Amherstburg rebranding plan to move ahead
Amherstburg Mayor Aldo DiCarlo successfully shepherded a proposal Monday night to pay a non-local company up to $75,000 plus HST to update the historic town’s logo and official branding.
“We have fallen behind a bit on things like branding,” said DiCarlo Monday. “We have a lot going on and as much as we love the old town logo and crest, we’re well past due for something a little more current.”
Council debated a recommendation from Anne Rota, the town’s manager of tourism and culture, to undertake an “integrated marketing and promotions plan” that will include a “strong online and social media communications program with campaigns to raise the profile of Amherstburg.” “Through the enhanced branding strategy, Amherstburg will build a competitive and sustainable tourism and economic vehicle attracting high-yield consumers, maximizing the potential for growth as a destination of choice to visit and invest in.” Cinnamon Toast New Media Inc. — a company with offices in Hamilton and Ottawa — was tapped as the winning bidder from a pool of 16. The bids were ranked according to criteria including experience with similar projects and the proponent’s strategy and presentation. “As much as we want to keep everything local, it has to be a competitive process,” said DiCarlo. “They provided the best proposal to the town.”
As part of the branding project, the company would create a new town logo, create a new tourism website, prepare a research paper about perceptions of the town, establish a communications strategy and prepare a brand identity manual.
DiCarlo said the current crest adequately embraced the town’s rich history but that it was a dated and a little busy, making it difficult to see if it was only used in a small format on T-shirts and such. He’s looking for a logo that is better suited for modern-day marketing sensibilities and he is keen to hear what residents have to say about it.
“Something that grabs your attention but has the heart of Amherstburg in it,” said DiCarlo. “We don’t want to change who we are, but we have to look more current and more relevant.” Funding of up to $80,000 for the branding exercise was approved last December as part of the 2018 Capital Budget.