Duane Hicks
Branding is more than a logo. It’s a comprehensive effort to shape a more prosperous future that targets people, activity, and types of economic activity needed to bring a vision to life.
The town will take the first step in a community branding exercise to help shape the community’s future with a workshop to be held here next Wednesday (Nov. 13).
It will be hosted by the town’s Economic Development Advisory Committee as part of a consultation process to establish a unified brand across Fort Frances.
The workshop will be led by Twist Marketing, a Calgary-based firm that specializes in destination marketing and corporate branding.
Rainy River Future Development Corp. consultant Tannis Drysdale said the workshop, which isn’t open to the public at this stage, represents the very first step.
“At this point, it’s not as much about developing a brand as it is about developing our understanding about what a brand is,” she explained.
“So what we’re doing is talking with members of council and folks that buy advertising, whether that’s tourism or economic development, on behalf of the Town of Fort Frances.
“Then the consultant’s going to look around Fort Frances, do some analysis, talk to stakeholders one-on-one, interview folks, that kind of thing, and then come back with responses,” Drysdale added.
“Throughout the process, there will be an opportunity with a survey, whether it’s online, over the phone, or some other mechanism, for everyone in the community to weigh in on the brand,” she noted.
“It’s going to be a very inclusive, not exclusive, process,” she stressed.
“They gave us some options, and one of those options is to bring in as many people as possible to have the conversation as to who we are.”
Council previously had agreed the exercise is necessary due to the need to replace signage at the town’s entrances, the lack of a consistent message in the town’s marketing, and the need to create a plan around the purchase of the tourist centre.
The Rainy River Future Development Corp. then researched costs and discussed the processes used with communities that have gone through successful branding exercises.
It then put out a request for proposals (RFP) this summer to hire a firm to do a branding exercise for Fort Frances.
Twist Marketing, chosen about a month ago, has plenty of experience working with communities in circumstances similar to Fort Frances.
The firm has received several marketing awards, including the 2012 Summit Creative Awards, Economic Developers of Alberta Awards, and Economic Developers of Canada Awards.
“They do really neat, rural stuff that really embraces the same values that we have in our community,” said Drysdale, directing people to visit www.twistmarketing.com to see what the company has done for other communities.
Drysdale said it’s hoped a brand is established by the spring.
“We’ll work through November and probably by early in the new year, there will be something or some things for the community to comment on and eventually there will be the announcement of a brand,” she noted.
“So this is the first step in a long process.”
