What needed to change about our Logo and tagline? ... Nothing.
What did change? ... Nothing.
So was it successful?
Only if we wanted to burn through tax dollars, which, based on the municipality’s track record with paying out on random dead-end, drawn out projects… might actually have been our end goal.
Unfortunately though, what did need to change is that Squamish needs to stop being known as “the place where good ideas go to die”.
So why am I frustrated at the branding effort?
Although they talked about appealing to the young entrepreneur, there were no youth on the committee. Attending the unveiling of the master brand back in April (which, by the way, was held at 9 a.m. on a weekday) was evidence that the only audience this re-brand was intended for was an older crowd, as most of the median population either didn't know about it or were working (as most do at 9 a.m. on weekdays).
Having a committee that is above the town’s median age means that they just didn't address the issues. Mr. Brooks explained how we need to attract young entrepreneurs to Squamish and bring people here for the Adventure… the “ Squamish Adventure” all this he proposed while perhaps not aware that things were already in motion. The rec-tech industry is already trying to bring their ideas to fruition right here, right now.
We are not having trouble getting entrepreneurs into Squamish, we are having trouble keeping them. Instead of investing money in changing our brand landscape, we should be putting it into start-ups, into entrepreneur programs, into incentivizing those with ideas to explore them.
But alas, we paid 65k to a man whose claim to fame was rebranding Whistler and Barry, Ontario. We opened a thesaurus and used it to "change" our tag line. We made our logo more First Nations savvy although I have not seen any additional efforts outside the all-seeing-eye to actually include the First Nations in council or culture or community in a meaningful way.
All this without mentioning the juxtaposition of having a leadership that is considering certain questionable industrial projects, and a brand that clearly aims to move us towards tourism.
It is not a secret that Squamish has outdoor recreation, but we are not looking to attract the seasonal population of Whistler, and I’ll be fecked if we want to end up like Barry, Ontario.
The future is possibly bright, but it is not going to be because we are “hardwired for adventure”... It is going to be because keep all the young brilliant minds and forward thinking adventurous folks that we attract. That is what we should be focused on; the brand should evolve as a reflection our success.
The only thing that will really change our reputation is the next election. So it is in our hands, Squamish! Let’s choose a council that focuses on creating the town we wish to be.
Lauren Watson
Squamish
