Branding, Design, Marketing, Social, Web

Creating our common threads

Part apparel, part appreciation, Niagara Rises is more than a symbol of our love for the place we call home. It’s a way to give back to the causes that support our community while wearing our hearts on our sleeves.

Niagara Rises

The Challenge

Practice what we preach

Away from the boardrooms and bureaucracy that so often dictate how Niagara is seen by the world, we set out to design a truly independent brand that reflects a new Niagara - one that has seen its ups and downs and has made mistakes we can learn from. A Niagara that will rise as long as we band together to bear its weight. We developed Niagara Rises to be a profitable independent brand, and to provide a mechanism to give back to the causes that contribute to keeping Niagara afloat.

Our Approach

Designed with kindness in mind

Niagara Rises gave us a way to do what we do best, while giving back to our community. We approached this brand from the ground up, applying the same best practices, principles, and values with which we approach client work.

Brand Identity

Raising a brand from the ground up

We worked through a series of brand development sessions to explore and refine the essence of Niagara Rises, which informed our development of the brand persona, voice, narrative, and visual identity. It was all hands on deck to ensure Niagara Rises is something that we stand behind - a brand that is relatable and attractive to a variety of Niagara residents and supporters.

Product Development

Social goods for all occasions

The inaugural Classic Collection is streetwear-inspired, and can be dressed up or down so you can wear your love for Niagara at the farmer’s market or out on the town. Beginning with the basics, we designed this collection to be versatile and comfortable, featuring semi-fitted, ultra soft tri-blend apparel.

Ecommerce

Balancing sales with stories

We designed and developed a responsive ecommerce website to showcase Niagara Rises collections, announce events and promotions, and tell the brand story. With carefully considered user experience, we balanced the online shopping experience with meaningful copy and relatable and inclusive imagery to guide visitors through their buying journey.

Social Media

Putting people in their (favourite) place

Our social media strategy for Niagara Rises showcases the wide variety of personalities and backgrounds of people who make Niagara rise. From street food vendors to sheep farmers, craft brewers, career volunteers, activists, and entrepreneurs, Niagara Rises captures real-world people sharing their unique perspectives on life in Niagara. Lifestyle imagery and video support shopping opportunities and provide context for featured products, allowing visitors to enjoy the Niagara Rises experience without the hard-sell approach.

Pop-up Shop

Modular merchandising

To celebrate the launch of Niagara Rises, we transformed our agency studio into a pop-up shop, creating a warm and welcoming shopping experience to coincide with a high-traffic neighbourhood event. Modular merchandising, customer flow, signage, and other environmental details were considered when designing the temporary experience so that it can be repurposed in a variety of pop-up settings in the future.

What We've Learned

It takes a village to raise a brand

We’ve taken a grassroots approach to getting the word out about Niagara Rises, reaching out to contacts and personalities we’ve each encountered though our own Niagara experiences to share their stories in a meaningful way. Our hope is to build a community of supporters who are just as proud to wear their love for Niagara and this brand on their sleeves.

With Niagara Rises, we’re doing what we do best - creating a brand from the ground up that has meaning and can make an impact on our community.

Brent Porter Creative Director & Partner, Form & Affect

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