The District of Sechelt is trying to become more competitive with a new branding strategy being introduced in the coming weeks.
"It would be easy to suggest that branding is just for business, but Sechelt is in competition with every other community out there," said chief administrative officer Rob Bremner. "We are in competition for our share of consumers, tourists, businesses, investment, capital, respect and attention. We need to communicate an image that will attract new businesses and residents, draw tourist dollars and offer opportunities for growth."
The District will try to better position itself with a new branding strategy that includes a new logo and catch phrase, which was given the go ahead at Sechelt council June 1.
The new District of Sechelt logo depicts a sun made by yellow S's above the word "Sechelt" in blue lettering. Below that is a new catch phrase: "naturally spirited." Both are the result of a $20,000 re-branding exercise done over two years by the District that will see the retirement of the old blue sailboat logo.
Sechelt Mayor Darren Inkster said it was time for a change.
"As a business or corporation or the community, you want to invigorate your brand, update your brand and modernize your brand - not only how you portray yourself, but how you're perceived," Inkster said. "It has minimal connection to moving away from our past. It's just about how we think we want to be perceived not only to people moving here, but to business throughout B.C. and the world.
"All the other pieces go with the sunshine, the fact that in Sechelt we see a lot of sun compared to other parts of B.C. We needed to make sure that was in our logo," he said.
Inkster noted he has a background in business and marketing and he was a keen supporter of the initiative to re-brand Sechelt.
"It's not necessarily an initiative that I drove wholly," Inkster said. "But when we talked about branding, I always think that you need to re-evaluate and look at your priorities and sort of regenerate images and ideas for your community - images and ideas that represent not only the traditional part of your community, but where you want to go as you move forward.
"You need to be able, as a community, to always look in the mirror and say 'what are we doing, what do we need to do?' I think you do a good branding strategy and you regenerate, you reenergize your community. It does a lot without you even knowing it to attract young people like we so dearly need."
The new logo will be painted on District of Sechelt work vehicles as they are purchased or painted during maintenance, and new letterhead and coffee mugs will be ordered shortly. The new logo will also be uploaded to the District's website at www.sechelt.ca. Inkster said the two large signs welcoming visitors to Sechelt on the highway will likely not be changed to reflect the new logo.
"We don't need to start spending a lot of money on signs that are doing the job," he noted.
