The first stage of community branding is now complete.
Hope’s new Brand Book was revealed on Tuesday night at the rec centre and explains what the community stands for, its vision, values, personality, positioning, and unique selling proposition. It also outlines the context for the brand, defining the target audiences, competing communities and relative brand relationships.
“Hope needs to go out with the same positive face every time,” said branding coordinator Alison Harwood. “This is the culmination of all the work we’ve done. It’s the description of who we are.”
Hope’s brand essence has been identified as Being Connected: To nature. To Community. To oneself.
Harwood said Hope’s new logo will act as a thumbprint for the brand and generally be used in context with other visual elements in communications. The Hope logo is a wordmark with an iconic “O.”
According to the Brand Book, the “H” is styled to express the steepness of the surrounding mountains and serves to bring the viewers eye naturally to the centerpiece of the logo. The “O” is a clear representation of the abundant natural elements of the area (mountains, nature and water), and bringing them together is a circular form representing “connection.” Further reinforcing that theme are white spaces or dividers between the “O” sections. This points to Hope as a hub, both in the literal sense with the transportation corridor as well as a home base from which one can explore from. The Brand Book includes technical guidelines that define how the logo should be expressed including fonts, colour palette, spacing and application Do’s and Don’ts.
The branding committee expressed gratitude to residents for embracing the initiative and participating in the process, consequently resulting in a brand that captures the true essence of the community.
“It’s a real document that breathes light into what Hope is all about,” said Coun. Gerry Dyble.
The next phase of the branding process is developing a strategic plan to determine how the brand will be managed, how it will be used and by who, as well as specific marketing strategies. Expansion of the Brand Book will occur as additional brand elements are developed.
Part of the Brand Book will soon be uploaded to hopechamber.net