In partnership with TWG Communications, the Town of Huntsville is pleased to share that the new Community Brand, soon to be rolled out, received silver in the ‘Complete Branding Campaign category’ at the 2023 Summit International Awards. The new community brand received international recognition from more than 3,900 entries from over 28 countries.
Now in its 29th year, the Summit Creative Award recognizes creative excellence, celebrating innovative approaches and compelling executions of branding work.
“This recognition highlights the power of the new community brand,” said Lisa Spolnik, Huntsville’s Manager of Marketing and Communications. “This is such great news for the community and what a fantastic way to start off the New Year.”
This year’s panel of judges, representing over a dozen countries across five continents, evaluated entries in 16 major categories. Their blind judging process aimed to recognize inventive concepts, impactful user experiences, and effective communication.
Town of Huntsville staff, as well as members from various community groups, including the Downtown Huntsville BIA, Huntsville Municipal Accommodation Tax Association (HMATA), and the Huntsville/Lake of Bays Chamber of Commerce, worked alongside Marketing Agency TWG Communications to develop the new community brand. The look, feel and colour block of the new Huntsville Community brand is the direct result of extensive consultation and will be launched in 2024.
“The new brand was designed with a sense of placemaking in mind, including economic development, resident and investment attraction, tourism and wayfinding”, noted Lauren MacDermid, Huntsville’s Economic Development Officer. “We can’t wait for our community partners to begin using the new branding, it offers a modern, fresh look and feel for Huntsville while still embracing the past.”
With the HMATA group recently selected as the Town’s Destination Management Marketing Organization, the Town looks forward to implementing the new brand for Huntsville in external marketing. The Town will retain its current corporate logo for municipal government communications.
“We’re excited to launch this brand to help position Huntsville as a recognizable destination and inspire year-round sustainable growth of our visitor economy. We are working with our local and regional partners to motivate visitors to enjoy our unique brand of community hospitality and Muskoka experiences,” says Kelly Haywood, HMATA Executive Director. “This is a well-deserved award. The team worked hard on ensuring we’d have something distinctive, authentic, progressive, modern, clean, simple, and vibrant. The colours reflect our seasons, forests, lakes and waterways, it’s simple and well-designed and we’re going to put it to great use ensuring that Huntsville is on the map.”
For more information about the community brand and the Town of Huntsville’s tourism and economic development initiatives, please visit www.huntsville.ca or contact the Town’s Economic Development Officer.
