Kyle and Kevin’s Golf Trip to PEI
Kevin and I had a good time in PEI this past weekend. We participated in the Tourism Industry Association of Prince Edward Island’s annual gold tournament.
More heads to fill our space
When Headspace started, it was just me.
I never dreamed that in such a short time, it would grow into the team that it has become. In March, we hired as our first employee, Ricky Ferris. Ricky and I go back a long time, both working in and out of various agencies. I was very excited to have Ricky come on board full-time with Kevin and me.
As a web development ninja, Ricky brings a comprehensive understanding of design and usability to his brilliant knack for front-end development. From coding clean, semantic mark-up and CSS, to Actionscript/Flash development, Ricky is the guy who makes it all happen under the hood, and improves how things look and work. Ultimately, his job is to solve problems, and that’s what he has been doing for Headspace since his arrival in March. I don’t know how I got things done without him.
Among the many other changes to Headspace, we now have a studio! At the beginning of May, we moved into our new spot in 57 Portland Street in Dartmouth. We look forward to getting our space in good working order (in between client projects which just don’t seem to slow down), and we’re preparing to organize an open house that we will invite our clients and colleagues to. Stay tuned for more.
Just a quick thanks to all of our great clients who have made this recent growth possible. Thanks! And now we’ll get back to finishing your website.
Headspace creatively connects
Kevin and I participated in the annual Creative Connections at Queen Street Studios on a cold, rainy Saturday in April. We shared the floor with some other great industry professionals, including Paul Douglas from Melon, and Joel Kelly who presently works for Colour.
We spoke to small groups of design students, mostly from NSCC and NSCAD, and got to sample many of their portfolios. These kinds of events are great for all involved; Employers get to see the latest talent up-close and personal without booking individual interviews, and students get meet a variety of employers and showcase their portfolios without the potential for rejection that comes with cold-calling. Kudos to QSS for putting this together.
We met a talented designer, with a great book and equally great outlook named Matt Carleton. We hit it off, and invited him to do a one-month work term with us. He has been working with us for a couple of weeks now, and is a great asset to our team.
Headspace kills two birds with one stone for Lunenburg Region… figuratively of course
Two articles have been written about Headspace and our work for the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg. We’ve been engaged in an ongoing brand strategy, identity re-design and naming project, managing to convince an entire committee to buy into it. We’re very pleased with how it went, and how surprisingly open the committee has been to our work, thanks in part to the diligence of our client lead, Dave Waters.
The following are excerpts from the articles written in the South Shore News:
Municipality of Lunenburg adopts tourism strategy
“The Municipality of Lunenburg has been branded with a birdhouse.
That, along with the moniker Lunenburg Region, will form the logo to pair with future tourism initiatives such as a website and magazine ads.
“The birdhouse says rural and comfortable and over time, will become a recognizable aspect of the region,” said Kyle Racki of Headspace - a company specializing in strategic branding, print and web design - during a recent committee of the whole presentation.
Jennifer Faulkner of Headspace said a common example of branding is why many people choose Coke over Pepsi.
“I’m a Coke drinker and we all swear there is a taste difference, but really, the difference is slight, it’s really about branding … it’s all about the feeling you have when you interact with that brand.”
In terms of tourism, that’s an emotional promise made to visitors.
“It’s about finding a compelling message that you want to communicate to people, then interpreting that in many ways. Your brand is how people should feel about the area with every interaction - whether they’re on the phone, reading brochures, speaking to an operator or looking at signage - everything.”
She said a brand will also help define the municipality from its competition.
Marketing firm recommends municipality alter name
COUNTY - What’s in a name?
For marketing purposes, apparently quite a bit.
“Sometimes you have to say ‘your baby is ugly,’” said Jennifer Faulkner of Headspace - a company specializing in strategic branding, print and web design - during a recent committee presentation to the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg (MODL).
“Your name is lengthy, it’s confusing and it’s really not sexy, to be honest. That’s where ‘your baby is ugly,’” she laughed. “It’s really a political term.”
Therefore, the MODL plans to bill itself as the Lunenburg Region in future tourism initiatives.
“You need something you can market and recognize,” said community economic development officer Dave Waters.
“When I met with tourism agencies and groups in the area, the biggest difficulty I ran into was people don’t recognize that the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg is not part of the Town of Lunenburg.
“One of the things we wanted to do was find a name that was simple, not complex and something that would represent the area as a whole, and not a specific part.”
He said Lunenburg Region does that while differentiating itself from the town, but not too much.
“Although we’re trying to say we’re not the Town of Lunenburg, it would be suicide for us to ignore the town, because they’re the draw. We’re not a tourism destination, we’re a diversion. Having the name Lunenburg in there ties in to what we want to do.”
Councillor Martin Bell said the name also allows a more open invitation for partnerships with other municipal units that want to market the area.
“That was a real selling feature for me. We weren’t just raising our own flag, we were raising a flag for the region and capitalizing on a name that is recognized internationally.”
The Lunenburg Region moniker is expected to be used in context with marketing initiatives such as advertisements and brochures.
“It’s just a vessel to help carry the message,” said Ms Faulkner.
That message is expected to be delivered primarily to people in the Halifax area and beyond.
“This will not replace our municipal name or logo,” said Mr. Waters.
“This is strictly for tourism purposes only.”
“That doesn’t mean you have to compete with other people, it just helps to define you so people actually think about you. We know people are thinking about Lunenburg and Mahone Bay. How do you get them to think about you at the same time?”
Part of that strategy will involve marketing a natural, rural experience.
“That’s what people want,” said Ms Faulkner.
“They’re not looking for the Disney World experience. That has its place, but people want to have a real experience and interact with the community.”
She said among the region’s many selling points are diversity of heritage, unspoiled nature, unique communities with their own identities and local cultures.
“This is a big tourism trend now. People aren’t just going places to see something,” said Ms Faulkner.
“They want to experience local culture, and you certainly have that here - even local language - the terms and phrases you use or the charming accents some people have … it’s something unique and interesting people from away will remember and tell stories about when they go back home.”
Four attributes will be the keys for this marketing initiative - genuine, fresh, charismatic and eclectic.
“What happens with this brand is you take these four attributes and use them as pillars. You use them to communicate your message. As long as you’re true to these four attributes in how you do your logo, your ads and all your other materials, you’ll always be on brand.”
We’re excited to showcase the brand and two websites within the next month or so. Stay tuned.