Goal
The unique characteristics of tourism in Fort Frances, including significant drive-through traffic to NW Ontario, its remote location vis a vis major urban centres, and its border location drove the need for:
- A new value proposition or “product” option positioned for the future that can attract folks from a distance, given that product uniqueness and greater distance travelled are directly correlated;
- More “scrappy” tourism tactics that take advantage of current tourism patterns; and
- Creation of niche draws that leverage what Fort Frances has and can do.
Situational Analysis
A key challenge for Fort Frances is that it has always been a drive-through community for anglers on the way to somewhere further north. With 500,000 annual crossings at the international border, this is a lot of drive-through traffic.
This work was created under the banner of Twist Marketing.
Unfussy Recommendations
A “Beautiful Fort Frances” placemaking initiative was developed with targeted actions to attract (and for the benefit of) both Fort Frances residents and visitors. An extended economic development strategy was also developed via attraction of creators, entrepreneurs and footloose workforce attracted to a Fort Frances value proposition.
Meanwhile, a newly established Municipal Accommodation Tax was the catalyst for key stakeholder engagement, and asset inventory and independent research that led to the creation of a first-ever, holistic Tourism Development and Marketing Plan. The Plan identified a vision for tourism development, a set of objectives and actions designed to work toward that vision, and a focus for current and future tourism development and marketing activities.
Enhanced Accommodation Experience “Breakthroughs” contained within the plan included:
- A balance between short-term hotel ROI tactics (e.g. yurt experiences, winter angling, shoulder season sports tournaments, and stay and play packaging) and long-term product development pathways.
- Fort Frances has more fully stepped toward greater presence of a primary NW Ontario product – angling – with better leverage of adjacent Rainy Lake vs default to more northerly fishing locations.
- Fort Frances has developed a new and distinctive LEARN TO…fish/hunt/forage/track/cook market targeted at Millennials and next generation Cultural
- Explorers (EQ Profile: 9% of US market, 12% of global market, 12% of Canadian market). While this product exists elsewhere, Fort Frances is the first to put this together in an integrated offering, driven by entrepreneurial guides, and supported by online booking and marketing.
- Pragmatically, simple low-on-the-ladder objectives help capture more tourism dollars from border crossings: The 30 Minute Stop, Shop and Go Market, and The 30 Hrs-3 Days Stay ‘n Play Market.
- Enabling strategy and actions that nurture longer stays via elevation of quality of experience.
Output
- Strategic Community Direction development (with Tourism focus and Economic Development consideration)
- Community / Place Brand development
- Internal and external communications strategies
- Messaging Platform development
- Visual Identity (logo) system creation
- Tourism Development, Marketing, and Communications Plan development
- Targeted traditional and digital advertising and marketing communications campaign conceptual development, design, and production
- Marketing collateral design and development
- Community signage and pageantry design and production
- Brand Standards (Playbook) / visual identity guidelines development
- Website design and development
Designed to enhance community image, pride, and the sense of “salesmanship” needed to better connect with existing residents and potential newcomers and entrepreneurs, visitors, and business and industry investors, the rebrand initiative was fed by extensive internal and external research, including Council, staff, and key stakeholder workshops, and SWOT and discovery sessions.
Outcomes
The Town of Fort Frances has been focused on building community around common purpose and energy, including development of its award-winning brand, brand execution elements (including entrance signage, billboards, and advertising), and economic development framework. This has included the return of Joe Pavelka and Be a Better Guide consultants to Fort Frances to conduct a 3-day Learn-To Product Entrepreneur Training Workshop to nurture entrepreneur capacity and develop guided learn-to product in Fort Frances. This was identified as a priority implementation tactic in the Plan.
