Media Releases
Tuesday, October 13, 2020
Tourism Whistler launches new brand creative
Click to Tweet: Thrill Runs Deep - Tourism Whistler launches new brand creative heading into the winter season. #OnlyinWhistler
Whistler, B.C. – With the upcoming winter season fast approaching, Tourism Whistler is excited to unveil its new brand creative, featuring elements that showcase Whistler’s unique mountain culture and adventurous spirit. The new creative expresses Whistler’s defining values and characteristics, and is anchored by Whistler’s new brand promise of delivering thrills… straight to the soul.
“Our new brand platform truly celebrates who we are at our core, not only as a destination, but as a community,” says Kirsten Homeniuk, vice president of marketing at Tourism Whistler. “Whistler is the most exhilarating and magnetic mountain destination in the world and we want our brand to reflect that. It is a place where everyone is invited to explore their passions and push their boundaries.”
Tourism Whistler’s updated place brand platform, originally shared with the community in December, was developed utilizing insights gathered during a two-year place branding and tourism visioning exercise. The place branding project involved engaging local residents, businesses, members and guests, to identify what makes Whistler truly special and unique, and to define what Whistler wants to celebrate and preserve for the future. By engaging all stakeholders, Tourism Whistler’s goal was to ensure its new brand platform not only resonated emotionally with guests, but also wholly reflected the sentiments of the local community.
“Through our place branding work we were able to define Whistler’s unique sense of place and personality,” adds Homeniuk. “This has helped us to develop a new brand platform for Whistler that clearly represents who we are and what we stand for, to better position ourselves against our competitors.”
Tourism Whistler’s new brand platform includes several components, namely attributes, characteristics, values and beliefs, as well as Whistler’s brand purpose, promise, positioning, and essence, which has been boiled down to a single word: thrill.
“Our brand essence is the single-most unique and consistent core characteristic that defines the Whistler experience at its heart and soul,” continues Homeniuk. “A thrill is defined as a sudden, magnified feeling of excitement and pleasure. In Whistler, thrill is at the core of our experiences, whether it’s dropping in at the top of a couloir, or sabering a bottle of champagne in a wine cellar. Thrill is reflective of our people, our history, our culture, and our purpose as a brand.”
The creative execution of Tourism Whistler’s new brand platform has been developed with the support of the organization’s long-time creative agency, Origin, and includes new brand colours, typography, photo and video guidelines, a new brand voice, and a refreshed logo.
The first examples of Whistler’s updated brand creative are heading into market this month with the launch of Tourism Whistler’s winter brand campaign, centered around the campaign concept: Thrill Runs Deep.
The concept of Thrill Runs Deep nods to the legacy of a community that since its earliest beginnings, has pushed its boundaries in Whistler’s rugged and beautiful environment. It speaks to a culture that attracts, inspires and celebrates human achievement in the outdoors, and acknowledges Whistler’s comfort in its contradictions, as thrill can be found as much in the intensity of the mountains, as it can in quiet moments of reflection and awe.
“Heading into the winter season ahead, we will have ski and non-ski winter activity-based campaigns leveraging our Thrill Runs Deep creative concept in market to attract domestic leisure travellers to Whistler,” says Homeniuk. “With COVID-19 likely to impact tourism for the foreseeable future, we know the months ahead will be challenging, but we also know there is strong domestic demand. Our hope is this new brand will inspire travellers to come to Whistler and will help us capture as much of that market share as possible.”
Learn more about Tourism Whistler’s winter campaign at whistler.com/winter.
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Whistler is Canada’s premier year-round leisure and meeting destination located in the Coast Mountains 120 kilometres (75 miles) north of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Consistently rated the top ski resort in North America, Whistler was the Host Mountain Resort of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. The resort offers an extensive range of accommodations with more than 10,000 bedrooms among more than 135 hotels, townhomes, condos, B&Bs and chalets. Whistler also boasts more than 200 restaurants and bars, 200 retail shops, spas and countless activity options from world-renowned skiing and snowboarding, mountain biking and golf, to hiking, rock climbing, and watersports. The Resort Municipality of Whistler is home to a diverse community of more than 12,000 permanent residents.
Tourism Whistler is the member-based marketing and sales organization representing Whistler, operating the Whistler Conference Centre, Whistler Golf Club, Whistler Visitor Centre, as well as 1.800.WHISTLER and whistler.com – Whistler’s official source for visitor information and booking. As the convention and visitors bureau for the Resort Municipality of Whistler, Tourism Whistler represents more than 8,000 members who own, manage and operate properties or businesses on Resort Lands including hotels, restaurants, activity operators and retail shops.
Media can visit whistler.com/media for Whistler facts, media releases, story starters, local personality profiles and access to images and B-roll.
Broadcasters: Whistler now has the capability to take you live with our enhanced fibre network. The significantly expanded network of more than 200 kilometres of fibre optic cabling throughout the resort allows instant transmission of HD signals to any location at any time. Details on how to access, and book the fibre are available on our media site.
Media Contacts
Tourism Whistler
Michelle Fernandes
Specialist, Communications
T: 604.938.2726
E: mfernandes@tourismwhistler.com
Travel Media
T: 604.932.3928
E: mediarelations@tourismwhistler.com
W: www.whistler.com/media
T: www.twitter.com/mediaTWhistler
F: www.facebook.com/GoWhistler