Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
Northumberland County council has approved the continuation of its branding-strategy process to Phase 2 and its referrral to the 2019 budget,
This followed a presentation on Phase 1 by director of communications Kate Campbell and Letter M Marketing president Doug MacMillan at the October county-council meeting, who said Phase 1 largely consisted of assessment and outreach.
Branding is important, MacMillan said, because this is a very competitive environment.
“Everywhere around the GTA, communities are markeing themselves to stay competitive for economic development, to bring jobs to the area, for those tourism dollars and a strong, capable workforce,” he listed.
“A brand gives clarity and distinction that helps you make decisions and helps guide your staff along the correct path, and that leads to collaboration.
“But we don’t decide – you decide who you are.”
MacMillan said the engatement process in Phase 1 had been the largest one his company had ever had for this type of work, with more than 1,200 participants. The process included more than 20 confidential one-on-one interviews, five workshops and focus gtroups, and the largest community-survey response they had evern seen.
The result was to identify nine brand assets – natural beauty, charming and historic, welcoming and friendly, hardworking and reliable, close to the city, quiet and peaceful, thriving and enterprising, strong agricultural roots, and cultural and creative.
Interpreting these nine assets, MacMillan said, three brand signatures emerged: close to everything yet away from it all, abundant opportunity, and naturally inviting.
Phase 2 will include marketing and outreach, and MacMillan intends to use traditional tools as well as the new digital ones to get feedback.
“There’s a lot of opportunity to continue to understand the best practices of your peers, to see and talk to a lot of regional governments and understand what are the current practices in branding economic markets,” he added.
“We are working with member municipalities on the next step of this strategy,” Campbell said.
“That’s a key part of this process – to support every member municipality and find commonalities.”
Though he voted approval to the motion, Port Hope Mayor Bob Sanderson said he would have liked more specifics as to what exactly the goal of the exercise might be.
“I don’t see the goal of what we want to be when we grow up. I see a process that we could end up being something, but does it maintain the values we have and the principles we have,” Sanderson wondered.
“We have a great community, all our communities and the county too. We love what we are, yet are trying to bring in development to make us what we are not.
“We like what we have, and want to keep what we have but make it better,” he said.
“Are we trying to attract everything and anything?
“Every community has its own economic-development strategy. In Port Hope, it’s very strongly indicated that we are an agricultural community and we want it to stay that way – and we have a heritage downtown.
“We are the next lump of the GTA, and we want to protect the county because we are getting some pressure. We want to participate in a process that doesn’t ruin the values we have – the family values, the agricultural values.
“The bottom line is, I would really like to see that goal identified clearly.”
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
