Stick a brand on the ...... Boundary
By Contributor
Boundary Brand Needs You: Steer Wrestling Experience Not Necessary
We’re improving our brand, and we need you.
The Boundary region is strengthening its brand, and it needs help from the public. No steer wrestling experience is necessary. Gloves and jeans aren’t needed. There’s no cattle or branding irons. All that’s needed is your thoughts about the Boundary region…
But first, what is a brand and why is it important? What’s a brand?
A brand is a story: it’s who we are, who we want to be, what we do and what we’ve done. If you live in the Boundary region, your story is part of our story.
Our brand is the story of the Boundary region and the people who live here, the activities we do, the way we live our lives and how we share our region with others. A great brand helps to strengthen our story, and provides tools to help tell it consistently and effectively, like brochures, ads and websites. We want to ensure that our story is told best and in order to do that, we need you.
Brand myths
Myth 1. A brand is a logo.
A brand is not simply a logo. A logo is a symbol that helps represent a brand, but a logo is not a brand. A brand is a story, and it is told in many different ways to many different people. A logo’s job is to make the brand consistently recognizable over time.
Myth 2. A brand means change.
Brands are about telling a story. A brand is simply about expressing the story as we would like it told. In the case of the Boundary region, that may mean expressing the pride of people who live in an incredible place. And it might mean discovering areas of our story that can be improved. The Boundary region’s branding initiative needs your thoughts and comments to ensure our story is authentic and reflects who we are today, and who we want to be tomorrow. Improving our brand doesn’t mean our story changes, as much as how we tell our story changes.
Myth 3. A brand doesn’t do much.
A brand is a story, and a story is a brand. A story won’t do anything unless it is told. Imagine this: there are two apple sellers. They have apple orchards situated right next to each other. They pick their apples at the same time. They water their apples and grow them the same way. They take them to market on the same day.
But when they get to market, they do things very differently. One seller dumps his apples on the ground and waits for people to come buy them. The other seller carefully places his apples in a display, and calls out to people in the market place, telling the story of where his apples came from, how they taste and how they improve their health.
At the end of the day, guess whose apples are being enjoyed by happy customers? Guess whose apple story is being told and retold. That’s right, the one who told their story best. Brands demonstrate pride, connect with people, give them a reason to experience a product, and differentiate it from their competition. Now, how ’bout them apples?
Why is a brand important?
The Boundary region is an incredible area, with exceptional places, people and stories. However, there are many other areas in British Columbia, Canada, and the world that also boast incredible places, people and stories. A brand helps to identify and strengthen those things that we want to differentiate us from other areas, and it helps us to express the attitude and feelings of our region.
A brand is an expression of who we are to the rest of the world. It’s what makes us distinct and what differentiates us from others. A solid brand offers compelling reasons to be proud of our region and to participate in the Boundary experience. A solid brand means our story is not just heard, but that it is remembered, retold, and most importantly, experienced.
How you can help…
As the Boundary region begins to strengthen our brand, we’re looking for feedback from our story’s most important people, the people who make the Boundary the Boundary; and that’s you!
We’ll have a survey online from now until Sept. 17, at www.BoundarySurvey.ca
The survey simply asks questions about the Boundary region and what makes it special and important to you. Please take the time to fill it out, and encourage your family, friends and neighbours to fill it out too. It’s our story, let’s discover how we can tell it best, together.
For questions or more information on the Boundary region branding, please contact Jennifer Wetmore, Community Futures Boundary, 250.442.2722 or email: jennifer@boundarycf.com
