New County branding to be ‘The County’
Administrator | Mar 30, 2014 | Comments 152
Councillors have supported a new branding of “The County” for Prince Edward County.
The brand, logo, and slogan ‘The County’ has been designed “to build greater awareness of the County’s lifestyle and visitor experience to attract new residents, visitors and investment opportunities”.
The branding was designed by 1dea Design + Media Inc., of Kingston.
The branding report states the budgeted amount for development of the new corporate website includes creative design work estimated to cost between $10,000 and $15,000.
The cost of developing the complete branding package and materials will be $15,250, with the small excess being funded by the Community Development Commission.
Outside of the upcoming planned communications projects, the brand implementation program will have a longer term impact and is currently budgeted for 2014 at $10,000 to cover the cost of new signage, vehicle decals, and other applications.
Private sector partners and community groups would be responsible for their own costs of implementing the brand.
It is to go to council for final approval Tuesday, April 8.
The report states the logo was designed to incorporate a number of visual elements that seek to capture The County’s identity in an authentic manner while remaining simple, clear and vivid.
The design includes:
• Agriculture – represented by the barn and silo
• Wine/Viticulture – represented by grapes and a grape leaf
• Sandbanks and our surrounding water bodies – represented by the
curving sandy-coloured area above the curving blue water (wave)
• Art & Creativity – represented by the overall stained-glass styling of the logo and the inclusion of various solid colours
• Rustic, Rural Landscape – captured in the grainy/distressed bordering, orange sky and the farm elements
The report further states retention of “The County” name rather than only “Prince Edward County” was determined to be important for a number of reasons:
– Part of the local lexicon, making it authentic
– Unique – other county’s do not brand themselves as “The County”
– It is increasingly referenced by the media
– It differentiates us from Prince Edward Island
– Suggests that we are not just any County, we are “The County”.
– “The County” is already trademarked by the Municipality meaning that
no other entity may use it in this fashion.
The inclusion of “Ontario” and the maple leaf as a reference to Canada was done to help identify and leverage the location of The County. Canada has
been ranked for many years as the #1 country brand in the world and is well thought of by tourists and residents. Both of these contribute to a positive
sense of place.
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Re the County’s past in economic development, read Rick Conroy’s comment in The Times this week.
The earlier County setup was an Economic Development Officer (EDO) with about three permanent staff. Taste the County was an independent cooperative organization of County businesses dependent on tourism that was partially funded by the County, by the province and by its members.
The EDO attracted a lot of controversy — half loved him and half hated him. When they cut back his budget by one-third, he left and was hired by Peterborough (five times the population of the County.)
Then the Community Development Commission was established with a broader mandate, but including economic development. It includes as voting members the Mayor, two Councillors, representatives of the Chamber of Commerce and Tourism and Taste the County and three volunteer (unpaid) citizen members. This group recommends strategy and plans which Council approves (or otherwise).
Neil Carbone was appointed Director of Community Development, with three staff. His department’s role is (I think) to provide resources to the Commission and to implement approved plans.
It appears that the winding up of Taste the County was precipitated by the loss of provincial funding, but there could have been other considerations. Now, the role of promoting the County externally will be an inhouse responsibility of the County.
This matter has always been a political football. Me thinks the ball was just puntted once again.