"McGill Buckley brought strategy and creativity to a critically important marketing project for GOHBA members and delivered messaging, positioning, and a visually striking campaign which resonates with our audiences."

- Greater Ottawa Homebuilders' Association

Our marketing strategy for GOHBA had three primary goals:

Marketing Goal #1: 

Promote the many benefits of working in skilled trades and trade career opportunities in residential construction in the Ottawa Region.

Marketing Goal #2: 

Increase inquiries and registration in skilled trades training programs and job openings with GOHBA members.

Marketing Goal #3: 

Facilitate meaningful connections between GOHBA members, partner organizations, and prospective skilled trades candidates.

Collaborating toward meeting our goals.

Working directly with their Trades Development Initiative (TDI) Committee and Executive Director, we laid out a multi-phase process starting with industry research, stakeholder engagement, discovery sessions and interviews with people working in the trades. Over the course of the project, we regularly met with and presented to the committee to update them and receive feedback on campaign messaging, strategies, tactics and key deliverables. 

Understanding our audiences through interviews.

Over the summer, we interviewed GOHBA members and a cross-section of people working in residential construction, ranging from carpenters and electricians to project managers and designers. We included early-career workers as well as mid-career and late-career workers. We also interviewed education and training partners, including Algonquin College. 

Messaging to drive the campaign.

Once we had gotten feedback and presented our recommendations to GOHBA, we rolled out a comprehensive campaign messaging platform that positioned the exciting opportunities in residential construction, as well as the key benefits that we believed would generate interest in a range of audiences from high school students to people looking for a career change. 

Launching the My Future is Building Campaign.

Once the campaign messaging was approved, we developed the look and feel of the campaign and applied it to the foundational elements of the campaign, including a website that would provide information on careers in residential construction, links to training partners and a job board for GOHBA members. We also developed content for social media channels.