New Partner Joins Folklorama: It’s Made From What’s Real
Economic Development Winnipeg, which also encompasses Tourism Winnipeg recently joined the Folklorama family, but they also recently had some pretty special news of their own.
Introducing Winnipeg: Made from what’s real
Economic Development Winnipeg works with government, businesses, and tourism partners including Folklorama to promote Winnipeg and attract visitors, companies, and investment from around the world to our city. The new place brand, Winnipeg: Made from what’s real will take its efforts to the next level.
“We wanted a brand that really spoke to the authenticity of Winnipeggers and the experiences visitors could have in our city. We have so much to celebrate—from our rich culinary and arts scene, world-class attractions like the Canadian Museum of Human Rights, the Winnipeg Art Gallery’s Qaumajuq and soon, The Leaf – Canada’s Diversity Gardens at Assiniboine Park to our renowned range of diverse festivals, including Folklorama,” says Dayna Spiring, Economic Development Winnipeg, President & CEO.
“In both economic development and tourism, selling Winnipeg is at the heart of everything we do. Nothing is contrived here. We create authentic experiences and connections that matter. Made from what’s real is the story we’ll tell to inspire more people to visit, build their businesses or bring investment to Winnipeg.”
The primary focus of the new brand is meant to showcase to people living outside the city Winnipeg’s unique offerings, but also instill pride of place in Winnipeggers.
How they developed this new brand
Economic Development Winnipeg and Travel Manitoba worked with McKim.Sherpa to develop an overall creative approach to the new place brand. They collaborated with community partners including the City of Winnipeg and used information from research, surveys, workshops, and focus groups with Winnipeggers to create a brand that would resonate with the community.
In partnership with Travel Manitoba’s Place Branding program, Probe Research Inc. was engaged to speak with Winnipeggers from diverse backgrounds across business, tourism, and community organizations to ask what words came to mind when they think of Winnipeg. This is what they discovered (to no surprise to us):
- Authentic, Real
- Warm
- Strong
- Diverse
- Innovative
- Industrious
- Independent
- Creative
- Connected
- Centred
“We know a place brand can be a symbol of the people and places and it can get to the heart of what truly makes a city great,” adds Natalie Thiesen, Vice President of Tourism, Tourism Winnipeg.
“As we continue to roll out this new brand for Winnipeg, we’re excited to partner with local makers, businesses, events and festivals like Folklorama because they are a perfect reflection of this city’s character.”
“We agree the Winnipeg story continues to change and we’re thrilled to highlight the strong diverse communities that play an important role in that story. We look forward to seeing where this new chapter will take us,” says Kim Morphy, Director, Festival Operations and Partnership. “Congratulations to Economic Winnipeg on this exciting announcement and for helping to promote organizations like Folklorama on the world stage.”
To learn more about what inspired the slogan and logo or to find merchandise by local collaborators, go to realwinnipeg.com.
If your business wants to be a part of the Folklorama story, contract Kim today at [email protected].