Welcome to the Grande Prairie Branding Page

Click here to see a final copy of the Brand Recommendations

For more information email info@greatds.com

The Nature of City Branding

All places have a brand whether they like it or not. Brands are simply what others think of you and what you may think of your own city. Successful community brands begin with the community residents, how they see their own city and their vision of what they want it to be. In some cases, new development may be needed to create the city’s vision, but in all cases future development should support the selected vision. Logos and slogans are not brands, they only represent the brand and what it promises.
 

Why Brand Grande Prairie?

There are several reasons to define a brand for Grande Prairie. 

1. To reflect how the Grande Prairie community identifies itself and its vision for the future.

2. To communicate with outside investors and visitors what you are known for - the lure that will bring them to Grande Prairie.

3. To identify your uniqueness - what differentiates you from other communities.

 

Branding Concepts

1. Branding a community is not a quick fix. Because brands are more about what others think of you than what you say you are, brand building takes time.

2. Brands are a promise, so communities must deliver on that promise, even if it's to its own residents.

3. Brands must deliver something tangible, every time. While brands may incorporate history or legacy, these alone are not a strong brand.

Share Your Thoughts With Us

Great Destination Strategies, LLC (GDS) have been brought in as consultants to help the City and community move through this process.

There are several ways you can participate in the Grande Prairie Branding Process.

1. Attend the Public Workshops

2. Read about the process on this website.

3. Send us your comments via email direct to the GDS consultants at info@greatds.com 

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Elements of the Grande Prairie Branding Project

1.     Education: Prior to soliciting input by the community, GDS will conduct two educational workshops that will orient the city staff and the general public as to the principles and methodologies of community branding in order than they might have a context in which to deliberate and offer their opinions, comments, suggestions and visions.

2.     Field Reconnaissance: GDS will conduct a thorough on-site reconnaissance of Grande Prairie based on years of experience in identifying attributes and limitations relevant to brand considerations. They will also examine the community from “the visitor’s point of view”, to reveal branding opportunities.

3.     Research Review: GDS principals will review existing research regarding the socio- and demographic landscape of Grande Prairie’s geographical sphere of influence for clues as to the impressions, needs and desires of potential markets of the Grande Prairie brand.

4.     Prior Efforts: GDS principals will review existing municipal documents relevant to community visioning and development in order to determine what has been done before, what has worked and what has not.

5.     Community Participation: GDS will provide the community, its stakeholders and residents several ways in which they can provide input into the community branding process. These include both structured and unstructured opportunities, and at all points during the process. These are:

a.     Personal, face-to-face interviews

b.     Informal Q & A discussions at the end of two educational workshops.

c.      Invitations to provide the consultants direct input to th company email address.

d.     A structured online survey available to residents and stakeholders that asks specific questions with a choice of answers AND places for comments by the respondents.

e.     GDS will employ its proprietary “Importance/Performance” Analysis in Grande Prairie to measure how well the community is doing on a variety of services that help constitute a community brand.
 

6.     Recommendations: GDS will present its findings and recommendations to the community.

a.     Findings will include aggregated summaries of research, interviews, comments and survey results.

b.     GDS will present our recommendations for Grande Prairie’s community brand, and a rationale for the recommendations.
 

7.     Feedback: The Grande Prairie community will have an opportunity to provide comments and feedback on our recommendations.
 

8.     Final Presentation: After receiving and considering responses to our recommendations, GDS will prepare and present in slideshow format and printed form, a final document to Grande Prairie.

The Project Schedule