Manassas Community Survey Shows Perception Of Livability, Branding

MANASSAS, VA — The Historic Heart. Modern Beat. branding for the City of Manassas and its historic downtown had overall positive reception in a resident survey, but data showed areas that could need improvement.

Results of the 2024 Community Survey were discussed during a joint meeting of Manassas City Council and the Manassas Economic Development Authority Monday. The city government had first recruited North Star Place Branding + Marketing to do an economic development marketing study in 2015. In spring 2024, the firm did a brand barometer measure to measure residents' general perceptions of the city as well as the Manassas branding. There were 1,118 residents who participated in the ratings.

When asked if they would recommend living in Manassas, 38.37 percent of respondents were labeled as detractors for rating it one to six on a scale up to 10. Another 30.02 percent were passives for rating it seven or eight, and 31.62 percent were promoters for rating it nine or 10. The overall advocacy score was -6.75, calculated by subtracting the detractors (38.37 percent) from promoters (31.62 percent).

That score was below the 11.8 percent brand advocacy score from the ratings done in 2018 but above the -15.3 percent from 2015.

On the question of recommending visiting Manassas, 45.82 percent were promoters, 25.57 percent were passives and 28.61 percent were detractors. That resulted in a brand advocacy score of 17.21 percent, which is below 53 percent from 2018 and 19.8 percent in 2015.

On doing business in Manassas, the overall brand advocacy score was -7.9 percent, which is down from 15.2 percent in 2018 and similar to the 6.5 percent in 2015.

"There is clear regression from the highs of the 2018 Brand Barometer measurement. However, the updated measurements for 2024 appear consistent with the original scores from 2015, and they reflect current patterns of advocacy within mid-size communities that make up North Star’s client base," North Star said in its report.

The firm said possible causes of declines from 2018 to 2024 could be the impact of the city's strong investment in marketing after 2015 on the 2018 ratings, an overrepresentation of advocates in 2018, a contingent of 150 to 200 residents offering negative feedback in 2024.

Meanwhile, support remains strong for the city's Historic Heart. Modern Beat. branding. In a survey with 1,520 respondents, 70.2 percent said the branding accurately represented what is special about Manassas. In addition, 74.3 percent said the city's logo accurately represented Manassas.

In the survey, respondents could choose the two greatest strengths of Manassas. The top response was historic downtown Manassas, from 39.61 percent of respondents, followed by proximity to D.C. and Northern Virginia from 30 percent.

On two areas where the city could improve, 46.84 percent pointed to the need to continue improving the school system. The second-most popular response was leveraging downtown for tourism from 27.37 percent of respondents.

See the full survey findings and other results from North Star's economic development study.