Experience Waterloo

The Challenge

In 2017, a change of leadership brought a new vision, ideas and life to the Waterloo Convention and Visitors Bureau. The organization was backing away from a more traditional approach to destination marketing centered around promoting events and attractions. Instead, they were moving towards something fresher: destination MAKING. In other words, they wanted to promote the city itself—it’s culture and character—as a way to engage residents and drive tourism.

The Waterloo CVB came to de Novo looking for a brand that would reflect the energy and forward momentum of this new direction. The project involved nearly every member of our team, with our video, account, design, content, digital and web departments all getting in on the action.

Industry

Communities & Economic Development

The Work

Our Approach

The first step was creating a name and visual identity as vibrant and exciting as the city itself. We rebranded the CVB as Experience Waterloo. The logo features bright, engaging colors, reflecting the diversity of their people, businesses and attractions. The shape and elegant curves of the “W” create a subtle nod to the river, a focal point of the community.

Website

The old website limited the CVB’s ability to communicate in the way they wanted. To create a more interactive, visible and user-friendly site, we built on WordPress CMS with third-party integrations to easily incorporate tools like hotel bookers and interactive maps, and pull in user-generated images. We also implemented searchable databases of venues, restaurants and attractions so visitors could customize their trips to Waterloo right on the site.

We Are Waterloo

To keep the excitement going once the new brand was launched, we developed a video campaign to tell the stories of Waterloo. Through a series of intimate video profiles that included in-depth interviews, tours and demonstrations, we highlighted the businesses and individuals that contribute to Waterloo’s unique culture.

True Collaboration

Organizations often talk a big game about partnerships—but Experienced Waterloo truly made collaboration a part of their rebranding process. Working closely alongside their team, we shared a goal and a vision that allowed us to stretch our creative muscles together.