SASKATOON—The City of Saskatoon said the bus rapid system rebranding project is not a simple process, and it is essential to keep in mind that the process involves more than designing a logo or developing a name.
The city has paid $317,757 to a consulting firm to develop the name and brand Link for the planned BRT. The Link brand name was chosen after workshops and discussions with the public, fundamental groups, and other organizations in the city.
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation has criticized the City Council after obtaining documents showing the city paid a consulting firm over $300,000 to develop the brand and name Link for the BRT.
“It’s a ridiculous waste for the City Council to spend this much money on an afternoon brainstorm session about names and colours. The city’s next slogan should be: Saskatoon, where consultants rip off taxpayers,” said Gage Haubrich, CTF Prairie Director, in a media release.
In a statement, the City of Saskatoon justified hiring design firm Entro to develop the brand and name for the BRT system, which involved a comprehensive eight-step process guiding the identification of a brand name and visual identity.
The eight-step process includes the brand and site audit, brand visioning and analysis, naming, brand development, design validation, visual language, brand guidelines, schematic design for wayfinding guidelines and completion of a wayfinding audit.
The other words associated with the brand Link were clear, straightforward, reliable, and welcoming. The workshop and discussion group participants also identified the Link name as timeless and easy to understand. It embodies concepts of connection, speed, and network.
“A portion of the cost is associated with stakeholder and public engagement. The work came in under budget. The approved budget in April 2021 was $500,000. Since September 2021, we spent approximately $317,000 with Entro. As we point out, it’s lower than we anticipated in April 2021. To give some perspective, the investment is about 0.1 per cent of the $250M project funding,” the city said in the statement.
The city said they expected the amount to be higher, as their research showed other towns with BRT projects spent between $300,000 to $500,000 for marketing and branding.
The city of Waterloo in Ontario spent $500,000 or five per cent of their $9.25 million project in 2012, while Brampton coughed up $425,000 for the promotional material of their new campaign. Calgary in Alberta in 2018 spent $366,000 excluding the branding.
Taxpayers’ money
The CTF said the Link name alone cost $25,000 and $40,000 for the “look and feel,” according to the documents. The presentation highlights the name should be “more modern and playful” than the regular Saskatoon Transit brand. There were 27 engagement sessions held to determine the name.
The “look and feel” document had a section on the results of a colour association workshop. It also recommends using bus shelters to advertise the new bus system. The new Link logo uses the same colours as the Saskatoon Transit.
The BRT project is expected to be $250M, with federal and provincial government funds contributing $183M, while Saskatoon’s taxpayers will fund the rest.
“Now, taxpayers will cringe every time they see the name that cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars. Mayor Cynthia Block needs to make sure she won’t be wasting taxpayer dollars on projects like this,” said Haubrich.
