Our Brand: Heart of it All
The City of Humboldt’s brand, “Heart of it All”, identifies our strengths in our core industries, our recreational amenities, our culture, and our community. Humboldt is home to many innovative entrepreneurs, prominent manufacturing and mining companies, not to mention its historical culture and prosperous agricultural background that continues to thrive today.
Why Rebrand?
For decades, the City of Humboldt has been branded as an agriculture center with a strong German culture and background. This “brand” may have overshadowed the other strengths and attributes of the City causing it to perhaps be overlooked. Updating this brand and showcasing what Humboldt is good at and all that we have to offer, from a business perspective and from a community standpoint, was necessary to sustain and strengthen the City of Humboldt.
How did we do it?
In January of 2019, City Council approved the creation of a “Marketing Committee” whose purpose was to provide advice, support and recommendations to City of Humboldt officials on how to proceed with finding the Humboldt “brand” through consulting and public engagement within the community. The committee was comprised of representatives of the community (Hayley Kennedy, Judy Plag, and Carla Vipond), the Humboldt & District Chamber of Commerce (Stefani Block and Olivia Coffyne), the Downtown Business Improvement District (Erin Strueby), and City Council members (Mayor Rob Muench and Councillor Lorne Pratchler) along with a member of the City of Humboldt administration as liaison (Penny Lee, Communications Manager).
The Marketing Committee distributed a public “Brand Survey” from May to September 2019. Participation in the Survey was substantial with a total of 352 respondents, consisting of 65% who were residents of Humboldt and 35% from outside of Humboldt.
After reviewing the results, the committee found that the descriptive word “heart” was most common. The Committee Members explored feedback on using the term “heart” and how it resonated in their day-to-day encounters with family, friends and colleagues.
Their general observations were that there are a number of types of draws to the word “heart” when used with “Humboldt”, some of which being the center of our major industries and amenities: agriculture, arts and culture, mining, manufacturing, and recreation. Some simply associated it with our geographical location (heart of Saskatchewan), while others, naturally, on an emotional level.
The Committee’s approach to this project was not taken lightly and they looked at it from every angle possible. There were so many possibilities when describing Humboldt and the only phrase that captures the real Humboldt is “Heart of it All”. The brand wording is interchangeable to target our specific areas of strengths.
The Brand Imagery
During the design phase, a number of concepts were brought together by Rob Muench, Mayor of Humboldt/graphic artist, and Penny Lee, Communications Manager for the City, and Joe Day, City Manager. They determined that the imagery associated with the brand should complement the existing logo, not replace it. The emotional attachment to the words “Heart of it All” is conveyed with a golden open heart, the atmosphere that is felt when people come to the City of Humboldt. It’s in our nature to receive, give and be grateful for all that we have and what we have to offer.
The brand imagery encompasses both visual elements and brand associations such as geographical location, culture, amenities, and industries.
A modern feel was an important component in conveying our brand as we are a progressive community with innovative missions, accomplishments and visions for the future.
Brand History
The word “heart” has been consistently used over the decades to describe Humboldt. Past phrases, slogans and taglines used have been “Heart of the Sure Crop District” and can be confirmed to being used as early as the 1960’s. Following that, the phrase “A little bit of Germany in the Heart of the Prairies” was used. The word “heart” has been socially accepted by many, and continues to resonate with the public, and for some, on new and different levels.
Thank you!
The City of Humboldt extends is gratitude to the Marketing Committee for their valuable contributions and dedication through this challenging task that is sure to shed new light on our community.