McCann West awarded Tourism Vancouver business ahead of global brand launch
McCann’s Vancouver office has been tasked to handle the global launch for Tourism Vancouver.
Travel Vancouver named McCann West agency partner for global brand launch
Following a competitive RFP process that involved top local and international agencies, McCann West in British Columbia was awarded the business in October and will develop a new creative and visual identity, as well as an international launch campaign in target markets around the world.
McCann West enlisted strategic partner and sister agency FutureBrand to collaborate on the destination brand. FutureBrand boasted a robust practice area dedicated to the branding of countries and destinations with a particular focus on tourism.
The city of Vancouver was expected to welcome more than 10.3 million leisure and business visitors in 2017. Tourism contributes approximately $4.8bn to the metro Vancouver economy annually and provides over 70,000 full time jobs.
This will be the second phase for Travel Vancouver’s initiative; the first involved travel marketing firm MMGY Global, which led stakeholder consultation, research and brand architecture development.
“McCann has been in the Vancouver market for more than 40 years, and when the opportunity arose for this project, we just had to have it. We assembled experts from across our network, a best-in-class international team with deep tourism roots that is unmatched anywhere,” said Karen Pearce, president of McCann West. “This is more than just a branding initiative, this is a passion project not only for those in the Vancouver market, but for all of us across the McCann Worldgroup Network. Vancouver is among the best cities in the world, and we are thrilled to be a part of showcasing all the city has to offer to the world.”
Added said Ty Speer, chief executive of Tourism Vancouver: “Tourism Vancouver needed a full-service agency with extensive experience and on-the-ground resources in our seven key global travel markets, specifically the USA and China. The combined expertise of McCann and FutureBrand brought that to the table, along with an intimate understanding of the complexities of the travel industry.”
A new visual identity for the destination of Vancouver will be revealed in 2018 and is designed to capitalize on momentum the city has experienced over the last decade.