St. Albert’s business community is giving a green thumbs-up to the city’s new branding direction that aims to stamp the city as Alberta’s “botanical arts capital.”
After two years of consultation, the city is now moving forward with a branding effort with the tagline “Cultivate Life.”
“We’re just excited to see this getting under way. We think it’s great,” said chamber of commerce chair Mike Howes. “What I hope it does is just put St. Albert on the map.”
Last year the city hired branding expert Roger Brooks and his company Destination Developments International to assess the city and propose ideas for a brand.
After three visits, Brooks suggested St. Albert was most suited to a garden city-themed brand because the presence of Hole’s Greenhouses & Gardens is a huge draw to the area and the city is already known for its tree-lined streets and green trails.
“I’m certain you’ll find mixed reaction throughout the membership … but at the end of the day you have to come down to one consensus and that’s what the city’s done,” Howes said.
The appeal of the “cultivate life” idea is that it can mean different things to different people, said St. Albert Centre general manager Olympia Trencevski.
“An outsider looking in can look at that in a variety of ways. It’s only going to benefit the community,” she said.
A brand is more than a slogan, Brooks has said. It must be the one thing that people truly think when they think of your city. His research suggested St. Albert’s current “one thing” is high taxes.
His branding report, which council endorsed on Monday, says the city must now earn its “most beautiful city” brand by adding elements of the botanic arts and cultivation themes to all existing events and develop new events that build the brand.
Mayor Nolan Crouse said the new brand is a natural fit with St. Albert’s existing assets and will help transform the city’s reputation away from high taxes.
“That’s not a brand you want to portray when you’re trying to attract businesses,”’ he said.
The branding report recommends that an outside agency be hired in the future to help with “product development,” at an estimated cost of $45,000 but Crouse thinks much of the branding plan can be done in-house by existing city staff.
“I honestly don’t anticipate putting a lot of extra money to this,” he said.
The city is a partner in building the brand but leading the charge rests on a volunteer brand leadership team comprised of community members.
Chair Rob LeLacheur said city staff has nearly finished a style guide to direct the use of the new logo and tag line, which residents will start noticing pretty soon.
Upcoming meetings will explore the longer-term initiatives necessary to build the brand. The committee members have committed to two years but the branding shift will be a five to 10-year process, he said.
“It needs to be slowly embraced by all so that any person who lives here, any business that is here, any visitor — we’re solid in our presentation and that you truly do feel it,” he said.
Brooks’ report highlights the need for Hole’s to be a strong partner in the branding process. Co-owner Jim Hole is a member of the branding team and is excited with the direction.
“We’re more than happy to be involved in the branding and marketing of St. Albert,” he said.
Brooks has always cautioned that group politics is the biggest enemy of a successful brand, which must be very focused. But Hole isn’t worried that varied interests will get in the way of St. Albert’s effort.
“There seems to be a real collaboration between the different groups and a real sense of pride in the community,” he said.
