At last week's regular monthly meeting of The Parksville and District Chamber of Commerce, members received a presentation from Encore Communications previewing their work on behalf of the Oceanside Initiatives Stakeholder group to build a set of marketing tools.
According to a news release from the chamber, the tools are to be used to attract business to the area through a planned marketing campaign targeted to "Lifestyle Entrepreneurs."
Lifestyle entrepreneurs are flexible about where they work and make location decisions based on factors such as the natural environment, the school system, cost of living and recreation opportunities, according to the release.
The campaign was developed by the Oceanside Initiatives partnership following an economic assessment of the region commissioned by the group that recommended the Oceanside region of B.C. focus on attracting lifestyle entrepreneurs in order to balance an economy that has a high proportion of lower-paying service jobs and a higher residential-to-business tax ratio than most B.C. communities.
The tag line selected for the campaign is: "Parksville-Qualicum Beach. This could work."
The chamber says the phrase is coupled with the Parksville Qualicum Beach word block already used by the Parksville-Qualicum Beach Tourism Association.
The new tag line is presented in a handwritten font that is also used to highlight key attributes of the Oceanside, B.C. region, such as: "A place where technology and nature meet," or "A house for less than half a million dollars" or "A great environment for my kids."
The project was funded by grants from Island Coastal Economic Trust, the Regional District of Nanaimo, the City of Parksville, the Town of Qualicum Beach, the Parksville Qualicum Beach Tourism Association, the Parksville Downtown Business Association, the Qualicum Beach Chamber of Commerce and The Parksville and District Chamber of Commerce.
The Stakeholder group will now focus on an implementation plan and the development of a five year strategic plan for economic development in the region.
— NEWS Staff/Submitted by Parksville and District Chamber of Commerce