TOWNSHIP OF LAKE OF BAYS ISSUES BRANDING & VISUAL IDENTITY RFP

 

Purpose:

The Township of Lake of Bays does not currently have a brand, and is therefore seeking proposals from qualified and experienced firms for the creation of a brand and visual identity for the municipality. The successful proponent must have extensive experience with municipal place branding through a comprehensive community engagement process, and must have the ability to coordinate and facilitate the branding process from planning and communications, to branding development, and creation of an implementation strategy.

Background:

The Township of Lake of Bays is a rural municipality located in the north eastern section of the District of Muskoka in Ontario’s “cottage country”, adjacent to world-renowned Algonquin Park. The Township is home to the four distinct and inviting hamlets of Baysville, Dorset, Dwight, and Hillside. Due to the scenic beauty of the Township’s rugged landscape and extensive waterfront, Lake of Bays is a popular retreat for tourists and seasonal residents. A significant influx of visitors occurs during the months of May to October when the population swells from a permanent population of 3,167 to an estimated seasonal population of over 16,000. The economy of the Township is primarily based on tourism, recreation, and the service sector with a strong construction industry.

The Township of Lake of Bays was established in 1971 through the amalgamation of several smaller Townships. Due to its vast geographical area containing four hamlets separated by water, the Township remains fragmented. Through undertaking a branding process, we will strive to create a unified community identity to help drive investment attraction, tourism attraction, resident attraction, community development and business activity.

The Township’s brand should take into consideration the following strategic priorities from the Township’s Community-Based Strategic Plan (2009):

  • Engage and communicate openly with the community;
  • Develop a sustainable local economy that supports our vision;
  • Ensure sound, innovative, transparent financial planning;
  • Develop long-term land and community plans that are balanced and adaptive;
  • Protect, preserve and promote our healthy natural environment;
  • Work in collaborative partnerships; and
  • Develop our capacity to provide social services.

Branding was identified by the community as a priority action in the Township’s Economic Development Strategy (2017). The branding process should also take into consideration the following strategic objectives from the Economic Development Strategy:

  • Business Support & Development: Provide support to existing businesses and help entrepreneurs to start, expand or grow a business.
  • Communications, Marketing & Branding: Enhance communication and marketing tools to help facilitate community connections and promote economic development assets.
  • Community Infrastructure: Improve community infrastructure that helps drive economic and community development.
  • Tourism: Support growth of the tourism industry through marketing and partnerships to encourage year-round visitation to Lake of Bays.
  • Workforce Development, Retention & Attraction: Encourage the development of a skilled workforce to address labour attraction and retention challenges.

Scope of Work:

The Township of Lake of Bays’ current municipal logo is quite outdated and we do not have a community brand. A clearly defined brand is needed to raise awareness of the Township of Lake of Bays and its assets, opportunities and quality of life benefits. The scope of this project is to create a compelling brand and visual identity for the Township of Lake of Bays. The brand should generate community pride and better position the Township for resident, business, workforce, and tourist attraction. This branding process will seek to unite the Lake of Bays community while celebrating the unique attributes of each hamlet and taking into consideration what Lake of Bays means to both internal and external audiences, including existing and/or potential new residents, businesses, and tourists. Effective communication throughout the branding process via an established communication plan will strive to ensure that the community is engaged and understands/buys into the purpose of this branding process.

Once the brand and visual identity are developed, we will execute a brand launch as guided by a brand implementation plan. This will include phased implementation and production of marketing and promotional materials (e.g. t-shirts, pens, hats, and printed materials such as letterhead and business cards, etc.), vehicle decals, and community signage to establish a sense of connection between each of the Township’s hamlets.

The required components of the project are to include the following:

Deliverables:

  • Communications plan

o The public must be effectively engaged from project onset

o Purpose: To ensure that the public understands what we’re doing, why we’re doing it, and the anticipated outcomes. This aligns with our strategic priority to engage and communicate openly with the community.

  • New municipal logo and tagline

o Three initial logo and tagline concepts to choose from

o Two rounds of revisions on chosen concepts

o Final logo files for both web and print in all applicable colour variations (full colour, grayscale, etc.):

  • Brand identity guidelines book

o This will provide parameters for proper/improper usage of the logo and other brand elements to ensure consistent implementation

o To include: fonts/typeface, pantone colours, graphic elements, tagline, branding standards and usage guide, brand personality and attributes, etc.

  • Design concepts for the following items:

o Municipal community entry signage:

 Township of Lake of Bays

o Community entry signage for each of the following hamlets:

Baysville, Dorset, Dwight, & Hillside

o Other municipal signage, including but not limited to:

 Public docks, municipal facilities

o Decals for municipal vehicles

o Promotional materials, including but not limited to:

 Pens, merchandise (t-shirts, hats, sweatshirts, beach towels), notebooks, letterhead, business cards, etc.

o Digital applications, including but not limited to:

 Rebranded municipal website home page to coincide with launch of new municipal website planned for 2018

 Social media banners (Facebook & Twitter)

 Economic development newsletter header

 Public Notice Board design

  • Brand Implementation Plan
  • Purpose: To ensure an effective brand rollout and strategic phased implementation of branding and visual identity

Due Date: 

February 27th, 2018

Address:

Township of Lake of Bays

Attention: Procurement Bid

1012 Dwight Beach Road

Dwight, Ontario

P0A 1H0

PR firms with government experience include Cohn & Wolfe and Ketchum PR.

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