It’s time to look in the mirror, Brantford.
Look hard, look deeply.
Then, step back and make an honest assessment of what that image really is.
By GREG McMILLAN / TheGreenHub.ca
Is it a small town with a big city vibe? Is it a community with the best downtown in Canada? Is it simply the birthplace of hockey great Wayne Gretzky and the place where Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone?
Or, considering that this is 2012, is that mirrored reflection something quite different altogether?
We say the truth is there for all to see – Brantfordians just have to keep from looking at the image through rose-coloured glasses.
In the initial entry of a two-part Green Matters column about the city’s proposed rebranding, we opined that, to the outside world, the image of Brantford remains clouded. Muddy and disjointed, at best.
But we also said that the city can distance itself from that perception and send a much more focused message out. Then, maybe, one of the slogans from the city’s strategic plan would actually begin to mean something tangible. And we quoted: “Community Vision / Brantford – proud, vibrant, progressive … a “GRAND” community for living, learning, working and playing.”
We said the building blocks to make that happen are in place, that by possibly re-making the city’s bold message using a new green philosophy could be the missing linchpin.
That might seem like a formidable challenge; perhaps even a foolhardy one. But that’s not the case, at all.
The new green, in summary, is about how people and their lifestyle decisions – Is this good for my family, is it good for my budget and is it good for the world we live in. And then tie all that in with sustainability, which really means healthy survival; on a personal basis, on a community basis, on a world-wide basis.
Keeping those factors in mind, and when one does the legwork, a fresh vision about Brantford begins to take shape; a vision that highlights the overall quality of life that should open many eyes.
As we did in Part 1, we’ll now take a look at where outsiders generally get their first impression – the city’s website, of course, at brantford.ca
This has to become the pièce de résistance of any rebranding. Visually, it should provide an immediate slam dunk. Functionally, it should navigate seamlessly and without aggravation.
That’s not the case now.
Visitors are understandably frustrated on a number of levels. The search function, for starters. Incredibly, if you search the word solar, this is what comes up: ‘No results matching your search were found.’ Same for walkability. Same for geothermal. Same for Earth Week.
And what about a big splash on the homepage? Doesn’t exist. In its place are links and references using the following words: Strategy, committees of the whole, agenda & minutes, committee & council meetings calendar, members of council, billing & payment, directories, service & information requests, bids & tenders, council & committees, projects & initiatives, economic impact study, community strategic plan, Mayor’s office, city manager’s office, standing committees, city finances & budget, election information, roads and construction, property tax & assessment.
Asleep yet?
Talk about dry. Talk about a turnoff to visitors.
Then, for the most part, visitors must start a laborious search to find any particular item of real interest. And no one likes laborious when surfing the internet.
They want easy-to-follow entry points, they also want to know, almost instantaneously, if there is any reason to spend more time looking on that particular site. Too many ‘council & committees’ or ‘agenda & minutes’ visuals and it’s ‘We’re out of here.’
Don’t get me wrong, all that information must be on the website, but not in your face on the homepage.
For a green rebranding, find a way to group all the sustainable initiatives. There are many private and public ventures doing green work in Brantford. Identify them, and put them in one spot. This would inarguably be a priority for most people.
From a business standpoint, draw on the fact that the city was included in Ontario’s designation as a green energy hub. (Yes, it actually means something, and should be taken advantage of for promotional purposes.) So point out the clean energy businesses, and their offshoots.
Support the initiative to create an incubation/innovation centre, which would demonstrate that the city has progressive tendancies. Highlight new green lifestyle advantages, such as parks and trails, the waterfront, the Grand River, buying local, water conservation, eco-youth ventures, recreational outlets, rich heritage, community family activities.
Beef up the drive to attract Canadian newcomers to the area.
Package the arts and culture benefits that exist more clearly. Give Brantford tourism efforts more impact, drawing on the growing number of transitory, mass-appeal activities and special events.
And promote the fact that there is an evolving rebirth of the downtown. Let’s be frank – it’s not there yet, but it’s heading quickly in the right direction, drawing on the energy from a revitalizing post-secondary school presence. Let’s just tell the truth. People generally like that.
And produce more testimonials for brantford.ca, using video, images and text. Then find a way to brag a little more by creating an economic highlights page, to include national and international recognition, cost competitive statistics, smart city factoids, and sustainability efforts, as well as examples of the balanced lifestyle available.
It’s time to finally stop hitching the wagon to Wayne Gretzky, Alexander Graham Bell and Joseph Brant. They’re nice to have in our corner, but people don’t move here because of those historical figures … they are part of the past, but do not really represent concrete reasons to live and do business here.
Maybe, when all is said and done, and the data is collected for rebranding, perhaps there won’t be enough new green elements in place to market the city in that lifestyle vein.
From my initial cursory research, however, that seems highly unlikely. And we would be hard-pressed to find a better focal point to stand up and shout about.
(Next, Green Matters will look at another Canadian city about the same size as Brantford. A green rebranding was conducted there, with spectacular results.)
Greg McMillan is a founding partner at TheGreenHub.ca – Canada’s green news and information web portal. Feel free to contact greg@thegreenhub.ca with any comments or suggestions for topics to be covered in the Green Matters column. That could mean green lifestyle, business or human-interest items, including any personal or school-related projects or initiatives. In this column, we’ll write about people who live in the Southern Ontario Green Hub area, which includes Brantford, Six Nations, Brant, Norfolk and Haldimand counties. Also, follow us on Twitter / @the_green_hub and @TheHubMan or Facebook / thegreenhub or Linkedin at gregmcmillan
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