Shire of Ashburton

Following the appointment of a new CEO with a keen focus on tourism and economic development, Market Creations Agency worked with the Shire of Ashburton on developing a marketing and communications strategy.

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Client Name
Shire of Ashburton

Website
www.ashburton.wa.gov.au

Category
Website Design, Marketing, Publications,

About the client

The Shire of Ashburton serves communities across a vast region in the Pilbara, Western Australia. The region is known for mining, agriculture and fishing, and for its rugged, ancient landscape. The main centres of population are the administrative centre of Tom Price and the towns of Onslow, Pannawonica, and Paraburdoo.

Marketing Audit

As a first step in developing the marketing strategy, Market Creations Agency conducted an extensive audit of the Shire’s marketing and public relations activities to better understand the Shire’s business objectives and growth drivers, communication channels currently being used, brand, reputation, and community sentiment. As part of this process, Market Creations Agency travelled to the Shire of Ashburton to gain a greater understanding of the local community.

Strategy

The marketing strategy was received positively by all internal stakeholders, and shortly after the document was finalised, Market Creations Agency was engaged to develop a new website for the Shire of Ashburton. The website development project was the first opportunity to implement some of the recommendations made in the strategy.

The Website

The Shire of Ashburton was new to the CouncilConnect platform, having found their existing website difficult to update in the back end and confusing for users to navigate. The brief for the new website was focused on creating a vibrant design that reinforced the Shire’s corporate brand and their unique ‘reef to range’ locality. Accessibility was a major consideration, with a white and navy blue colour palette being adopted to ensure sufficient contrast as well as large icons and font sizes for improved readability.

The Outcome

By first developing a marketing strategy and then designing a new website platform for the Shire of Ashburton, Market Creations Agency ensured their digital presence aligned with their strategic tourism, community development and economic development goals.