Introduction
In 2023, the San Diego Tijuana region was preparing for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: It had been designated the World Design Capital for 2024. This was the first cross-border region to receive the title, and it was also the first time a U.S. city had been selected. So, the community leaders behind World Design Capital 2024 set out with a bold vision. They aimed to design a better future by creating new ways for community members to come together across the border, and expanding the world’s understanding of how design impacts our daily lives.
With their focus on crafting the program for 2024, they needed a partner to provide strategic communications guidance and keep the day-to-day communications running. Enter Mixte.
Our Objectives
Build systems, tools and relationships to create the communications department for World Design Capital 2024 from the ground up, while ensuring day-to-day needs are met smoothly and strategically.
Here’s how we did it. Across all of our work, the name of the game was remaining nimble as the 2024 program continued to take shape.
- We held listening sessions with a wide variety of stakeholders to identify key audiences and inform the organization’s primary communications goals for 2024.
- We introduced internal systems to streamline communications processes, such as creating editorial calendars for email and social media, and creating a step-by-step process for finalizing marketing materials.
- We ran regular communications meetings with partners from local arts institutions, government, business and nonprofits, to keep everyone aligned on current priorities and ensure all were working together efficiently.
- We kept key audiences informed of the team’s preparations for 2024 by launching a monthly email newsletter, producing social media content and securing news coverage that provided “sneak peeks” at what was to come.
- We supported the leadership team with hiring new members of the communications department.
The Outcome
Mixte left World Design Capital 2024 with a high-functioning communications team, a month-by-month strategic plan to guide all communications activities in 2024, a core messaging guide to keep the story of World Design Capital 2024 consistent across many stakeholders, and a growing audience base on email and social media.
This all laid the groundwork for effective cross-border communications in advance of the big event year, and enabled the World Design Capital 2024 team to zero in on their top priority for 2023: Creating a rich program to design a better future for the San Diego Tijuana region.
