Keep it Coastal (KiC) is a place-based brand that was created to celebrate and promote community love on the Sunshine Coast. The Sunshine Coast Regional Economic Development Organization (SCREDO) has used this brand to educate both consumers and business owners on the benefits of choosing local, to amplify community pride, and to support local small businesses through community-driven buy local campaigns.
The focus of the consumer-facing portion of the campaign is to educate on the personal and community benefits of choosing to buy local, to demonstrate the ways in which individuals can shift spending toward local businesses, and to amplify community pride and show that everything you need and more can be sourced at home on the Sunshine Coast. The use of differing calls to action including ‘buy local’, ‘spend local’ and ‘choose local’ ensures the campaign is inclusive of the diversity of businesses on the coast and that online, service and experience sectors are supported as well as brick-and-mortar shops.
The business-facing portion of the campaign focuses on educating business owners on the concept that when they choose to procure supplies and services locally, they are driving enhanced value into the local economy and becoming a critical part of the Sunshine Coast business ecosystem. Additionally, they are demonstrating to their customers – consumers, other local businesses, government, and anchor institutions – that they are committed to creating regenerative value in the local communities on which their business depends. For businesses, building social value and communicating social impact to their customers can have a dramatic effect on customer engagement, satisfaction, loyalty and overall profitability.
The government-focused portion of the campaign aims to 1) reinforce local government initiatives around impact procurement and 2) support local small businesses to leverage their own impact stories in order to be successful when bidding on government procurement opportunities. Local municipal, regional and provincial government departments are all substantial buyers of goods and services, and have long been a primary or secondary target audience for manufacturers and service providers alike. Educating local small businesses on how to use social impact and ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) when selling to the government supports impactful long-term economic opportunities and growth in our region.
Legacy materials created through this project will ensure that residents, businesses and local government will continue to be reminded that buying local, often, is instrumental to the creation of a sustainable and thriving economy on the Sunshine Coast.
Our KiC campaign provides the opportunity to strengthen our longstanding partnership with the three local chambers of commerce: Gibsons, Sechelt and Pender Harbour, as well as the Sechelt Downtown Business Association, Community Futures and Sunshine Coast Tourism. The KiC campaign was a great way to unify these organizations and collectively support small businesses on the Sunshine Coast, and we believe that the longevity of the KiC brand will continue to unify our organizations through collaboration on future KiC campaigns.
Our partnership with local Municipalities and Elected Government Officials - the District of Sechelt, the Town of Gibsons, the Sunshine Coast Regional District, the shishalh Nation, our local MP Patrick Weiler, and our local MLA Nicholas Simons - was strengthened through the development of this unifying KiC campaign, and our campaign materials have been shared across their respective platforms. We foresee opportunities to continue our KiC business workshop series with sessions focusing on ‘social procurement’ and ‘selling to government’. These workshops will not only strengthen our relationship with the local municipalities, but also create opportunities for relationship building between local government and local business owners.
The KiC campaigns have allowed us to build a strong partnership with the Coast Cultural Alliance and the Self Employed Women's Network. This campaign provides the opportunity to support their members (micro-business owners/entrepreneurs) through promotion of markets, fairs, and other local events.
Our participation in LOCOBC’s Buy Local week and working together to host a KiC workshop series helped to realize the great potential of our organizations working together and we plan to continue to collaborate on Buy Local and KiC campaigns.
Below is an outline of the tangible results of our KiC Campaign thus far:
• Number of local partnerships created: 12
• Number of resources/legacy developed: 20
• Number of social media impressions: 300,000+
• Number of participating businesses: 400+
• Markets/Events Advertised on social/website 150+
• Number of businesses promoted in the KiC Video 60+
• Number of local suppliers that received funding/contracts to assist with development and delivery of the campaigns: 25
• Number of people reporting awareness of the campaign (based on reach of ad-buys in legacy media and other promotional activities): 964,700
• Number of people reached through each of the campaign activities 20,000+ – residents and visitors to the coast that saw our print materials: Highway signs and banners, posters, etc.
• Number of sectors promoted through the Keep it Coastal campaign 16
Yes, this project could be easily replicated and adapted for use in another community.
The main lesson learned from this project is that with detailed planning, meticulous organization and a fantastic team of local creators and suppliers, great things can be done in a short time frame.
Recommendations for the creation of Buy Local campaigns in other communities:
Meticulous planning well in advance of your campaign will set you up for success.
• Use visual storytelling! Incorporating strong visuals into your campaign: branding, infographics, photographs or video of local business owners, etc. brings your campaign to life, helps your audience understand and relate to your messaging , which will inevitably make them feel compelled to take part in the movement.
• Use a wide range of paid and organic messaging on a variety of platforms, both digital and analogue, to ensure that all demographics.
• Create partnerships with local government, chambers of commerce and other business organizations. This will enhance capacity to deliver your campaign and increase the overall reach of the campaign.
• Collaborate with other organizations across the province that are running shop local campaigns. Work together to leverage one anothers platforms, research, ideas, etc.
• Connect with, and involve, as many local business owners as possible in the campaign. They are fully invested in the movement, have amazing ideas, and will ultimately expand the reach of your campaign.