City’s $150K on branding aims to make Vaughan and its downtown stand out more

Plan is to capture audience beyond Vaughan’s border

Yorkregion.com
February 3, 2020
Dina Al-Shibeeb

“Love your story. But seriously Downtown Vaughan? Is there really such a thing. How hysterical,” reads one comment by a reader after the Vaughan Citizen published a story in January on how Walmart is relocating to make room for new condos in what it described as downtown Vaughan.

“Vaughan is nothing but warehouses and box stores,” the comment went on further.

With plazas being a common theme in Vaughan and other suburbs, the city is working to brand its image, especially when it’s bringing to the fore a modern downtown core measuring about 442 acres situated at highways 400 and 407.

While there are some skeptics bothered by the ongoing construction, there are also Vaughan residents like Daniel Shafro, a broker at Sutton Group-Admiral Realty Inc., who sees the booming area as much desirable.

“I have clients who purchased pre-construction units in the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre (VMC) and the market value of some of those properties have increased by as much as $150,000," Shafro said of the high-demand.

Due to this considerable appreciation, “there are people who are selling their purchases to reap profits,” in what’s known as “assignment sale.”

Shafro described the rendering of VMC as “a blossoming area of mixed-use developments, retail and public transportation” and said, “There will always be those who criticize new condominium developments as cookie-cutter but the fact is, people need a place to live.

“Future VMC residents will enjoy transportation at their doorstep, as well as a plethora of amenities,” he added.

York Region’s population is expected to grow to 1.8 million in 2041, representing the highest growth in the GTHA; yet it has one of the “lowest” supplies of rental units in the area.

With its ambitious plan to grow, Vaughan so far has witnessed the highest number of sales for both condominiums and single-family homes in York Region for 2019.

The need for condos or homes has also encouraged the Vaughan-based real estate investment trust SmartCentres, which owns about 100 acres in VMC, to relocate its old Walmart near VMC to make room for more condos and rental towers.

But with construction underway, citizens have indeed complained of noise, traffic jams and at times the looming unwanted high density, as they want to keep their neighbourhoods low-rise.

“I can understand how the ongoing construction along Highway 7 has made commuting more difficult for drivers but it is a sign of Vaughan's growth as a metropolis,” Shafro said.

“It takes time to build that identity. Keep in mind that VMC is a new area in transition.”

HERE COMES BRANDING

To fine-tune the branding of Vaughan and “capture an audience beyond our borders,” the city commissioned the marketing agency Cinnamon Toast New Media last year to deliver its Economic Development and Tourism Brand Strategy. The city said the plan is to align “with best practices for economic development and tourism” in the region, including that of Hamilton, where its tourism department won the national award for its new brand in 2018.

So far, the City of Vaughan has invested $150,000 -- revenue from its new municipal accommodation tax -- toward branding of this strategy, “with which a wide range of development, design and consultation was achieved,” the city noted in a press brief.

The consultation involved a 23-member focus group starting with “council, staff, local business owners, major developers, tourism stakeholders, and other important economic development and tourism partner organizations.”

This has led to the “development of identity marks.” While these “marks” won’t be replacing the city’s corporate brand, the consultation found adjectives like “ambitious,” “evolving,” “calculated,” “safe,” or even “polished” were associated with Vaughan.

When inquiring about VMC’s branding, the city said, “Vaughan residents identify with VMC,” but the “Economic Development and Tourism Brand Strategy allows further identification and expression of its presence as Vaughan’s emerging downtown.”

“The VMC mark is used for place branding to help businesses, residents and visitors understand it is a downtown and a core of the city.”

After Cinnamon Toast’s initial presentation at a Committee of the Whole meeting on Jan. 21, the company was set to “gain approval for the use of the proposed design concepts” on branding Vaughan as a whole to be an attractive business hub or for tourism.

Now after engaging stakeholders and formulating a strategy, it’s the city’s responsibility to “execute” the plan “through a variety of tactics on an ongoing basis.”

“The implementation of the economic development portion of the brand strategy will occur within the first two quarters of 2020, with a formal launch to media and stakeholders in Q2,” the city added.

But the strategy on tourism “is being brought back to the Tourism Vaughan Corporation Board for final approval, and an implementation plan with timelines will be solidified after that.”