Louisiana Port Rebrands to Better Reflect its Growing Profile and Strategic Significance

In March, the Plaquemines Port Harbor and Terminal District in Belle Chasse, Louisiana, announced a new name and brand that the port’s leaders say more accurately captures its current — and future — standing. The rebranded Louisiana Gateway Port is meant to reflect the port’s geographically strategic location and upward trajectory as a premier maritime hub and gateway for global trade.

Angelina Vicknair, director of communications for the port, said the previous name had started to prove too limiting and did not adequately depict the port’s broader regional and economic role. The port’s new brand, she said, better captures its strategic position and its importance to Louisiana and the U.S. economy. According to a press release, the Louisiana Gateway Port, which is located at the closest point on the Mississippi River from the Gulf of Mexico, is projected to become the fifth largest U.S. port by tonnage in the next five years. The port’s bright future includes a privately funded, planned container terminal with APM, offering deep water access without height or navigational restrictions.

Vicknair said shippers unfamiliar with the area did not understand the port’s gateway status with its previous name, but the new name draws their attention to the port’s inherent advantages. The new logo also serves that role, indicating with a star the port’s strategic location in the state of Louisiana.

“A lot of people just didn’t understand where we were located and how that strategic geography really makes us a suitable and ideal port of call,” Vicknair said. “Our goal was to show that we’re a key player for global commerce, and we are projecting significant growth in the coming years.”

Vicknair said the rebranding process took about nine months to complete. Charles Tillotson, executive director of the port, had already conceived the new name, meaning the process was largely focused on other aspects of the brand, including the logo, and how to implement and communicate the new brand.

Vicknair said research was a critical part of the process. That included connecting with the port’s customer base and community and learning more about how they viewed the port.

“It’s not just a new logo or a new website,” Vicknair said. “Strategically, it’s a question of how do we take this to the next level and really launch a campaign? We needed a level of involvement from a lot of parties to do that right.”

In the local community, Vicknair said the port found many people “who just didn’t understand who we were and what we did.” The port operates a ferry system, and some Plaquemines Parish residents assumed that was the extent of its operation. Vicknair said the port recognized that it was critical to better educate members of the community about the key ways that the port contributed to the region.

“We want to help them understand how we are critically important to our community and what we are contributing in terms of being an economic driver for the parish and for growth and infrastructure for the community,” Vicknair said.

The research was integral to the success of the project, Vicknair said.

“You may have an idea of what you think your logo should look like or what you want to convey to your customers or to your community, but it’s a different story when you actually hear it from them,” Vicknair said. “So while we were accurate in a lot of our assumptions, it was still very beneficial to get feedback from our stakeholders and our community as to what they were thinking and feeling about the port because in that respect, we now know, ‘Okay, this is how we need to approach this. These are the things that we need to convey to the community and to the maritime industry.’”

The port’s stakeholders and industry partners also indicated that they wanted to hear from the port more frequently.

“They wanted to be more involved in discussions and the goings-on of the port and just making sure that we had a better outlet for communication to them,” Vicknair said. “And that’s really where our website came in. It’s still ever-evolving. We still intend to expand it and add more to it.”

In that and other ways, the research will lead to crafting better messaging and a more successful rebrand. Vicknair noted that the value of the research completed during the rebranding extends well beyond that process. It will be useful for the port in the years ahead, too.

“We have the groundwork laid for next steps — for us to continue stakeholder communications and community outreach,” Vicknair said. “We know what people want to see and hear from our port, and that is very beneficial from a communications perspective.”

The Louisiana Gateway Port publicized its new brand at the Ports Association of Louisiana meeting in March. Vicknair said the port received strongly positive feedback from its fellow Louisiana ports. The rebranding also was shared at the AAPA’s legislative summit in Washington, D.C. this year.

“That was a big chance for us to really get the new logo out there and talk about the rebrand and why we were doing it,” Vicknair said. “Our legislators and our fellow ports were all very supportive of it and what we were trying to do. They told us, ‘This makes sense for your brand, for your port, where you are, and the growth that you intend to gain.’ It was a great experience talking about our port, our next steps and where we intend to go next.”

Vicknair said the rebranding remains an ongoing process as the old logo and name are replaced with the new ones throughout the port on everything from vessels to flags and shirts. After years of having the previous name, it can take time to get used to the new one, even in conversation.

“We still have to catch ourselves,” Vicknair said. “It’s sort of a work in progress. As you go along, you find more things and you have to inform more people, but it’s just part of the process.”

Vicknair said she is proud of the way the port team worked together on the project and the reception it has received from stakeholders, including its board of commissioners.

“We approached this in such a way that they had involvement and they were able to give their feedback,” she said. “Working in a public entity and having a commission, it could be challenging to have everyone be on the same page, because you have all these different opinions and ideas, but we actually used those different opinions and ideas to our advantage. We added certain things to the logo based on commissioners’ feedback, and having them ingrained in the community the way that they are really contributed to a very positive and successful rollout.”

Rebranding presented a host of challenges, but it ultimately was rewarding and helped to better position the Louisiana Gateway Port for the promising years ahead.

“It’s been a great process,” Vicknair said. “We’ve seen that we’ve created a renewed sense of pride in the community, and I think it’s helped shift perceptions and build momentum for our port’s future.”