Branding Opportunity
February 2013
What is a brand?
A brand is how your customers and others
perceive your business or organization.
Involving:
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Your email signature
Your office/storefront
All marketing material
Every presentation
Every interaction with customers
What a brand is not...
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Your brand is not a logo
Your brand is not how you perceive your business
“It all comes down to customer service and
the quality of your offering.”
The Biosphere Brand
The Biosphere Reserve
designation belongs to all of us.
Our organization is separate
from our designation.
Let’s brand the unique place we
call home!
Why Brand a Region?
• Marketing products using their region of origin is a
viable and valuable strategy.
• Products address consumers’ demand for quality,
distinctiveness and products they can identify with.
• Branding can help producers develop consumer
loyalty, which can lead to long-term and sustainable
competitive advantages.
Georgian Bay Biosphere Reserve
Branding Opportunity
Using the Biosphere brand is simple:
1. Download the logo format online
2. Follow our branding guidelines
3. Contact [email protected] if you have any questions
As a business or organization
that operates in a Biosphere
Reserve consider this an
opportunity.
Benefits
Why use the Biosphere brand?
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Help educate those who visit our area
Show customers your corporate social responsibility
Add to your overall value proposition
Benefits
Specifically, in the tourism
industry…
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Differentiate yourself in
the marketplace
Biosphere Reserves are
well-known and
understood
Viewed as a tourism
destination
Our Captive Audience
Gbbr.ca
In the past 9 months..
733 website visits were directed to our website from destination
marketing organizations including:
-Ontario Travel
-Discover Muskoka
-Explorers’ Edge
145 website visits were directed to our website from tourism
operators including:
-Windermere House
-White Squall
So what does
this mean?
Social Media & Email Marketing
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In one year we have 505 Facebook likes
Weekly we reach 1,200 people & 100 people “talk about us”
Largest Facebook demographic reached: female, 35-44
390 “likes” are not from within the GBBR
What engages people the most?
We have 370 followers on Twitter
High levels of follower interaction
1,000 email subscribers
Open rate that is 20% higher than industry average
Our Facebook “Tactic”
Who is already using the Biosphere Brand?
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Darlington Construction
Moose FM
Elm Cove Cottages
Georgian Bay Country
White Squall
Red Rock ecoAdventures
Mariner’s Rest B&B
GB Coast Trail
& more!
“Being part of a UNESCO
designation means that the
world recognizes that we
live and work in a special
environment. We want to
enhance and not take
away from it.”
-Tina Gatavekas, Elm Cove
Cottages
Mariner’s Rest Bed
and Breakfast has the
Biosphere logo on their
B&B Canada listing.
The Georgian Bay Coast
Trail mentions our
UNESCO designation on
their home page & uses the
Biosphere logo the bottom
of the page.
Other Biosphere Reserves
Niagara Escarpment Biosphere
Fund: Flavours of the Biosphere
Trail maps:
• Scenic Points
• Restaurants & Food
Markets
• Wineries
• Museums
• Art Galleries
• Conservation Areas
Biosphere Reserve in Germany: Rhon
1. Destination Label - Free use.
2. Regional Quality Label - products and
services from the region must meet
criteria for “sustainable development.”
Application & membership fee.
3. Organic products - meet European “Bio”
criteria combined with the destination
label. Strictly controlled.
Rhon’s Branding Examples
Branding Activity
1.
Define which values of the biosphere most appeal
to tourists ?
2.
The biosphere as an experience? Or as a
destination?
3.
How could the biosphere logo be leveraged?
Thank you
If you have any questions please feel free to contact us
705 774 0978 or [email protected]
The GBBR logo is downloadable at:
http://www.gbbr.ca/healthy-economy/biospherebranding/