City of Edmonton's Meet Me Downtown Campaign

Credits:

• Creative Manager: Ray Au
• Designer & Copywriter: Mark Steiner

Meet Me Downtown is a downtown vibrancy campaign centred around connection and community. Like many major cities around the world, Edmonton’s downtown core languished as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The City of Edmonton saw an opportunity to foster togetherness by encouraging people to return to the heart of the city—as restrictions loosened—with a light-hearted, joyful campaign that focused on connection and shared experiences. The multi-faceted campaign was centred around playful, humorous conversations, shared in a public forum and featured a dedicated hashtag (#MeetMeDowntown). These conversations were punctuated with a bespoke set of emojis used to visually connect messaging across various mediums. Releasing the emoji set as physical and digital sticker packs enabled the community to "brand" their own plans with campaign assets, transforming the public from passive observers into active advocates. Through providing them with tools for engagement, the public’s organic energy and ownership helped to drive the downtown revival.