the toronto entertainment district placeprint dna

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The Toronto Entertainment District PlacePrint DNA Advancing the story of the Toronto Entertainment District

November 2011

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Define or Be Defined.

Confusion to Clarity.

A Reputation Can Only Be Earned.

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Contents

Why PlacePrint? 4

Intent 5

Current story that dominates about the TED 6

A quick note on reckoning with perceptions 9

Unique Defining Characteristics 10-‐15

‘Torontoness’ of Toronto 16

Towards a new story 18

Unifying DNA 20

Symbolic Actions 23

Final Words 29

Project Description 31

The short-‐term ‘TED’ for ‘Toronto Entertainment District’ is used throughout this book.

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Why PlacePrint? Standing out from the crowd and standing for something has never been more important for places. Places big or small are fiercely competing for attention, business, visitors, shoppers, talent, resources and the like. Places need to answer these fundamental questions for the world: Who are we? Why choose us?

And why do we matter? Those places that clearly answer these questions and meaningfully differentiate themselves in the crowded marketplace will have much greater opportunities to prosper culturally and economically and live up to their true potential.

Your DNA PlacePrint book is a relevant and purposeful interpretation of your community, captured in a narrative platform. The story of a place can mean different things to different people, but the important aspect is that these interpretations are derived from the same platform. The proposed ‘on brand’ symbolic actions breathe life into your story and make it stronger, truer and easier to spread.

‘A place should reveal its personality, emphasize its sense of purpose and play to its strengths.’-‐ JT Singh

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Intent To align the competitive DNA of the place with the experience that is perceptibly authentic. Also to replace current unhelpful perceptions with more accurate, up-‐to-‐date and compelling ones and to create certain fresh perceptions where there were none before. And most importantly, to answer the questions: Why choose the Toronto Entertainment District? Where is it going? And why does it matter or exist?

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The Current story that

dominates about TED The dominating images of TED in the minds of people are nightclubs and rowdy young people.

The TED is a district, which supports an abundance of culturally intriguing businesses and opportunities and is so much more than clubs that have tarnished its reputation and all in spite of the fact that the number of clubs have actually decreased substantially over the years. Nevertheless, the area continues to be narrowly and firmly associated with clubs that attract aggressive and very intoxicated youths.

• Over the past decade media stories have been ample about ‘clubland’ being out of control and about violent incidents within or around the ‘Entertainment District’.

• The residential community of the area that is growing exponentially has been actively vocal about their intolerance for the performance standards of clubs and uncivil behaviors of club goers.

• Chic pubs and lounges dripping with character have been popping up along Ossington Ave., College St. W. and King St.W. and now these places have become the epicentre of classy nightlife. This has further relegated the entertainment district to being the place for sketchy drink fests.

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“I don’t go clubbing, so I don’t even think about clubs. What comes to my mind when I think of the TED are theatres, TIFF and some good restaurants.”

“The TED only comes alive on Friday and Saturday nights. Any other times its dead.”

“The district would definitely be more attractive if it played up more on Toronto’s cultural diversity.”

“The TED is the perfect example of Toronto’s inferiority complex. Toronto is always trying to ape NYC.”

“The TED is where 19 year olds or 20 something’s go to party.”

“There’s nothing to do south of King St. This is it.”

“Nobody from Toronto goes to the TED. Its only for tourists and 905ers.”

Reputation is what people say about you when you’re not around.

“I don’t feel safe in the TED. It’s full of drunk idiots and douchebags.”

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Where? Given that clubs are the over-‐riding association of the place, many people tend to perceive the location of the district as only the warehouse area (Richmond and Adelaide/Peter and Richmond, etc) But in fact, the Toronto Entertainment District encompasses a significant part of the Downtown area, generally bounded by the Financial District to the east, Queen Street West to the north, Spadina Avenue to the west, and the Gardiner Expressway and Harbourfront to the south.

An article published not too long ago by the Toronto Star in May 2011 shows a

graphic of the ‘Entertainment District’ encompassing only the warehouse area. This again goes to show how firmly ingrained it is in the minds of people and even to the media that TED is singularly all about clubs.

