Our brand story

Mackenzie's Branding Journey

In the spring of 2016, the District of Mackenzie began the process of branding our community. To learn what branding is and why it's important, view our branding backgrounder (PDF). We broke the branding process into two phases.

Phase One: Defining the brand - Crafting our story

The ultimate goal of the first phase of the branding initiative was to define what makes us great, and to stick and flag in the ground and say, "this is who we are!"

At this stage, we did a lot of digging and a whole lot of research to understand our roots and a history of the area. We also did some focused interviews with community members, and solicited feedback from the community at large to learn how we perceive ourselves, and what we think our best assets are (in comparison to other competing communities).

We reached a milestone in the branding process when Phase One was wrapped up with a community celebration in June of 2017. The outcomes were a Background Discovery document (including research, analysis,  and survey results), a visual identity (including logo), a Brand Book to articulate our story and guidelines for using the visual identity.

View/download the Background Discovery (PDF - 534 KB)

View/download the Brand Overview (PDF - 300 KB)

View/download the full Brand Book (PDF - 1.7 MB)

Phase Two: Bringing the brand to life - Telling our story

Phase Two is complete. This part involved bringing the brand to life (visually speaking), as well as looking at community development.

Specifically, you will have seen the new identity (logo, colours, design elements) infused into District of Mackenzie communications and community touch points, including our beautiful new website - yay!

Phase 3? There is no Phase 3! Branding is an ongoing process that needs to be reviewed, adjusted, and updated as the community evolves. Having said that, our solid branding process resulted in a core brand that is true, distinct, compelling, and timeless. The brand should never have to be "reinvented" from scratch. Rather, the brand should evolve organically over time to keep it relevant.

The process of branding does not happen overnight - it's ongoing. This page will be dedicated to providing updates, links to resources, and general information on the progress of our branding initiative. Check back here to learn more and stay informed as the process progresses.

At any point, if you have any questions, please contact the Economic Development Team at the District of Mackenzie, 250-997-3221.