Economic Development Winnipeg

Winnipeg has seen remarkable momentum over the last decade. When it came time to reintroduce the city to an international audience, we helped lead the way.

Challenge

Economic Development Winnipeg (EDW) is the city’s leading economic development agency, focused on bringing investors, talented workers, visitors and events to Winnipeg to help grow the local economy.

To meet those goals, EDW and Travel Manitoba engaged Show and Tell to define a brand voice for Winnipeg. The voice and accompanying place brand had to tell an evocative story, differentiate Winnipeg from other Canadian capitals and attract people and businesses, all in a way that felt true to locals.

While Winnipeg is rich with diverse cultural experiences, global business opportunities and technological breakthroughs, few Canadians understand what it really has to offer. Outside of Canada, many don’t even know the city exists. Without a strong, positive and authentic story to tell, Winnipeggers often defaulted to self-deprecation, selling themselves and their city short.

To understand what Winnipeg was all about, we conducted formal research, interviews and survey panels with over 700 locals, including EDW stakeholders, community leaders, business owners, artists, influencers and a diverse range of residents.

Responses consistently characterized Winnipeg as authentic, warm, diverse, industrious, determined, resilient, independent, creative, connected and centred. To be fully embraced by Winnipeg residents, the brand voice needed to be true to their attitudes about the city.

Solution

Show and Tell developed several options for this new identity and focused tested them in Winnipeg and other Canadian cities. This feedback helped shape the final brand keystones — a new wordmark and tagline — as well as several foundational print and video assets.

The wordmark and tagline reflect the authentic spirit of Winnipeg and its history of carving a connected, dynamic community in a sometimes-challenging environment. Visual elements reference a snowflake, a rising sun, a gear, a city reflected in the water, and the letters “W” and “M” for Winnipeg, Manitoba.

As part of EDW’s launch campaign, Show and Tell created several print ads, a brand video and a concept for a 30-second video and television spot. EDW leveraged the agency's conceptual samples to introduce the new identity to local and international audiences, helping them understand the origin and beliefs behind the brand’s look, feel and voice. 

Results

From our first concept presentation to the final handoff, stakeholder feedback was overwhelmingly positive.

Thanks to constant collaboration and contact, EDW’s internal team was equipped to confidently launch the identity and roll out new iterations and evolutions of the concept on their own.

The launch itself drew great interest and coverage from the community and local and national media.

Intentionally gritty and down to earth, the brand has been enthusiastically embraced by the tourism and business community. While the economic impact of a new place brand will take years to properly evaluate, it continues to be a framework and wedge for positioning the city as a great place to work, live and grow.