The City is announcing a new image and a new message for Regina.
A new branding was launched at the Mayor's "State of the City" address Monday afternoon, featuring the new official slogan, "Infinite Horizons." Larry Hiles of the Regina Regional Opportunities Commission was one of the major players in the 18 month process of creating the new brand.
The slogan is one of the centerpieces of the campaign. Hiles feels it evokes the economic possibilities, lifestyle opportunities, and landscape of the city and the surrounding region. He says in focus group testing in other Candadian cities it was discovered that while people have heard that positive things are happening in Saskatchewan people have no sense of what Regina is like or what it can offer.
Hiles explained to reporters that the firm putting the branding package together presented the committee with a list of 30 cities in Canada that have embarked on similar ventures. He says no one could match up more than a couple of cities with their respective taglines, but he argues that doesn't mean it isn't a worthwhile venture; he feels you get out of it what you put in.
"If you don't do the work before hand, if you don't do the work in the creative process, it's going to be very difficult to get a brand that lasts and sticks. That doesn't mean we shouldn't do this though, it means we should be very proactive in how we approach that and be consistent in our messaging and build that equity going forward. That's what we're confident we're going to be able to do."
The new slogan is accompanied by a colourful design flourish, including a sylized, ribbon-like letter R that will serve as the official logo. You can expect that to be slowly rolled out, starting first with civic websites and the portal site, www.infinitehorizons.ca.
