TBTB and Rhubarb Media  – Season 2023

TBTB and Rhubarb Media – Season 2023

The strategy was to develop a robust marketing plan that features high-visibility and unique approaches targeting and engaging new people while inspiring and making proud the Theatre By the Bay (TBTB) patrons.

We always embrace the TBTB season with an expectancy and creative energy.  The arts have always been what motivates and moves us to make a difference and challenge ourselves to be better.

This was year two of the Simcoe County Theatre Festival, which we branded and marketed in 2022. As we did last year, we branded the 6 local shows accepted into the festival and created all promotional materials including, printed and interactive digital programs, posters, flyers, digital billboards, stickers, etc.  We designed the 20th Anniversary Film promo. We also took on the challenge of directing and producing the photography for the two season shows, Bobbie and Iceman.

Rhubarb conceived the idea of the 2 solo images for the promotion of “Bobbie” and “Iceman.”  We were on set directing the photoshoot,(lighting, fog, positioning, poses, etc.) and spent over 45 hours editing the images. This included sourcing props like the block of ice for IceMan and seeking authentic trophies/medals for Bobbie.

The intended outcome for all work was to grab your attention, create curiosity and make you want to see the shows.  The poses, the props, and the black and white photos with the subtle colour highlights engaged the audience as they saw the full banner posters and then encountered the giant full window posters at 5-Point Theatre. (11 feet tall and 4 feet wide.)  The outcome was the promotion that seemed like it should be part of a professional Toronto or Stratford show!

The OUTCOME

Develop a robust marketing plan that features high-visibility and unique approaches.

Success! Rhubarb created high-visibility art with months of coverage. The images and designs created, drew people in and helped solidify not only each show as a dramatic story you just can’t miss, but also allowed it to express a common theme, of “Breaking Barriers.”

Generate exceptional marketing materials.

Success! Rhubarb Media created high-quality, professional materials that artists and audiences were excited to engage with. Their images and overall creative designs raised the calibre of our marketing to unseen levels in Barrie!

Increase engagement.

Success! 2023 saw the return of audiences to pre-pandemic levels, and they saw sold-out shows, and a 15% increase in newsletter and social media signups due to the engaging materials. For their newsletter, signage and social media, it was using their teams’ efforts plus high-quality images and creative designs by Rhubarb that brought it all together!

Client Statements

Rhubarb Rhebrand

Rhubarb Rhebrand

Rhubarb Rhebrands

 

After 16 years we decided it was time to rebrand our mark.

When I first embarked on this journey in 2006 as an entrepreneur having to provide for my family in a moment of necessity, I launched a design company and our design focus offering was mostly logos.  Branding was where we started.  I eventually picked up some skills, gear and staff and started doing video production, photography, websites, marketing plans, etc.  We did it all. But over the years we’ve slowly re-focused our offerings, letting go of some of the other “media” forms and got back to our roots – naming and branding.  We also seemed to be getting back to our origin story with the birth of the name Rhubarb.

When we were looking for a name for the company that wasn’t “Ballantyne Design”, I had certain criteria in mind.
We wanted it to be one word.

We wanted it to evoke emotion and story, which, at the time I didn’t understand, are the pillars of any great brand.  
(I never went to school for this…Shhh)

We wanted it to be simple and memorable.

We wanted it to be personal, to mean something to me and my family.

I had pages of sample names I tested out but nothing rose to the surface.  One day while browsing in a kitchenware shop downtown Barrie, we came across a plain white set of dishes and we loved them.  We turned over the plate and saw the name of the company… Rhubarb. 🙂

It jumped out at me and Sandra said, “What about calling our company ‘Rhubarb’”.  I agreed.  I tested the name out with my bank teller, random strangers, friends and family.  Since I didn’t want to taint anyone’s response as to what the name was for, I asked a very specific question.

What comes to mind when you hear the word, “rhubarb?”

The response?
Some started to salivate on the spot, eyes went big and they gushed, “I love, love, love rhubarb!” and they rattle off their faves… “Rhubarb pie, strawberry rhubarb jam, rhubarb crisp, cobbler, raw rhubarb with a glass of sugar to dip it in, rhubarb on ice cream, fritters, squares, rhubread, coffee cake, chutney, tea and so on.  My grandma, my mom, my auntie made this and that…I remember the taste just thinking of it… sour, sweet, stringy, smooth, yum!”

Others were very quick and direct.

“Terrible stuff!  Gross. Too sour. Hate it.”

