Skills Canada Manitoba
Who They Are
Skills Canada Manitoba is a not-for-profit, charitable organization that works with employers, educators, labour groups and governments to reposition skilled trades and technology careers as a first choice option for Manitoba youth.
The Skills program in Manitoba had been using the same message and imagery for their marketing efforts for several years and it was decided that an overhaul would help their efforts in attracting sponsorship within the Manitoba trades businesses and more importantly, boost interest with youth looking for a positive future working in Manitoba.
Our Solution
We have worked with the Skills team for years and have a great working relationship. When we were asked to develop the new marketing materials, for 2019 and beyond, we wanted to ensure they used their budget wisely.
In assessing the overall message from the past few years we realized that moving to something more engaging for the youth audience would help generate the interest required to get them involved with trades in Manitoba.
We proposed using alumni from various programs supported by the Skills Manitoba initiative to tell their stories and talk about their experience with the organization.
We thought that having recent grads talk about their path to employment while giving a description of their present career would really help get other young people more interested and involved.
We started putting together proposals for the general theme that included both the visual and text messages. It was meant to be both personal and informative as well as something that would quickly grab the attention of the Manitoba youth who are trying to make decisions about their careers.
The drafts we sent up to the client were well received so we proceeded to reach out to alumni for permission to use their stories and images in the marketing materials we were planning.
We received a bunch of enthusiastic online submissions so we knew we were headed in the right direction.
With some final editing to keep things consistent we had the stories but we needed to round up the group for photos. We thought that it would be interesting to show people in their typical work attire which ranged from business to office casual, chef outfits to construction to painting!
It was really interesting, and a lot of fun, getting this diverse group in for the photoshoot.
Once we were happy with everything, we sent the final designs to Skills Manitoba. After their approval, we were ready to incorporate our designs into all of the different pieces required for the new campaign.
There was a lot to do. We needed – a new website design that also contained a section for the alumni stories and pictures, re-branded PowerPoint files for use in the school presentations, updated banners and signs for the big competitions, and all the necessary printed materials as well.
The Result
The response has been excellent! The Skills team was really happy with the final result, and so were we. The level of interest generated with the students seemed to have picked up a lot - so much so that we had to do extra print runs because they were running out!
We’re hoping that this campaign will “have legs” and that we’ll be able to continue using the general direction and theme for several years. The nice thing is we can do major updates with new stories and photos while keeping within the structure of the new visual and content direction.
This keeps interest levels high and doesn’t require a complete re-design. A genuine Win-Win.
Client Testimonial
“Skills Manitoba has been working with ViewSource Media since 2004! Jeff and staff have helped us with various projects over the years. They have provided us with an overall branding strategy focusing on our alumni students and their experiences in different trades.
ViewSource Media designed and developed our website and have supported us with our graphic design, logo identity and commercial printing needs. Their marketing experience has helped us shape our programs and competitions. We would definitely recommend ViewSource Media for any of your marketing requirements.”
Lori, Program Director