Rebranding an iconic destination to capture the culture of San Diego

The OPPORTUNITY

As it approached its 100th anniversary, Belmont Park needed to refresh its brand – its first-ever park-wide rebrand. Visitors to San Diego, as well as locals, usually overlooked Belmont Park in favor of other internationally-known tourist attractions. But Belmont Park has it all – beach, food, games, rides, entertainment, history. It needed to become a must-do destination for anyone visiting San Diego, and a place for all generations of locals to gather and have good times. And, it needed to lean into its most important differentiator: its San Diego’s version of the beachside, boardwalk amusement park. 

"We felt the essence of Belmont Park had been missing from our brand identity for a number of years," says Steve Thomas, General Manager of Belmont Park. "There's so much here that enables us to be a pillar of the community in San Diego for tourists and locals alike – from the entertainment of the rides to the tasty food to the beachfront location. Yet we felt we were being overlooked. We wanted our new identity to help us create that connection with people so that everyone feels welcome."

Belmont Park also needed to create a consistent brand experience across the park: "There was no strong brand presence," said Alex Blair, strategy director. "The best thing about Belmont Park is that there's something for everyone, but each vendor had its own look and feel; there was no sense of unity between them. We knew that to elevate the customer experience, we had to bring everything together so that it felt cohesive while still leaving enough room for each ride and vendor to have its own personality."

During our research and strategy, we uncovered a core belief and market opportunity for the brand – their unfair advantage – and went all in to create a unique and powerful brand identity and positioning around this insight. Now they have a core essence to their brand that anyone can immediately see.

What we did

We conducted in-person interviews throughout the park, and it became clear what the superpower of the brand was: 

“This is what I imagined California would look and feel like.” – Visitor 

“Locals love San Diego, and tourists love San Diego.” – Steve Thomas 

"What really shone through is how Belmont Park is ideally positioned to embody San Diego through memorable, exciting, and quintessential California experiences," said Alex Blair. "Nowhere else can compete with that. Using this lens, we wanted to create a fresh and modern brand that leaned into the emotional connection between the park and its visitors."

We created a brand strategy, identity, and taglines focused on Belmont Park’s place as San Diego’s beachfront amusement park, positioning the brand to become a must-do for locals and tourists: 

San Diego’s culture is unique, vibrant, and recognized around the world. And Belmont Park is ideally positioned to embody and celebrate the San Diego culture. Visitors will come from down the street or across the world to experience San Diego – and next, Belmont Park. With our combination of beach, boardwalk, entertainment, and San Diego culture, no other destination can compete.

Our mission: We celebrate and share San Diego’s culture through unique experiences.

People come to Belmont Park for nostalgia as well as modern experiences. The beach, the rides, the boardwalk, the midway – they connect with us on a deep level. We are the modern, San Diego version of the beachside, boardwalk experience: bringing a classic experience with a modern feel to every generation, locals and visitors alike.