To suggest Wellington North’s economic development officer Linda Reader is pleased with the results of the 2008 Marketing Canada Awards would be an understatement.
In an email recently sent to the Wellington Advertiser office, Reader said “we didn’t win one or two as I dared to imagine — BUT four 2007 Marketing Canada Awards presented by the Economic Developer’s Association of Canada at their annual convention in Fredericton.”
The ad entitled Avoid the Last Minute Rush, right, created to encourage Christmas shopping in Wellington North, won first place in the ‘Single Advertisement’ category.
It then won “Best in Class’ for budgets under $200,000.
She then noted that the ad competed against Prince Edward County in the over $200,000 budget category and Sudbury in the over $600,000 budget category as a finalist for ‘Best of Show’, which was won by Sudbury.
“Not a bad showing for our budget of $25,000,” she said.
The other two awards garnered by Wellington North were for Celebrate the Tart Taste Fest, Best Promotional Event, and for the second year in a row, Best Business Publication – General Purpose, for the Birding in Wellington North Trail, the first municipal birding trail of its kind in Ontario.
Reader added, “A huge amount of credit is due to not only the Tourism Committee who have met monthly for three years assisting with the development of these projects but the exceptional art work of Shirley Al the graphic artist and Lionel Gould the award-winning birding columnist who assisted us with the Birding Map.”
In 2007, the Township placed first in all of Canada for the Township advertising campaign placed monthly in the tourist paper, Curious and first for the Butter Tart Trail tourism brochure.
“To be recognized two years in a row is an incredible achievement for such a small budget,” Reader said. “We compete with communities that have budgets of $200,000 and more.”
The total budget for marketing the township in 2008 is only $25,800 and that includes printing 22,500 brochures plus their distribution across south western Ontario, ads in various publications and the Farm Fresh map, special events like the August Cycling Day and the July 1 Celebrate the Tart Taste Fest, and all the artwork for the ads and brochures.
“We achieve a lot with very little. Our projects attracted visitors from as far away as Pennsylvania and all across southern Ontario and even Manitoba this year,” said Reader.
The Butter Tart Trail is a unique tourism project and like the new birding map is targeted to the emerging day trip market.
“The fact that we continue to win awards is great but the real bonus is the traffic that comes into the township to shop and support local businesses and farm gate sites.”
In total to date, the Tourism Committee has placed first in Canada in three national award categories, first in Ontario in one provincial award category, plus received an Award of Merit that placed the Butter Tart Trail Brochure as a finalist for the 2007 Ontario Lieutenant Governor’s Award of Excellence.
AWARDS:
– EDAC 2007, Marketing Canada Awards for the Butter Tart Trail Tourism Business Development Publication;
– EDAC 2007, Discover the Butter Tart Trail Advertising Campaign;
– EDCO 2008, Tourism Advertising Campaign Award of Excellence;
– EDCO 2008, Award of Merit for the Butter Tart Trail brochure; and
– EDCO 2008, Finalist – the Butter Tart Trail for the 2007 Ontario Lieutenant Governor’s Award of Excellence.
