Gone are the woman’s lips that have symbolized Montreal to tourists for years as Tourisme Montréal unveils a new brand image for the city.
In place of the lips is a logo that rolls out around several themes or “highlight moments” to mark events and attractions offered year-round in the city. For example, in winter it becomes “Montreal Lights Up” (with Igloofest and Nuit Blanche), in spring it’s “Montreal Revs Up” (with the F1 kicking off the festival season) and in summer “Montreal Ignites” (with flagship festivals like the jazz festival and Just for Laughs).
“We’ve been working with our logo ‘à la Montréal’ with the lips for a good 15- 20 years,” says Emmanuelle Legault, vice-president, marketing at Tourisme Montréal.
While the concept of the lips and two cheek kiss is appreciated, the city has become more creative and dynamic and has introduced a number of events since that image was developed, she says.
“We’ve taken a younger approach to our communications strategies in the last few years, so it was time to revamp the logo and reintegrate it better with our overall tone and manner.”
Last year, Tourisme Montréal held focus groups and surveyed visitors, locals, partners, meeting planners and employees to get a grasp of how they viewed the city’s previous brand image. The city was viewed as offering old world charm, French flair and a touch of Europe in North America, but “there was never anything about vibrant city, dynamic city or creative city,” Legault says.
The new Tourisme Montréal logo puts the focus on the French accent in Montréal and aims to show the city is a hotbed of creativity, new happenings and innovative ideas. “What we’re trying to create is as 360 degree experience of Montreal,” with an approach that revolves around seven different themes this year.
The branding was created by LG2, which replaced Sid Lee as Tourisme Montréal’s AOR this year, after winning an RFP.
Tourisme Montréal is also working with partners such as Air Canada and Via Rail to promote the various themes in unison. “Talking with one voice will give us an opportunity to increase our digital imprint,” Legault says.
Last year, 9.2 million people visited Montreal, up 2.2% from 2013, according to Tourisme Montréal. Things should be even better in 2015 because the Canadian dollar is down, meaning Quebecers will stay close to home while the number of American visitors is likely to increase. “The rubber market – people driving to Montreal from the U.S. – is definitely up right now,” Legault says.
Tourisme Montréal’s public, corporate and media relations are done in-house, with the exception of France – one of the top tourism markets – where the agency works with Paris PR firm Article 11.
