The campaign to promote the brand CBR Canberra shifts up a gear this weekend with Canberrans being urged to saturate social media with the logo and hashtag.
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The Canberra Day long weekend will see the CBR brand, pictured, located everywhere from the Black Opal Stakes to the Diner En Blanc and its proponents say it will be an ideal opportunity to show the depth and breadth of what is on offer in the national capital.
The $2.6 million project, funded by the ACT government, has been created by Canberra advertising agency Coordinate, with its directors Jamie Wilson and Warren Apps saying the next six months will be about ''building an army of supporters'' who will be encouraged to talk, tweet and post positively about the city while using the CBR logo, perhaps as a background to a photo or in a hashtag.
Those supporters will encompass everyone from residents to ''influential and passionate'' Canberrans such as basketballer Lauren Jackson to organisations already engaged to promote the ACT.
The period will also be about educating Canberrans more about the intentions of the campaign.
''We want people to feel part of it. It's a big team of people taking Canberra to the world,'' Mr Wilson said.
CBR had already appeared on everything from coffee cups to a Mardi Gras float to Brumbies jerseys to events such as Floriade and Enlighten - and in the last day been extended to another sporting organisation.
Mr Wilson, with Allinsure director Peter Chamberlain, has stepped in to run the resurrected Canberra Knights ice hockey team, which has been renamed the CBR Brave.
''I just couldn't stand to see another Canberra team go under,'' Mr Wilson said.
When the CBR brand - shorthand for Canberra but also standing for confident, bold and ready - was unveiled late last year it was subject to some fierce criticism about whether it was worth the money and whether it was anything more than another logo.
Coordinate had since conducted three months of consultation with about 140 individuals and groups and maintained the feedback about the brand had been positive.
''We were under no illusions when we released the brand that there were going to be people who didn't like it or understand it or thought it was a waste of money,'' Mr Wilson said.
''Once you get in front of people and you talk to them, they really buy into the story and understand it. And that's why this is such a long process and it's going to take a while.''
Mr Wilson and Mr Apps said the project was always meant to take years to reach fruition so that ultimately when people saw the brand they felt positive emotions and connotations about Canberra.
''You think about the Nike 'tick' - any brand becomes a reinforcer for everything it stands for,'' Mr Apps said. ''So, yes, at the very pointy end, it is about a logo. But that's just the pointy end, all the work is in building the meaning behind it.''
This weekend a short online and print advertising campaign will be launched to celebrate Canberra in March, incorporating CBR.
''Everywhere you look this month, there are great things happening in our city so we want to be talking positively about that,'' Mr Wilson said. The next stage will start in September with campaigns telling positive stories about Canberra for markets outside the ACT.
Mr Wilson said he wanted all Canberrans to own the logo and any group could apply to use it free, although each application would be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
''It's almost like, before, people were apologetic about living here, and now people are proudly embracing Canberra,'' he said. ''So, in that sense, this is about so much more than a logo.''