City council has voted to enter a three-year contract with Red Bicycle Communications to improve the city’s marketing brand. The company is the owner of the Discover Lloydminster brand which features what the Border City has to offer residents and tourists.
Discover Lloydminster originally started as a printed guide but has grown into web presence on social media and its own website. The contract comes at an annual cost of $30,000 plus GST per year. Mayor Aalbers says the company approached the city with the work they’ve already done explaining they would like to expand on it. He believes the brand will prove itself valuable.
“The question that city council asked is, do we reinvent the wheel and go in on it on our own, or a partnership? In this case, a private business that’s already done a lot of legwork and wanted to gain on it,” says Aalbers. He adds that the partnership will save the city $190,000 trying to duplicate the same work.
City council realized it doesn’t have a destination marketing brand of its own, including a specific
tourism website, social media, and a visitor guide. Mayor Aalbers agrees that the city’s current website is not geared for tourism. Ideally, Aalbers would like to see Discover Lloydminster become more conducive to the Lloydminster’s website as most people’s habits are now online.
“This day and age, so many people are using their smartphone or tablet for travelling. Years before everybody used to send out a brochure so you knew what was in the town so you could plan before you get there. Today, it’s done just as you’re driving down the highway.”
Aalbers says that the partnership will help drive more traffic to the website. He recognizes that there are some demographics that still prefer printed material, and would like to see that as well.