" Synergist Communications is a true partner. On top of excellent creative, Synergist provided Tourism New Westminster with outstanding customer service and went above and beyond to provide solutions that fit within our budget and timeline. "
Tej Kainth Tourism New Westminster
" Synergist Communications looked past our immediate needs and objectives and provided our organization with professional recommendations and intelligent solutions we hadn’t originally considered. Their strategic approach and unique process enabled us to establish a shared vision prior to developing our marketing materials. As a result we are confident our brand and identity is on target and the programs and initiatives we are implementing will achieve our marketing objectives and continue to be successful for years to come. "
Ineke Boekhorst Downtown Maple Ridge
" Synergist Communications provided us with an excellent visual identity and marketing collaterals that exceeded all of our expectations. Most importantly, their unique and simple branding process helped us determine where we are, where we want to be and mapped out how to get there as a Community. "
Carolyn Orazietti Burnaby North Road
Place Branding
Synergist Speaks to Squamish
Thursday, 03 May 2012
What's UR Brand?
May 2012 - by Jeff Nixon
Synergist Communications was asked to visit Squamish and give a presentation on branding and brand stewardship to Inside Edge; a not-for-profit association of knowledge-based industry professionals in the Sea to Sky corridor. The BC group had four things we love to be involved with: branding presentations, workshops, chatting with intelligent professionals and generating creative ideas. We gladly made the trip.
Over 50 fantastic folks showed up at the Squamish Adventure Center to participate in “WhatsURBrand?” The group's attendees endulged in exercises meant to evaluate and understand how current brands were perceived by stakeholders. They identified brand ideals and discussed the importance of ensuring messaging remains consistent.
After a brief presentation the room was divided into four groups, each representing four sectors that play an integral role in the Squamish brand: Parks and Recreation, the Downtown Business Improvement Association, Inside Edge and the Sea to Sky Gondola project. Once in groups they were tasked with evaluating existing perceptions, prioritizing and identifying core brand attributes and finally, creating a short skit that reflected and reinforced those values. To say the residents of Squamish are a bright, creative bunch would be an understatement.
We are passionate about branding and the impact properly executed brand strategy and carefully managed and measured brands can have on communities. Any opportunity to share and help educate others is time well spent. Thanks Squamish.
Jeff Nixon is a senior consultant at Synergist Communications (www.synergistcommunications.com). He is an expert in strategic place branding and takes pride in helping organizations to improve public perception, encourage investment, and create a better community through effective brand management. Follow on Twitter @Jeffrey_Nixon.
Did you catch the skit on This Hour has 22 Minutes when actor and Canadian cultural icon Gordon Pinset read with gleeful smirk and arched eyebrows excerpts from Justin Bieber's freshly-pressed memoirs? A definite clash of ages and cultures! Also a lesson in brand ambassadorship. Mock the Biebs as one may be inclined – his legions of fans remain true Beliebers!
Where am I going with this? Not long ago I gave a presentation on Place Branding at a conference in St. John’s, Newfoundland (birthplace to Mr. Pinset). It was an excellent conference at a fantastic venue. Sadly, upon the heels of my presentation, I had to catch the first flight back to Vancouver, leaving a few quick conference outings and hotel wander-rounds as the sum total of my St. John's tourist experience.
On the way to the airport I casually expressed to my cab driver my regret at not getting a proper tour of the august city. He immediately pulled over and asked, “When does your flight leave?” I had about an hour or so before check in, which left just enough time for one of the best personalized tours and history lessons for which I could have asked and received. As a Place Branding expert, hearing “I can’t let you leave until you have at least seen and experienced more of St. John’s,” nearly brought a tear to my eye.
As he drove me about, excitedly extolling points of interest, it was clear that this man adored his city and his heritage -- you couldn't ask for a better, or more expert, brand ambassador. Nor could you find a more stellar example of how authentic place branding is owned and operated by the people who live it each and every day and who work dutifully to grow and preserve it with care. They're also living proof that brand isn't artificially disseminated or decreed from the top down – it's home-grown from the ground up, on the streets, in coffee shops, and, yes, in cabs!
Logos, brochures and ad campaigns are great, but none could ever replace the heart-felt testimony of my colourful cab driver. Unfortunately, in many communities the local brand heroes that give face and shape to the brand experience often go unheralded and unappreciated. These folks love singing their home's praises and letting everyone know what makes their life styles so special. They’re like my wife’s 14 year-old sister trying to convince me to love Justin Bieber because, well, “he's just so talented.” She continuously asks me, “are you a Belieber yet?” I will keep the answer to myself, but I admit her passion is, well, infectious.