Some referenced golf! “I lost my ball in the rhubarb!”

Others mentioned, baseball. A “rhubarb” is a fight between coaches and umpires.

In theatre, it’s a word actors say when they are pretending to speak in the background of a scene “rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb…”

It’s a verb, a noun an adjective.

It’s a fruit… no a vegetable… a stock? a plant? Bah!

We knew found something special.  One word that evoked so much emotion, story and memory, tied to moments in time with family and friends, celebrations, events, etc.  Even the negative response was emotional and strong.  Memories of torture of having to not upset grandma and eat the entire piece of disgusting rhubarb pie!  Rhubarb seems to have created a soul tattoo on so many!

The rhubarb on top of it all (cherries are over-rated) is that Sandra makes jams and jellies and we thought we could make Strawberry Rhubarb jam and give it to our clients.

We found our word.  We found our name.  And the design followed soon after.

Fast forward: It was on my mind for a few years to consider a re-boot on the logo, but it seems the pandemic and a return to the basics of our work created enough momentum to finally take the leap.  Although we do this with client work, I didn’t do a bunch of research, poll our clients or do any competitive analysis.  As with much of my work and creative expressions, it just felt right.  To be honest, the new brand mark was going to be a one-off logo for a new sports sponsorship; something fun and recognizable from a distance, but as we started working with it, I sort of fell in love with it.

The new mark is a nod to three things we see as classic Rhubarb style:

Simplicity. As Steve Jobs said, “Simple can be harder than complex.” But it’s always the simple marks that last.

Logotypes.  If you look through our archive of brands, you will notice a strong bent on font-based branding.

Space. I love white space.  And the rm displays this in the spacing of the letters and the single space in the corner of the “m” that leaves room for something… it offers a window to new things and is the space for the “r” to snap into…. or did it break free? 🙂 I liked the artistic tension of this simple space element.

I also wanted to enhance a few things we thought the original logo was missing. I wanted something to symbolize our namesake.  So the red “r” is the rhubarb. 🙂

I wanted the RM to be recognizable and for the word Rhubarb to stand out on its own since most people call us “Rhubarb.” We were batting around the idea of losing “media” in the brand name use but decided against it for now.

It does have a slightly retro vibe which adds nostalgic energy I tend to lean towards, as well as a sporty boldness which symbolizes how I feel coming out of these last 16 years and especially these past few years of business and life wonkiness. We’re ready to play! We’re ready to have fun!

With any rebrand, there’ll be lovers and haters.  We get that, but whether you like, love, hate or are ambiguous, what doesn’t change is our overall brand philosophy to tell great stories through creative design, never compromise on quality and care for our clients. We care deeply about our clients because we know that the effects of our work go beyond the project. It impacts your company’s well-being and we want you to be able to live well and be stress-free. That’s why we’re always looking for new and better ways to treat our clients right.

We hope you like the new look, but more so we hope this re-vibe of the logo signifies a new chapter in our own story and we look forward to helping you tell yours.

Rhubarb (Media)
Your story. Well told.

Shopify e-commerce websites under our belt

Shopify e-commerce websites under our belt

In the past few weeks we have launched two new e-commerce websites on the increasingly popular Shopify platform.

Under the Shopify Partners program, our team was able to work with clients to configure, populate, train-on and thoroughly test their new online stores.

Although this is our 4th major update to sweetflour.ca since first launching it in 2009 using Drupal 6, we consider this an official “version 2” after migrating it from Ubercart 2 to Shopify. In 2012 the site underwent a restructuring and simplification of products and categories to improve UX and SEO.Sweet-Flour-Bake-Shop-v2-300x195

Since seeing an increase in online sales conversions, we made it a priority to maintain the site’s SEO equity by migrating the structure, maintaining keywords in content, page titles and meta descriptions, configuring 301 redirects and submitting the updated site map to Google Webmaster Tools. Additionally, we made it a priority to ensure the website content is mobile-first and usable on all size of devices with its responsive design. Helpful features such as a “call now” button that is revealed on the mobile-view of the website have been put in place to increase value to the customer experience.

Our client Kim Gans forwarded a note in a support discussion she had with a Shopify Guru Team member:

…I must say that you probably have one of the best put together bakery sites I have seen. The layout, the rules and feel of the site are extremely well done.
Mark G — A Shopify Guru


 

Parcelled-With-Love-300x195Parcelled With Love was a start-up e-commerce site with the idea of selling toy products to parents and have them delivered as care packages to children while they are away at Summer camp. We worked with Sarah and Josie to give direction on marketing messaging, content development and appropriate photography styles. The logo and brand colours had been kicked-off before we took on the project, but we worked to further refine some of the styles and round out the colour palette to make the site’s presentation fun and kid-friendly without making the site look childish.

