Refreshing a Provincial Tourism Brand
Over the past decade, Travel Manitoba’s provincial tourism brand has done a remarkable job establishing our province as a destination for locals, Canadians and international travellers. However, the way we discover and choose travel has changed. And Manitoba’s tourism offerings have evolved too.
The province’s tourism strategy identified a need to take a fresh look at the brand to support post-pandemic recovery and make Manitoba stand out in an incredibly competitive global tourism market.
Goals
We were asked to lead a brand refresh project with four objectives:
- Consistent: Evolve the brand tagline without throwing away the momentum of the previous one, which was “Canada’s heart…beats.”
- Refreshed: Update the brand logo and visual identity and restock the creative toolkit.
- Accessible: Build a brand system that can showcase more types of experiences across more platforms – particularly social media.
- Welcoming: Invite more people to Manitoba and make the brand a call to action.
The refreshed brand needed to resonate with four traveller groups: folks from overseas travelling a long way for a bucket-list adventure, folks taking a short flight or long drive to find an authentic experience, hunters and anglers looking to test their skill against nature and the most influential brand ambassadors of all – Manitobans.
Methodology
We extensively researched how tourism marketing has changed and how travellers discover new experiences. We looked at beloved tourism brands from around the world and studied industry trend reports. We also consulted with leaders across Manitoba’s tourism sector, representing major festivals, attractions and operators, Indigenous and Francophone communities and rural destinations.
By the end of the process, we had completed two brand workshops with the Travel Manitoba team, seven Q + A meetings, eight interviews with partners, 80+ hours of travel marketing research, reviewed six terabytes of video footage and collected feedback from the government, operators and consumers.
"We have an interesting story to tell in the different people here. It's a vibrant story. When I hear visitors talk about Manitoba, they talk about the people here." - Darrel Nadeau - Executive Director, Festival Du Voyageur
Insight
Through the research and consultation, we uncovered something core to all travellers:
No matter where you’re from, your age or ability, your heart needs to travel. And while every heart needs something a little different, the power in every new experience, reaction, connection or understanding calls us to venture forward.
So whatever a traveller needs right now, they can follow their heart to Manitoba. There are countless stories and experiences that get our hearts beating. They will make visitors’ hearts beat too.
Execution
We crafted an evolved brand tagline: “Canada’s Heart is Calling” and “Le coeur du Canada vous appelle.” It built on the legacy of the previous brand while offering an open call to visit the province. The tagline complemented a new messaging system that paired Manitoba’s many tourism experiences with the innermost desires of travellers:
1. When your heart needs quiet
for those looking for moments of calm, tranquil nature and spa getaways.
2. When your heart needs to race
for those looking for thrilling recreation, exciting nightlife or wildlife encounters.
3. When your heart needs to reflect
for those seeking a new understanding from museums, cultural events and original Indigenous experiences.
4. When your heart needs to sing
for those looking for concerts, festivals, galleries, performances, art shows and great food.
5. When your heart needs wild
for those looking to explore our world-class hunting and fishing opportunities.
We refreshed Travel Manitoba’s logo to feature wide, uppercase letters that feel bold and confident, contrasted by rounded corners that add warmth and approachability. And since Manitoba is known to be home to the polar bear capital of the world, the logo’s negative space features a polar bear with its nose pointed north.
We built an extensive bilingual visual identity with new logos, avatars, fonts, colours, patterns, icons, social media templates, a sonic brand and a motion graphics package for video assets. We also developed a system to label featured destinations with GPS coordinates, demonstrating that Manitoba’s attractions are easy to find and access.
Creative Assets
a system to leverage existing assets and organize them into different itineraries that answer the many calls of the heart. We paired the footage with music from Manitoba artists, including JP Hoe, The Ripperz, Ila Barker and Boniface.