All too often the self-interested naysayers in villages, towns and cities snatch focus by making much ado about nothing. Those squeaky wheels who are constantly begging for grease and distracting from positive brand-building achievements by complaining about this and that, and generally souring the landscape and eroding hard-earned goodwill with their negative antics.
All communities have their raving fans who, like my wife's baby sister, will shout out their loyalty from the highest bell tower or the top row of a concert arena. These are the people who honour the past but are open and welcoming to change and new challenges in building communities loaded with character, beyond the safe and well-ordered, with ample and welcoming room for everyone, from old cab drivers to pop-culture-loving teenagers, too. They protect and nourish their place's good names and are always eager to roll up their sleeves and help out in small and big ways that build a true loveable and livable sense of community. All it takes is one business owner, one police officer, one town employee or one cab driver to make all the difference in the world to the wealth and prosperity of local tourism. Although I will never be a raving fan of the Bieber, I remain a firm Belieber in the branding power by the people who are wild about their special places in the world!
Jeff Nixon is a senior consultant at Synergist Communications (www.synergistcommunications.com). He is an expert in strategic place branding and takes pride in helping organizations to improve public perception, encourage investment, and create a better community through effective brand management. Follow on Twitter @Jeffrey_Nixon.
Always reinforce your brand. It’s a simple statement, but not necessarily one that's always easy to understand. Unfortunately the majority of people out there still consider a brand to be logos and design. Even companies claiming to be branding experts put out signs with large calls-to-action “Need a Brand? Contact us today and we will develop the right logo for your company!” There is a very big difference between brand and visual identity. The reason for the confusion is likely due to the identification of some major companies’ brands; the Nike swoosh, McDonald’s golden arches, the Starbucks siren. These companies have had huge successes, resulting in their logos being drilled into our collective psyche, but those pervasive logos aren’t brands, they’re the result of good brand stewardship.
I was recently out visiting communities and business improvement areas. I stopped in to one specific community to introduce myself and discuss the area's upcoming strategic plan and initiatives. Not to my surprise the current focus was on revitalizion through beautification and infrastructure enhancements. What was surprising was the response I received when I asked about branding and marketing. “Right now we have no need for marketing and communications because our focus is on fixing the area. When that is completed our brand will follow.” I have heard this more than once and again, it goes back to the common misunderstanding of what is “brand”.
If you plan on developing your place brand by putting money into fixing the area I can guarantee it will take a lot of money and a lot of time. And when those new sidewalks are laid and the last building façade is complete, you will still have to spend money on a branding program. Why? Because a brand is about perceptions, attitudes and beliefs and you need to know what these are at all times. Opening up a fresh new store isn’t going to help a company that has lost the respect of its employees and customers. And just because your area is shiny and new doesn’t mean your streets are going to be filled with hoards of shoppers. If I were to ask you what your community’s brand is, could you tell me? You should. You already have a place brand and waiting for renovations to be complete is not going to fix it. All you are doing is giving up control and letting the wrong people determine what your brand is.
Benchmark
Before you do anything else, figure out what your place brand is. Who are we? What do people think of us?
Differentiate
Almost every community we've helped has named crime (graffiti, vandalism), safety, prostitution, and infrastructure as a weakness. You are not alone. The key is determining your strengths and how you want audiences to perceive you? Ask yourself; five years from now how do we want to be described by neighboring communities, visitors, residents, and business owners?
Plan
Once you have a handle on the perceptions of your area and where you are headed, start prioritizing what needs to be done. Use your brand for this. What businesses should we be attracting? Do we really need to paint the mailboxes? Does the tone of our marketing pieces and images we use align with who we want to become as a community? Does our logo reflect and personify our community vision? Does this event really fit our community? If you are using your brand strategy as a guide for all decisions you can rest assured you are on the right track.
Measure
Measure brand? How is that possible? The best part about branding is it can, and should, be measured. Most companies and communities dread branding programs because they think it's all about logos. Like a new paint job on busted-up Mustang, your logo isn’t going to hide blemishes in your community. But if you have benchmarked, and strategically planned each decision you will be able to measure changes in stakeholder attitudes and beliefs.
