INTERNATIONAL BRAND GOAL - IMPLEMENTATION FRAMEWORK

Transcription

1 INTERNATIONAL BRAND GOAL - IMPLEMENTATION FRAMEWORK PRIORITY AREA: Goal: Branding and Marketing Inspire the Development of Halifax as a Global City PREAMBLE: Increasingly, cities and regions compete with other places for attention, investment, visitors, shoppers, talent, events, and the like. Accelerated and intensified globalization has lead to a situation where the main competition is no longer the city one province away or the town in another county, but where competitors are places half a world away. And this global competition is no longer limited to larger cities; it now directly affects all cities and towns. Place branding will create value for Halifax by aligning the various messages that are currently being sent out, in accordance with a unified and distinctive strategic vision; by unlocking the talent of the people who live here and stimulating trade and investment to reinforce and fulfill this vision; and by creating new, powerful and cost-effective ways to give Halifax a stronger and memorable voice, thereby enhancing our international reputation. Studies tell us that a clear and shared sense of purpose, which well-planned brand strategy engenders, can help unite government, the private sector and non-governmental organizations; it stimulates and inspired involvement and participation among the population; externally, it helps build strong and positive links to other places and other people. GOALS IN BRIEF: Develop and conduct a brand strategy using baseline research analysis with the guidance of a newly formed Halifax. Deliver a marketing program that supports an enhanced trade and investment strategy that will assist businesses who seek expansion into international markets. Inspire a movement to the residents of Halifax in building on the delivery of visitor experiences. The branding and marketing of Halifax should identify and help direct the talents and skills of this area, and promote them in order to achieve innovation in education, business, government, environment and the arts to the global audience. This will be communicated to the world in ways which are simple, truthful, motivating, appealing and memorable. AGREATERHalifax Economic Strategy Page 1

2 Objectives 1. BUILD IT Develop an in-depth brand strategy that will build a brand for Halifax that is relevant and compelling to local, domestic and global markets. Actions Year 1 Months 1-6 ESTABLISH THE HALIFAX BRAND ADVISORY TEAM Year One Actions Establish the Halifax Brand Advisory Team. The team is made up of representatives from the three levels of government, business community, university, industry associations, various geographic areas across Halifax, and community organizations to collaboratively lead an aligned brand development process, act as advisory group on implementation, review implementation progress on a regular basis and manage any necessary adjustments. Lead Organization Greater Halifax Partnership Supporting Organization(s) Resourcing Outcome Measures Created Regular Meetings Team Engaged Information Sharing Priorities and Actions Advanced Benchmark and Targets Set Communications, stakeholder and government relations plan created Care must be taken with team composition to ensure an effective balance between the private and public sectors. As an acknowledgement that the private sector drives jobs and wealth creation, it is felt that the composition of the team should be a 70/30 split between the private and public sectors. A communications, stakeholder engagement and government relations plan must be developed to ensure the actions, activities and products are well understood, gain support and approval, and are transparent. AGREATERHalifax Economic Strategy Page 2

3 Objectives Actions Year One Actions Lead Organization BASELINE RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS BASELINE RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS (Target month 2 to issue RFP for research and/or analysis services) Research and analysis will consist of both qualitative and quantitative data gathering and research (existing with possibility of new to fill in gaps) to determine the most compelling attributes that separate Halifax from its competitors. This research will be the most important way of involving of the community in the branding process. Greater Halifax Partnership Supporting Organization(s) Resourcing TBD: Will Include professional research, communications, marketing, branding etc. etc. consultants/agencies Outcome Measures Survey Completed Benchmark Set Audit Completed Best Practices Research Completed Core Attributes Identified Activities include: SET BENCHMARK Collect, review and compile existing brand research, qualitative and quantitative surveys and information. If there are gaps, additional research and/or surveys could be employed. COMPLETE AN AUDIT Assess the current state/health of the brand, define the players (organizations/companies that market Halifax, export, could potentially export, are ambassadors for Halifax, provide destination experiences), assess the current levels of alignment, detail the activities, programs and services currently being employed, audiences, perform a SWOT analysis, and collect existing brand research material, positioning and guidelines. AGREATERHalifax Economic Strategy Page 3

