The recent rebranding of the Council Bluffs Convention & Visitors Bureau to Unleash Council Bluffs was recognized with a 2025 Paper Anvil Award of Merit during the annual PRSA Nebraska Paper Anvil Awards Gala on December 17, 2025.
Eighty-five Paper Anvils across 32 categories were presented by PRSA Nebraska during the evening gala. In 2025, the Council Bluffs CVB partnered with Emspace + Lovgren to develop the new logo and brand assets that transitioned the organization from the CBCVB to Unleash Council Bluffs. Both the agency and client were so pleased with the results that Emspace + Lovgren submitted the project for consideration for an Anvil award. PR professionals from the Central Ohio PRSA Chapter served as volunteer judges for the 2025 awards.
Emspace + Lovgren has a long-standing relationship with the City of Council Bluffs. On behalf of the City, the agency led and facilitated the creation of the city’s image campaign beginning in 2015. That effort delivered a new community logo and the tagline, “Unlike Anywhere Else. On Purpose.” Often referred to as the “UN” campaign, it centers on the “un” found within the word Council and features bold, action-oriented language such as unleash.
In 2017, Emspace + Lovgren also developed the Council Bluffs CVB’s previous logo, aligning it with the city’s image campaign through consistent design, typography, and color palette. The Unleash Council Bluffs rebrand builds on that foundation—retaining recognizable visual elements while introducing refreshed typography and modern design updates that reflect the organization’s evolving role and energy.
Representing the Council Bluffs CVB throughout the rebrand process were Ashley Kruse, Craig Carlsen, and Mark Eckman, who worked closely with the Emspace + Lovgren team from concept through completion.
“I couldn’t be more pleased with Unleash Council Bluffs’ new logo and that PRSA Nebraska chose to honor Emspace + Lovgren’s work on the project with an Award of Merit,” said Kruse, President of the Unleash Council Bluffs Board of Directors and Communications & Events Manager for the City of Council Bluffs. “Emspace + Lovgren have done incredible work for Council Bluffs.”
This recognition reflects more than a new logo—it represents the thoughtful evolution of how we tell Council Bluffs’ story. If you’d like to learn more about the strategy, history, and purpose behind the Unleash Council Bluffs rebrand, we invite you to explore the full story.