Live
Reinforce, reinforce, reinforce. Creating an attractive destination begins with you. How friendly are you? How do you interact with the public, business owners, visitors, guests to your office? If you want your community to be a great place to live and a wonderful place to do business your office better be a great place to visit. This is where reinforcing your brand begins.
Jeff Nixon is a senior consultant at Synergist Communications (www.synergistcommunications.com). He is an expert in strategic place branding and takes pride in helping organizations to improve public perception, encourage investment, and create a better community through effective brand management. Follow on Twitter @Jeffrey_Nixon.
Municipal World is the oldest continuously published monthly municipal magazine in the world. Founded in 1891, the magazine is devoted to promoting effective municipal government. Visit Site
Jeff Nixon is a senior consultant at Synergist Communications (www.synergistcommunications.com). He is an expert in strategic place branding and takes pride in helping organizations to improve public perception, encourage investment, and create a better community through effective brand management. Follow on Twitter @Jeffrey_Nixon.
Your True Place Resides In People's Hearts and Minds
I recall a story told at a sales seminar about an old man in a worn out suit walking into a Cadillac dealership. Thinking he was just there to kick tires, the entire sales team instantly started to fight over who had to help him. Short story, he wound up buying three new cars for his family, and the salesman with the shortest straw walked out with the thickest wallet. Point is, they judged the “old book” by his “cover” and were lucky he didn’t read them the riot act, let alone stay to do business. Then again, the old man could have dressed for success if he expected better treatment. And so it goes, round and round, the cycle of perceptions (and judgments) we deal with everyday.
Managing brand is about managing perceptions based on people’s expectations — expectations created (in part) by branding and met (or denied) with each brand experience. Of course, true brand experience goes far deeper and wider than any logo, brochure or ad campaign. (“I sure like their logo, think I’ll move there!” If only it were this easy!) Slapping a new logo on your community without changing the essence of your brand experience (from the inside out) is like putting a cowboy hat on Ozzy Osbourne and calling him a country musician.
How often organizations say, “We have no funds for branding now, but maybe in next year’s budget. What does it cost anyway? We can set some money aside for marketing.” Branding isn’t something you schedule — it’s something you do every day, whether you know it or not. For consumers, experiencing new advertising (assuming they’re even paying attention) can never be a substitute for experiencing new and more relevant value from your brand. How many places have launched new logos and campaigns only to fade away over time, resulting in little or no impact!
What are you actively doing to meet or change perceived expectations? Where are you today, and where do you want to be tomorrow? What’s truly important to your publics when making branding decisions? What must you change organically to create a greater experience of value that your publics will truly care about? You can’t change outside perceptions without achieving internal clarity and consensus regarding your place brand’s value proposition and why (and how) it should matter to people. In short, if your place disappeared tomorrow, why should people care? Have the courage to take a good, long and hard look into the “reality mirror” and deal with the short-term pain to make long-term gains.
The most successful places build high expectations using a variety of tools, tactics and mediums that work to create (and reinforce) a new reality of perceived experience. Only by coming to grips with how everyone (from council members and business owners to residents and tourists) truly sees your community can you measure gaps between reality and perceptions and start developing a strategic plan of action to correct, strengthen or moderate perceptions.
Then and only then can you start implementing campaigns and communicating directly to your target audiences. This means everything you do is completed with a purpose. Speak in a certain way, write in certain way, dress in a certain way, and even choose what events to host so you can develop your place brand strategically. Start making decisions with a purpose so people will perceive you as you intend. Creating the frameworks to enhance people's expectations and perceptions through everything from events and education to, yes, that snazzy logo and campaign, based on a bottom-up and inside-out branding strategy that truly resonates with audiences and achieves a brave new brand reality for all!
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P.S.
Have you heard the one about the German Shepherd that went into a telegram office, took out a blank form and wrote: “Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof?” The clerk examined the paper and politely told the dog: “There are only nine words here. You could send another Woof for the same price.” “But,” the dog replied, “that would make no sense at all.”
"The mice think they are right, but my cat eats them anyways." "This is the point, reality is nothing, perception is everything." - Terry Goodkind
Jeff Nixon is a senior consultant at Synergist Communications (www.synergistcommunications.com). He is an expert in strategic place branding and takes pride in helping organizations to improve public perception, encourage investment, and create a better community through effective brand management. Follow on Twitter @Jeffrey_Nixon.
