stakeholder governance. Simpleview, a Granicus company, delivered a unified brand and a dynamic new website — all within a collaborative process that restored trust after previous consultant challenges. The result is a vibrant, community‑powered platform that serves residents, visitors, and local businesses alike.

Situation | A website worth a yellow card

The Renton Community Marketing Campaign is uniquely governed by “the five big guys” — the local hospital, school district, technical college, Chamber of Commerce, and the City of Renton. This structure ensures broad representation but also requires technology that works seamlessly across the board to please multiple stakeholders.

Jessie Kotarski, economic development manager for the City of Renton, knew it was time for a refresh — as her team was relying on a website so outdated that they “were just patching it with duct tape.” Moreso, the community partners wanted to set its destination up for success as it approached hosting World Cup events; the team wanted a website to reflect every part of Renton, not just the tourism details. “The site is intended fully to be a promotion of why it is a great place to live, work, play, and invest,” said Kotarski.

Before the redesign, the destination struggled with:

• Stale branding that was not true to the destination’s identity.
• Strained relationships with previous consultants who were non‑responsive and dismissive of feedback.
• A fragmented user experience that left website visitors clicking elsewhere.
   

Solution | Ready for kick-off and beyond

Simpleview was selected for its approachable proposal, regional experience, and proven ability to work with both destination marketing organizations (DMOs) and municipalities. The project began with a destination immersion trip that Kotarski described as “the highlight of the whole campaign,” giving the Creative Services team firsthand insight into the destination’s character to inspire elements like the new color palette. From there, experts delivered a dynamic website that felt like the destination itself, and encouraged repeat visits through blogs, video, social integrations, and user‑generated content (UGC).

The Creative Services team also helped Renton simplify its digital structure by separating tourism messaging from economic development content, ensuring clarity for both residents and visitors. A community‑powered calendar was introduced to allow organizations and residents to submit events directly, reducing staff workload and increasing engagement.

Finally, a World Cup branding toolkit was created for local businesses to use to align with citywide tourism efforts without violating FIFA’s strict marketing rules — an effort that Kotarski believes will much better prepare the whole destination for hosting the event.

Throughout the process, training was intentionally paced to support Renton’s small team — building confidence and ensuring long‑term sustainability.
 

Results | “No balls were dropped”

The new platform is already delivering the kind of engagement the team had hoped for, driving a noticeable increase in repeat visitors. However, according to Kotarski, the most meaningful shift has been the surge in partner and community participation. Organizations that previously stayed on the sidelines are now eager to contribute blog posts, submit events, and promote their activities through the site. The community‑powered calendar has quickly become the “go‑to weekend guide,” reducing staff workload while expanding the breadth of events represented.

The refreshed visual identity is also gaining traction beyond the website, with partners exploring merchandise, event branding, and World Cup‑related promotions using the new brand and toolkit. Most importantly, the project restored trust in the process; as Kotarski shared, “Never once has anybody dropped the ball,” underscoring the strength of the partnership and the long‑term sustainability of the new brand.
 

Bonus | A connected Renton experience

This collaborative model brings together city and community leadership around a shared mission — shaping a unified community experience that strengthens the destination as a place to live, work, play, and invest. Because the initiative sits at the intersection of economic development and destination marketing, Kotarski emphasized how critical it was to find a partner who could work effectively across both worlds. “It was important to us that we found not only a group that was familiar with working with DMOs, but also with cities and municipalities,” said Kotarski. ”It’s important for us to speak not only to the people 50 plus miles outside, but also to the residents.”

The partnership unlocks capabilities neither the city nor the community partners could achieve alone. With Renton's community marketing campaign operating outside typical municipal restrictions, the team can champion local businesses, promote events, and invite residents to celebrate what’s happening in their own backyard. “Having the two tandem and working together has been really beneficial to us,” said Kotarski.

Working hand‑in‑hand gives the city and community partners the ability to build a platform that serves a dual purpose for the community. "This can be used as a tourism platform as well as a community platform,” said Kotarski, enabling the City of Renton to uplift local identity while generating broader tourism value. The collaboration also strengthens understanding of how tourism benefits residents — culturally and economically — by connecting city priorities with the work of arts groups, hoteliers, and local businesses. The result is a true destination‑powered platform that reflects the full Renton story.