Say hello to South Eastern Ontario
South Eastern Ontario is a destination along the 401 corridor spanning SDG Counties and Bay of Quinte. The region is naturally adventurous, culturally immersive, and deliciously homemade.
Alphabet® has helped shape that story for more than a decade. From brand to web, campaigns to award‑winning work. From messaging to segmentation, partnerships to tourism recovery. Together, we’ve shown travellers why it’s extraordinary everywhere you go in South Eastern Ontario
Client
Regional Tourism Organization 9
Sector
Tourism
brand strategy
One region. One story.
South Eastern Ontario is a warm and welcoming place, with friendly people and extraordinary experiences all across the region. This is the foundation we built the brand narrative on, from pillars to positioning, unifying 11 key destinations in the region and giving them one story to tell. The inviting, playful, and exciting nature of the region also influenced the brand’s visual identity—the vibrancy of the colour palette, the typography and photography, the striking yet fun motif.
brand
Where travellers
wander and wonder
We designed, developed, and modernized the South Eastern Ontario website as an immersive, digital representation of the region. Travellers get a taste of what it’s like to visit through content-rich, mobile-first stories, photos, and videos. It connects people to experiences, itineraries, and all the standout destinations within South Eastern Ontario. The website is complemented by email, social media, content, and digital marketing strategies and campaigns.
web
From data to
strategy to story
The South Eastern Ontario brand comes to life through strategic, data-driven campaigns. Like the Hello campaign, which aligned the brand narrative with research showing traveller demand for friendly and welcoming destinations. The award-winning Click to Call to Cruise campaign was based on insights from studying the buyer’s journey. And the Rail + Roam campaign addressed the demand for trip packages and transportation.
hello
Rail + Roam
South Eastern Ontario partnered with Landsby, a Canadian travel agency, and VIA Rail to support tourism recovery following the pandemic. They created a program to connect domestic travellers with trip packages, transportation, and unique experiences across the region. From branding and content to the media plan and a targeted digital marketing campaign, we helped promote the program to increase bookings and overnight stays.
industry advocacy
Sharing South Eastern Ontario with industry
While South Eastern Ontario speaks to travellers, encouraging them to visit the region, Regional Tourism Organization 9 (RTO 9) speaks to the industry. It's the B2B side, working to strengthen tourism operators, develop experiences, and support sustainable destination development. We’ve helped them along the way with websites and landing pages, partnership programs and workforce development campaigns.
unify
Welcome to industry leadership
For industry partners, campaigns focus on support and growth. From the Drive for Excellence program to partnerships and workforce development campaigns. We've helped RTO 9 strengthen operators while benefitting travellers. Each initiative ties back to the core goal of growing sustainable tourism through impactful industry collaboration.
Workforce development
Workforce shortages became a roadblock for many tourism operators after the pandemic. To address the challenge, we created a campaign to tell the stories of some of the most interesting jobs and businesses in South Eastern Ontario. The campaign targeted job seekers across the region, leading them to a landing page with resources and current job postings.
aw
ards
