(Sacramento, Calif.) The Sacramento Convention & Visitors Bureau (SCVB) officially introduced its new brand identity, including a logo and tagline "California Begins Here."

"We began discussing the change a few years ago because internally and along with our stakeholders we wanted something that reflected the vibrancy and the growth of the city while remaining true to what makes Sacramento unique," said Steve Hammond, SCVB president and CEO.

The entire logo conveys a simple, yet timeless and sophisticated feel using a classic sans serif font and a stylized star to replace the "a" in Sacramento. The star in and of itself represents the Capital, with the slight fade providing an updated and modern feel.

The logo retains the color gold (from the previous mark) to recognize Sacramento's unique history as the jumping off point for the start of the Gold Rush and continues the theme of discovering the metaphorical gold in Sacramento.

"It was important to retain the gold because we've built so much brand equity in "Discover Gold" that we didn't want to confuse or alienate our core customers who associate that with Sacramento CVB," said Sonya Bradley, chief marketing officer. "But here it's much subtler."

The new tag, "California Begins Here," was decided upon after much deliberation. "As time went on, it became more and more apparent that this was really the best brand strategy," said Bradley. "It really allows us to tell a variety of stories to an audience as diverse as a mom planning her family vacation to a meeting planner looking for the perfect convention package to baby boomers seeking soft adventure travel."

It speaks to Sacramento's role in the formation of statehood; represents our status as the Capital of the 8th largest economy in the country; denotes our central location from where visitors and customers can discover the hidden gems in Sacramento and the surrounding areas; and claims our position as a regional hub for arts & culture, new state-of-the-art airport, and a leader in the farm to fork movement.

The brand identity was developed by Sacramento-based FUEL Creative Group. "The challenge in finding a recognizable Sacramento icon led us to the star and the desire to make a bold statement that we felt summed up what Sacramento is about," according to agency principals Brent Rector and Steve Worth. "And it gives the SCVB a flexible brand strategy to communicate with their customers and visitors."

Over the next few months, the SCVB will be rolling out new materials from business cards to exhibit displays to advertisements featuring creative that revolves around the new brand identity.