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Fort Smith to rebrand Paul Bickford Northern News Services Published Monday, October 24, 2011
The rebranding - consisting of a logo, a slogan and samples of campaign materials - will be unveiled on Oct. 30. Mayor Janie Hobart said the town has never had a true brand, just informal representative images and the slogan The Garden Capital of the North. "We're looking at what are some more things that we can do to engage people, and make them excited about coming to Fort Smith," she said. The rebranding project was put out to tender in the spring and awarded to K2 Communications of Yellowknife. "We feel that it's important to put a focus on getting people to Fort Smith for whatever reason and there are basically five categories that we're going to be focusing on," said Hobart. "Your typical tourist is one, but we feel the bigger market is in our business travellers." She said the town is home to the headquarters for Aurora College, Wood Buffalo National Park and the South Slave region of the GNWT, so there are many people coming to Fort Smith for business. The three other target areas are sports/festivals, potential new residents and students coming to the community to attend Aurora College. "We're looking at things that we can focus on for each of the groups," Hobart said, noting K2 Communications will provide a strategy plan and ideas for promotions, campaigns and marketing material. The town has invested $41,500 in the rebranding strategy, plus there will be more money spent in the future for other campaigns. Community residents were involved in the rebranding through surveys and a public meeting in June. In addition, the Trade and Tourism Advisory Board looked at draft proposals and town council was kept apprised of the progress. Hobart said the previous brands and slogans were informal and were never used in a co-ordinated manner. That included the town crest, the mascot Muffaloose (a mythical half buffalo/half moose creature) and the town's motto perseverance, which will all remain. Hobart noted the slogan The Garden Capital of the North is still valid, but it's not really going to bring visitors to the community. "While up North it's something special, you can see beautiful gardens in lots of places," she noted. "We're looking at more of what our attractors are here - the river, of course, and the rapids, and Wood Buffalo National Park." The new branding will be rolled out at a Businesspersons Breakfast, a joint initiative of the town and the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment. Hobart predicts the new branding will be well-received by the community. It is an important step for the economy in Fort Smith, she said. "Visitor dollars coming into your community are new dollars."
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