Helping the municipality and a team of volunteers co-create regional identity and attention value

Branding the Beemster, a UNESCO World Heritage site and a great place to visit

Food

The Beemster Polder is dominated by the square: the landscape is straightforward, laid out according to what was seen as the ideal grid pattern in the Dutch Golden Age. The area was drained in 1612 and formed into a landscape that combined utility, harmony and beauty. The Beemster was the summer playground of the Koeketers (’the cake eaters’), the wealthy merchants who fled the stinking and sweltering city of Amsterdam. During the Golden Age, the Beemster provided food for the city, now it is a place near Amsterdam where there are fun things to do.

Volunteers and municipality

A group of Beemster residents wanted to draw more tourist attention to the area. They sought – and received – support from the municipality. Together with this team of volunteers and municipal employees, we developed a single recognisable brand for the entire Beemster region.

Understand your target audience

The volunteers were highly motivated, but they were new to the creative process of brand development. In order to encourage cooperation and get non-creatives involved in the design process, the Beautiful Minds design team applied the Design Thinking method. Extremely relevant, because when developing a brand for an area, you must collaborate with the people who live and work there. Working together creates a support base and helps us better understand our target audience. Design Thinking allows us to explore each other’s context and share knowledge. That leads to better design.

Visit Beemster

Visit Beemster is the name of the new brand with which Beemster can present itself. It is a ‘social brand’; a non-trademarked brand that everyone in the Beemster may and can use. People who have something to offer, who are enthusiastic about where they live and work, people who want to let you and me know that they exist. And a charismatic brand generates money for local businesses.

Visit Beemster is characterised by the look of the region, the league of world heritage, the fun, the friendliness and the desire to stand out whilst keeping both feet firmly planted in the clay soil. Visit Beemster gives the Beemster a brand that connects people, to this unique place and to each other. When you see this brand, you think Beemster.