A Tourism Brand That Reflects Culture and History
Big Idea Advertising has launched a comprehensive rebrand for the St. Maarten Tourism Bureau. The first initiative is a new logo for the island, comprehensive branding guidelines, and a playful tagline “Twice The Caribbean,” which references the island’s dual French and Dutch heritage. The logo, tagline, and branding elements can be seen on the streets in front of the St. Maarten Tourism Bureau offices, as well as in print, digital online, social, an array of promotion accessories and marketing collateral.
For Steve Defontes, Founder and President of the agency, whose expertise includes travel and tourism, the new logo is born from facets of St. Maarten culture and history. For example, the green and blue shapes represent the ocean and nature. The unique shape of the brown pelican, their national symbol; and the shape and color of yellow sage, the island’s national flower, are also embedded in the design. Defontes says: “The people of St. Maarten want their logo to feel like a flag representing their entire culture and their entire understanding of what the island experience is. We needed to create a logo that pleases both the people that live in a country and the people that you’re trying to encourage to travel there, it’s two completely different groups. I’m proud that we made something that everyone is happy with and didn’t get watered down creatively.”
Among those responsible at Big Idea Advertising are Creative Director Pablo Pedro; Brand Strategy Grace Capuzzo; Designers Wallace Neves, Javier Guaschetti, Jonatas De Barros, Eduardo Carrasco, Jose Llanos; Digital & Social London Mercer; Social Media Samantha McLaughlin; Copywriting Chris Michael, Nick Shein, Jason Dressel; Animator Bakhtiyar Aghabalaye; Coordination Jena Bitsko; and Photography & Videography Tom Webster and Julia Kursten.