We were extremely pleased with the website that the Rhubarb Media team designed using the Shopify platform.  Rhubarb was able to successfully choose a theme in keeping with our products and provide us with design concepts that reflect our brand.  The structure of the site the team built worked well,  incorporating all of our categories and products.  Finally, the Rhubarb team ensured that we were well trained to update and navigate changes to our Parcelled with Love website independently.  We would happily recommend the professionals at Rhubarb Media.
Sarah and Josie – Parcelled With Love


 

Let us know if you have an idea for an online business and need some assistance with your marketing efforts!

Northern Rockies Regional Airport Says Thanks!

Northern Rockies Regional Airport Says Thanks!

The Northern Rockies Regional Airport (NRRA), being one of the fastest growing airports in Canada, was looking to develop a new website that utilizes the most effective technology to enable the airport to provide a dynamic, interactive and user-friendly website for its passengers.

northern-rockies-regional-airport-website-conceptIn early 2013, the NRRA had selected Rhubarb media through a competitive public FRP process due to their great deal of attention put forward into their proposal and their forward thinking in order to achieve the goals of the NRRA.

Rhubarb Media’s objective was to produce a website that would support the airport’s overall strategic vision of attracting additional routes and airline partners to serve domestic regional markets not currently represented at NRRA. Equally important was this project’s ability to attract new business and investment through e-marketing and the publication of pertinent airport economic development information and links on the website. 

Here’s what they had to say:

“Throughout the entire process, Rhubarb Media was thoroughly organized and extremely easy to work with. They were able to compile all of our requests and produce a product that not only functioned extremely well, but went above and beyond to ensure the site not only matched our vision, but exceeded it far beyond our expectations.

Rhubarb was continuously looking out for the NRRA’s interest, and was innovative in finding solutions to our unique operations of a busy northern airport. Their approach to customer service, although very professional, came off as working with a friend than a typical client/business relationship which was easily helpful at putting us at ease during meetings and troubleshooting scenarios.

Rhubarb Media were an absolutely joy to work with, and I highly recommend their services.” (Eric Desnoyers, Business Manager, Northern Rockies Regional Airport)

Rhubarb Wins Arts and Culture Award

Rhubarb Wins Arts and Culture Award

(From the Barrie Examiner, November 27, 2013) “The Barrie Arts Awards celebrated some of the city’s artistic best in front of a standing-room only crowd at the Southshore Centre November, 26, 2013.

Five awards were presented in between performances representing a cross-section of the arts community.”

“Chad Ballantyne picked up the business award for his long time support of the arts, both as a volunteer, a parent of kids who have interest in the arts and as the creative director of Rhubarb Media, which operates out of a unique co-work environment, he started in downtown Barrie called The Creative Space.”

Rhubarb Media has been a strong supporter of arts and culture in Barrie since they launched in 2006. They have sponsored or offered expertise to the MacLaren Art Centre, Kempenfelt Community Players, Moving Art, The Loft Art Space, Talk is Free Theatre, Cingolani Arts, Arts ce Soir, Barrie Arts and Culture Council, The Green Room News and the Barrie Arts Awards.  They believe that “the arts are one of the biggest contributors to positive and cultural transformation”. Rhubarb’s generosity has clearly demonstrated a sustained support and investment in helping to make the Barrie arts community thrive.

Rhubarb Media helps Seniors in Need

Rhubarb Media helps Seniors in Need

We’ve been working over the past four months with entrepreneur and seniors advocate, Peter Cook, along with Kim Mclaughlin from www.lyracommunications.com to design and develop SENIORS IN NEED.  The moment we chatted with Peter, we knew we wanted to help.  Knowing that great ideas deserve great marketing, we contributed the logo and design branding and worked with them to make the site happen within their budget.   They are getting some great media coverage!   This site is a Content Management System (CMS) build on DRUPAL and allows the sponsoring agency  (eg. VON, Red Cross, etc.) to join the site and post the needs of the seniors they support.  They then link a senior in need with a donor via the agency that made the submission.  Please consider contacting your local social agency assisting seniors and tell them to sign up and begin to alleviate the burden of our senior citizens.

“And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God.” Hebrews 13:16

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