Problem:
Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC) is a public sector organization that behaves as a private development company created by the City of Calgary. CMLC was tasked with revitalizing a large part of Calgary’s downtown. The company needed to win the support of a vast number of stakeholders and build land value in order to attract national developers and investors.
Solution:
Anstice developed a brand and marketing communications strategy for CMLC that would build buy-in, ignite positive public awareness, garner support, and begin to engage investors around land-sale opportunities. Most notably, this plan focused primarily on the East Village and Riverwalk areas of downtown. These efforts garnered millions worth of land sales in East Village, and positioned the project as an international leader in urban redevelopment. The EVE brand (East Village Experience) was also born into the form of an 84-page city magazine. The publication portrayed the future sense of place in the East Village, and set a precedent for the other communities of downtown Calgary. Anstice planned a major civil event to launch the vision of East Village. ‘The King Eddie Lives’ street party, for the first time in over two decades, brought the Calgary public to the empty streets of East Village to celebrate the revitalization of the historic King Edward Hotel. The event involved projecting graffiti images onto the entire King Edward building, and garnered the excitement and attention of many Calgarian urbanites. This event was successful in igniting awareness of the East Village redevelopment.
Results
The ‘King Eddie Lives’ event resulted in thousands worth of national press coverage, including Marketing Magazine and Cool Hunting, and resulted in major stakeholder buy-in. Many of the CMLC marketing campaigns and messaging can be seen through the streets of East Village today.
