REGINA — It looks like the I Love Regina campaign is being revived with some new branded merchandise options.
Two merchandise collections have been launched by Tourism Regina and the City of Regina, and are now available at the Tourism Regina kiosk inside City Hall.
“Our new merchandise is a fresh way to celebrate our civic pride and carry our love for Regina wherever we go,” said Mayor Chad Bachynski. “Whether you're a lifelong resident or a newcomer, this brand connects us all, reminding us why Regina is home. Wear it loud and wear it proud.”
One line of merchandise includes a new signature City Lights candle and oil diffuser, both custom scented and developed in collaboration with local entrepreneur Sara Lindsay of Ruby Reid Fine Fragrance.
"I'm honoured to collaborate with Tourism Regina and grateful for the support as a local small business owner," said Sara Lindsay, founder of Ruby Reid Fine Fragrance, in a news release. "For the City Lights candle and oil diffuser, we blended sage, lavender, cedar, and vanilla to capture the warmth and charm of Regina. I hope both items become a beloved reminder of our city for both residents and visitors."
The other line are items branded with I Love Regina. Those include T-shirts, hats, tote bags, mini hockey sticks, and frisbees with the branding. There is also a Charlie the Chickadee Squishmallow featuring Regina’s official bird, and some custom-branded Tourism Regina socks.
"We've heard repeatedly that people would like to have takeaways or things, memories to take home with them once they visited a city,” said Jennifer Johnson, deputy city manager for Communications, Service Regina and Tourism.
“This is a way for us to promote Regina and to tap into that 'reflect' stage of a visitor journey. When people travel, they have a good time, they go home and if they have something they can look back on and remember their trip, we're hoping it triggers for them a good memory and makes them want them to come back here.”
As for the scents, Johnson said a reason behind that launch is because scents are a "really powerful memory triggers" and they hope people will take that custom scent home and remember their trip, and book another trip back.
This is a revival of the "I Love Regina" branding which had been on the backburner recently, with the "I Love Regina" sign having been removed from the front of City Hall. As for whether that sign will come back in the future, Johnson said there has been no conversation about that but it would need to be refurbished in order to return.
The I Love Regina merchandise can be found at City Hall and online at Regina.ca/Gear, with proceeds from the sales to be reinvested back into marketing the city.
For now, those are the only two locales to find the merchandise. Johnson said they wanted to "start small" and see how this goes, and then perhaps expand in the future to offer the items at various tourist destinations in the city.