4 CONDUCT BEST PRACTICES RESEARCH Assess what communities are doing well in their positioning and marketing as it relates to economic development, attracting FDI, tourism etc. Investigate leading customer service/experience/city ambassador programs. Define the leading tools, channels, engagement strategies and practices currently being employed by successful communities. (E.g. Come to Life) Year 1 Months 6-12 (Target Month 8 to issue RFP for brand strategy and implementation) DEVELOP BRAND STRATEGY AND IMPLEMENTATION PLAN CREATE INVENTORY OF CORE ATTRIBUTES (the basis for brand pillars) Greater Halifax Partnership TBD (Will Include professional research, communications, marketing, branding etc. etc. consultants/agencies) Brand Strategy Developed Implementation Plan Developed Metrics/Measurement Defined DEVELOP BRAND STRATEGY AND IMPLEMENTATION PLAN Inventory core attributes that: differentiate us, make us special, famous, unique, we can celebrate (e.g., port, airport, universities/colleges, DND, business base, Smart/ highly educated workforce, culture, diversity, heritage etc.). Through analyzing the research data, develop a brand strategy that brings the brand alive, communication about the brand and an implementation plan, with costs and timeline. The strategy identifies the brand pillars (based on the AGREATERHalifax Economic Strategy Page 4

5 attributes) and the brand promise (value proposition, we own it; it s the stage on which we all pledge to perform). An effective brand strategy will be: realistic and feasible consistent with community values provide a genuine image of Halifax that best promotes our international competitive advantages to a broad audience relevant to Halifax s present and future situation differentiate Halifax from competitors reflective of Halifax s role provincially, regionally and nationally reflective of the diversity and range of cultures we have in Halifax aligned with provincial and national efforts It will also need to be tested for relevance and effectiveness in order to achieve community acceptance. We will also have to define success criteria for the brand, consideration will be given to the following criteria: Aspirational Inspirational Realistic/Believable Unique to Halifax Leverages Halifax s Competitive Advantages Internationally Relevant Promise Consistent with Product AGREATERHalifax Economic Strategy Page 5

6 Concurrent with the strategy the implementation plan will include: Situational overview Communications considerations Goals and objectives Mechanism to ensure alignment Key Messages Audiences Tactics Identification of tools and tangible elements that support the brand (for example: a program to educate and give Halifax businesses and citizens the necessary information/tools to deliver an exceptional experience) Timing and responsibility Defines measurement metrics (both outputs and outcomes that allow us to tangibly track progress towards fulfilling our objectives and achieving our goal) and tools. AGREATERHalifax Economic Strategy Page 6

7 2. DELIVER IT Deliver an aligned, collaborative marketing program to: Support an enhanced trade and investment strategy that provides clear and consistent messages to a global marketplace. Increase the number of businesses who are actively seeking customers in international markets inspire a culture that guarantees Halifax s delivery of an exceptional experience. Inspire a culture that guarantees Halifax s delivery of an exceptional experience. Years 2-5 IMPLEMENTATION, OVERSIGHT AND MEASUREMENT Actions will be identified in the brand strategy and implementation plan (Year 1 activities under Objective 1 Build it ) One organization that acts as keeper and protector of the Brand Actions identified, resourced and implemented Annual quantitative review of progress towards reaching our objectives/goal (review of both outcomes and outputs identified in the brand strategy and implementation plan) and making incremental adjustments as necessary Sustainability In year 4, begin process of fundamental review of actions with eye towards re-fresh in year 5 ( being mindful of changes in the global marketplace, new trends and opportunities concurrent with the review of the overall economic strategy) AGREATERHalifax Economic Strategy Page 7