Violence, poverty and gangs: exasperated by the reputation that Montreal North is dragging around, local elected officials have commissioned a marketing agency to work on improving the borough’s “brand image.”
The firm will notably propose a new slogan for the district.
Montreal North is far from being the first community to hire professionals to improve its image, but the borough poses a challenge of a very particular magnitude.
“The image of Montreal North is harming us and harming the quality of life of our citizens,” said the borough’s mayor, Christine Black, in an interview with The Press. “It’s completely normal that we want to change that, and in fact it’s a very strong desire of the citizens who regularly tell us how much they want the image of Montreal North to be different.”
Mme Black said he found it “dramatic” that some of his fellow citizens were “ashamed to say where they come from” on a resume, for example. “To me, that was very disturbing.”
The borough therefore retained the services of the Featuring agency last May, “specializing in the promotion of territorial brands”, to find possible solutions. A mandate worth $40,000.
“Big gap”
“This is the project where there was perhaps the biggest gap between the image perceived from the outside and the reality on the ground,” explained Véronique Desrosiers, owner of Featuring, in a telephone interview. “Even the residents of the neighbourhood ended up believing the image that was being conveyed.”
After much reading and a citizen meeting, his firm believes it has identified elements that the borough should highlight to improve its image. Featuring will also propose a new visual platform for the borough’s communications, as well as a new slogan. Mme Desrosiers said the final formulation has not yet been determined.
Featuring has worked on the image of Hochelaga-Maisonneuve in the wake of social tensions related to the gentrification of the neighborhood. The firm has also carried out mandates for the City of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, as well as for merchants on Saint-Denis Street and those in Villeray, among others.
“An investment”
Christine Black believes the $40,000 of public money the work will cost is well spent.
“This amount is an investment in our community,” she said. “This is work that is essential to me.”
She said she hopes that Featuring will provide tools and arguments to put forward to ultimately succeed in “highlighting the good sides of our neighborhood.”
“I live in the neighborhood, I’ve been here for over 20 years, and I’m not afraid when I walk the streets,” she said. “There’s a gap between who we really are and the image people have of us. We have our challenges, we recognize that, and we don’t bury our heads in the sand.”