Client Profile
The Downtown Nanaimo Business Association is a nonprofit steward of the city’s historic waterfront district on Vancouver Island. Representing hundreds of merchants, restaurateurs, and property owners, the association advocates for economic vitality through beautification projects, marketing initiatives, and crowd‑drawing events. From the Commercial Street Night Market to free festivals in Diana Krall Plaza, the DNBA works year‑round to make downtown Nanaimo a welcoming destination for residents and visitors alike.
The Problem
The Downtown Nanaimo Business Association had big plans for revitalizing the harbour city’s core, but its digital tools kept tripping over their own shoelaces. The old website offered only a static list of shops and a news feed that staff had to update by hand, leaving owners with no way to edit hours or promotions themselves. There was no unified calendar, so festivals and street markets got lost in the noise of scattered social posts. Brand visuals changed from poster to poster, diluting recognition. When major disruptions like The Last of Us filming shuttered streets, the team scrambled across emails and PDFs to keep merchants and visitors informed. They needed a platform and brand toolkit that could move as quickly as the downtown energy.
Our Solution
We rebuilt the site from the ground up on a lightweight content system and rolled out a cohesive visual language that ties every poster, social tile, and web banner back to Downtown Nanaimo. Business owners now create accounts, claim their listings, and update photos, hours, and specials in real time through a searchable directory. A community calendar accepts event submissions with one click, eliminating bottlenecks and keeping locals in the loop. Urgent‑notice modules push street‑closure alerts and construction updates to the home page and mailing list, easing communication during productions such as The Last of Us. Beyond the site, we deliver monthly graphics, targeted marketing campaigns, and on‑the‑ground support for signature events like Picnic in the Plaza, turning the downtown brand into a living presence online and off.