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Ontario municipality of North Perth rolling out branding to boost workforce attraction

A myriad of various branding materials, dedicated to workforce attraction, will be available to local employers by the end of the month on the municipality’s website.

On March 4, North Perth council got its first look at the summary of the workforce attraction employment branding project, which is partnered with OMAFRA Rural Economic Development funding. The partnership is a 70-30 funding agreement for the project which was previously estimated to cost $106,000.

Stephen Weir, and Jeannette Hanna of Trajectory Brands – the agency selected through an RFP process last June – presented the eight different kinds of materials to be offered through the municipality.

Photography library

An online photo library of over 1,000 images will be available for all North Perth businesses and local organizations for different marketing purposes. Weir explained that the photos aim to highlight the “rich and diverse cross-section of kind of geographies within the area but also different kinds of businesses, organizations, and youth.”

Website introductions

On a dedicated page on the municipality’s website, introductions of community members will be created and shared.

Weir explained that the North Perth project plans to build upon the Proper in Perth initiative while focusing on North Perth specifically. This will include downloadable assets and tools.

Video

Weir said a video showcasing the character and tone of North Perth will be available.

“It’s really fun, it’s upbeat, it leverages all the great photography, and lets people see the area and be like, ‘Oh, I can see myself there,’” he said.

Weir added that there will be different iterations of the video, including longer and shorter versions, as well as videos specific to certain industries.

“We’ve designed the video in a way, that essentially leverages a lot of full-screen photography, such that it will be very easy to update and create additional kinds of segments or specific versions or just update with new photography to keep it fresh,” he said.

Shareable social tools and templates

A set of social media assets and templates for job postings, place-making stories, regional statistics and insights, success stories, and more will be available on the municipality’s website.

Banners to borrow

Six to eight generic and sector-specific banners will be available to be borrowed by businesses for job fairs, trade shows, community events, etc.

“There will be some that are generic and work for everyone, there will be others that lean into specific industries a little bit more and these can be used at job fairs, tradeshows, community events,” Weir explained.

Signature placemaking collateral

Powerful printed piece that tells the story of North Perth visually, with key call-outs, testimonials, facts, and figures will be available for businesses to include as part of their welcome kits, and recruitment packages, or used at recruitment booths on the tables at a job fair or trade show.

“Again, really leaning into the photography and showing off what makes North Perth so great,” Weir said.

Various other marketing support

What Weir called ‘other bits and pieces,’ including welcome kit folders, digital screen animations, as well as long and short ‘cut and paste’ web copy, which can be used on businesses’ websites to help “build out their place story and place proposition as part of their own recruitment efforts.”

Training and coaching

The project will offer three kinds of training: to the broader business community; specialized training to individual businesses, and; to students seeking employment.

A motion to receive the presentation for information was carried unanimously.

Mayor Todd Kasenberg told council how excited he was about this project.

“I think this represents a whole lot of opportunity for the community in a myriad of ways that we’ll really sort of choose how we present ourselves and our reputation and the process which is very exciting,” he said.