Brand renewal for Kimberley, B.C.

The evolution of Kimberley continues

1 of 2Kimberley's economic development officer, Kevin Wilson (L), and mayor, Ron McRae (R), pose with a poster that states the community's new slogan: A good place to be. — Marie Milner photo

2 of 2Kimberley, B.C., has refreshed its public presentation with a new slogan: A good place to be. — Marie Milner photo

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In the 1970s, community leaders in Kimberley, B.C., realized that the now-closed Sullivan Mine—which employed about 1,000 people per year and was the economic driver of Kimberley—was going to run out of ore in the near future. They needed to diversify the city’s presentation to the outside world to include tourism, and decided that identifying Kimberley as the Bavarian City of the Rockies would provide the city with some distinction in the market. 

Leading the trend

Kimberley was the first community in the province to take the unique approach of deliberately marketing itself with a theme, and the approach was certainly effective for a few decades.

“That theme is still part of the story, but it is no longer promoted as the entire story,” said Kevin Wilson, economic development officer for the City of Kimberley. “The community has developed more facets and perspectives as time has moved on.”

Updating its identity

Kimberley’s mayor, Ron McRae, said that in addition to new communication tools and processes, a new positioning line, “Kimberley, a good place to be,” was arrived at after a process of intensive community engagement and with the expert help of Story & Co., a Kimberley-based communications firm.

“We undertook a process to engage with the community and businesses and visitors,” McRae said. “Story & Co. was able to create a very flexible and inclusive framework in this good place to be.”

The concept is that Kimberley is a good place to be doing many different things—investing, vacationing, starting a business, engaging actively in life, or simply just "being." The positioning line is the beginning of an open-ended sentence; completing it is open to the individual.

“We’re anticipating that the renewed story will provide something for the community to rally around and something for visitors to remember us by,” said McRae. “The purpose of the project was to improve communication in order to retain the best of what we have and to attract visitors, residents, business and investment.”