Photo courtesy of the City of Northfield
For a century, “Cows, Colleges, and Contentment” represented the various aspects of daily life that made Northfield, Northfield. The slogan, first adopted in 1914 as the result of a contest held by Northfield News, captured not only the town’s strong roots in agriculture and academia but also that intangible feeling of tranquility often associated with a rural town.
However, over the past 18 months, Northfield City Council took on a rebranding initiative in an effort to create a unified messaging front for Northfield residents and visitors alike. The city has debuted its updated symbol and color schemes, such as its new logo, an “N” with an arrow pointing north, as well as a more handwritten version that reads “City of Northfield, Minnesota.”
Within this initiative, the Council also reexamined Northfield’s long-time slogan. Now, in place of “contentment,” the city will use “Cows, Colleges, and Community,” with “community” taking on a modular position to allow for businesses and community members to substitute it with their own choice words such as “cars,” “commerce,” and more.
As Mayor Rhonda Pownell explains, this was the first time the city had undertaken any form of branding. Due to this, when they first started, there was a lot of variance in messaging.
“We really embarked on this initiative to ensure that we were sending out a cohesive message,” Pownell said.
Consisting of both residents and city officials, the branding advisory committee, a larger committee for broader consultation, seemed to take on its own slogan over the course of the next couple of months: engagement, engagement, and engagement.
Altogether, the committee collected 969 responses from residents on their opinion of Northfield and its meaning from an online survey. Additionally, according to Pownell, steering committee members, a subsection that oversees the project, went out and interviewed local residents, gave a presentation to the Rotary, and held community group meetings.
“This was a big collaborative effort. I can’t stress that enough. Of how many voices and the amount of time spent on this and then for all that, to be condensed,” said Council Member George Zuccolotto, a member of the Branding Committee.
During a meeting with the steering committee and other community members, Katie Warren and Branding Committee Member Bob Thacker led an exercise in which participants narrowed their core messaging down to three words: charming, vibrant, and creative. After this was established, all visuals and verbiage were intended to reflect these words, according to Pownell.
Jeff Johnson, founder of design firm Replace, was hired by the city later in the process. Johnson, who has worked with other municipal entities such as Becker and Wilmer, was surprised to see the connection Northfielders had to its motto.
“That’s extremely rare. Like nobody knows what the tagline for Minneapolis is. Nobody knows what it is for St. Paul or Cleveland. But people in Northfield know what that is,” Johnson said.
In fact, according to the survey conducted by the Council, 89 percent of respondents were familiar with the slogan.
Johnson and the committee members sought to simply refine that initial message, not start from scratch. By setting “community” as the final word and implementing an interactive feature, they opened Northfield’s invitation to more people — something that was already happening organically, said Johnson, pointing to examples where community members substituted “contentment” in favor of words like “consent,” “Christmas,” and “coffee.”
The word “community,” as Pownell explained, does not just mean “city.” It stands to represent the connectedness that Northfield shares.
“People love Northfield. They specifically choose Northfield. People are invested in Northfield. People will go to bat for Northfield, and that is kind of that all-encompassing, fuller meaning of that word ‘community,’” Pownell said.
For those who still harbor a love for the old slogan, the committee affirms it still can be used.
“We were keeping the ‘Cows, Colleges, and Contentment’ as the legacy brand,” Zuccolotto said. “It’s been here and people know it here. But…how we rebranded it, it’s allowing it to be deployed in anything else.”
“Community is more important than contentment. Community is an aspirational goal,” Johnson continued.
Due to how long the slogan has been synonymous with Northfield, there are instances in which the two have intertwined.
Michael Morris, owner of The Contented Cow Pub, shares that while the bar’s name was initially inspired by the original slogan, it is not the only meaning it has.
“Google ‘Contented Cow,’ there’ll be a saying that says ‘Contented cows give better milk.’ So it’s just a good name,” Morris said.
Morris is drawn to the idea of a “Zen” cow and has centered his reaction to the change around that philosophy.
“The whole point of meditation and being Zen is to smile and remain content, regardless of what’s happening around here. So that’s kind of how I feel about it,” Morris continued.
Northfield native Joe Gatzlaff ’24 grew up with the slogan and has had a lot of familiarity with it. As a long-standing member of the local community, he notes there is a lot that encompasses what it means to be a Northfielder.
“[When I think of] the Northfield community, I think of things like, you know, the Riverwalk Market we had. I think of things like Defeat of Jesse James Days. I think of people who are like, you know, actively trying to foster community,” Gatzlaff said. According to him, “community” is more important to emphasize than “contentment” because it encourages involvement.
Haakon Erdahl ’26 has an interesting connection to the city’s historical slogan. His great-granduncle was Ludwing Roe, the author of the original phrase. While he shares there was some disappointment within his family, he is excited to see how businesses take on the interchangeable aspect of the updated slogan.
“I think that’s a super cool way to incorporate community without just having that word,” Erdahl said. He also appreciates that part of the slogan has remained the same.
Some students believe that the update should signal change for Northfield.
“I feel like the college and the town and the community should have more connections,” Clara Johansen ’26 said.
Pownell is excited for how the city will embody those core words the committee narrowed Northfield down to: charming, vibrant, and creative.
“The implementation of that [message] is, that’s where it’s at,” Pownell continued. “Because then we’re getting our message home to not only prospective businesses and tourists but also our own Northfielders mainly to inspire our own to help them see what a beautiful place that we have.”