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A Note on Reckoning with Perceptions It is good to realize upfront an essential truth about perceptions, which is that they cannot be erased; they can only be created or replaced. For example, if someone says to you, “Picture a hotdog,” you will picture a hotdog, involuntarily. If the person then says, “Okay, stop picturing that hotdog,” it will not remove the image in your mind. Contrarily, if they were to say, “Picture a white bowl with vanilla ice cream in it and chocolate syrup on top,” You would no longer be thinking of a hotdog. Getting rid of unwanted perceptions, then, should be seen as fostering new

and stronger associations that come to dominate and replace the old ones. When dealing with a weak or negative reputation. the significant factor to bear in mind when attempting to correct it is not whether the story is necessarily truer than what people already believe; all that really matters is whether it is

more interesting and more

relevant than what people already believe. Unless it is, they simply will not transfer their interest and will continue to believe what they have always believed.

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The Toronto Entertainment District = Entertainment +

Culture

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The overwhelming reality of the district is that it is a place where people go

to take in culture and entertainment. The place is a well-‐recognized, compact, mixed-‐use district in which a high concentration of cultural and/or entertainment venues creates multiple attractions within a defined destination. With so many things to do and

see all clustered together and located purely in the downtown

core, it is a natural magnet for people who are seeking great and interesting experiences.

The planned John St Cultural Corridor will further connect and build relationships among the cultural and entertainment assets within the district ecology. This

will create an “experience dialogue” that encourages further exploration and improve the ‘sense of place’ and the quality of the visitor interaction.

All in all, the Toronto Entertainment District is the soul of the city because it is a place where culture/entertainment is king and it is located in the downtown core. Since culture and entertainment are often the key drivers for the image of a city, this makes the district as also the face of Toronto. This is an important point to keep in mind if Toronto wants to raise its international status and become a stronger magnet for investment, tourism and global talent.

Every Successful City Needs an Entertainment District!

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Live with Culture TED is the most exciting place to live in Toronto hands down. Toronto’s Entertainment District is undergoing yet another exciting transformation and is poised to become the city’s premier place to work, play and live.

The Toronto International Film Festival Lightbox ignited a major turning point for the Entertainment District. Today there are a multitude of newly planned luxury condo towers that will breathe even more life into the flourishing district.

Without a doubt, the area will be almost unrecognizable in just a few years’ time.

So with all the restaurants, bars, clubs, theatres, transit and cultural institutions that are already major draws for the district, it is clear that the additional investments to come will only serve to make the Entertainment District an even better place to call “home.” The numbers tell the story: In 2008, 3,500 people lived in the area. Today, there are 10,000. And that will double in the next five years.

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The Toronto Entertainment District

= Knowledge + Creative Businesses

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The Toronto Entertainment District also has a vibrant business community located in elegantly designed office towers as well as transformed and preserved historic manufacturing warehouses, office lofts and artists studios.

It’s awesome to be able to work in the core of the city where culture/ entertainment is king! It’s known to be ‘cool’ to work in the TED even if the line of work isn’t related to the creative/culture industries. Businesses and district employee’s love having their work situated here because they can reasonably work and play at the same time. This is a place where they can take in culture, be entertained and be part of

the creative energy when at work and be able to conveniently participate more so after work. The combination of left-‐brain office tower workers and right-‐brain creative workers of the warehouse lofts, gives off a unique vibe that is sophisticated and hip at the same time.

The TED is going to through massive changes currently as more condos, hotels, the John St transformation and so much more is being built up. In a few years from now, this area will be an even more exciting and vibrant, and as a result the local businesses/employees will love and appreciate working here even more.

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A Note on Reckoning with

the ‘Torontoness’ of Toronto!

Without a doubt, the Toronto Entertainment District is the face and soul for the whole city of Toronto. Hence, it is fundamental that the district strongly ‘lives and breathes’ or reflects the ‘real

genius’ or ‘authentic purpose’ of the city. The Entertainment district of Toronto should be ‘Torontoish’ (opposed to a NYC ‘wanabee’ as its known to be), because Toronto potentially can be most competitive in, where no competition in the world can beat us, is in purely being ‘Torontoish’.

The ‘Torontoness’ of Toronto is its unique talent for ‘Embracing the World’. Embracing means integrating and mixing, so that there is a unique cross-‐pollination of the diversity of: cultures, religions, lifestyles, neighborhoods, business, politics, academia and culture/entertainment that is uniquely clustered right in the core of the city.

The TED already possesses a multitude of proof-‐points that symbolizes Toronto’s unique knack for ‘embracing the world; but nonetheless, this story needs to always be pro-‐actively strengthened and authenticated.

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"Miami has more immigrants than anywhere else in the world, but guess what? They're all Cubans, Birmingham is also very high on the diversity scale, but it's all from two or three parts of the world. London comes close to us, but London's diversity is predicated very much on the foreign expatriate worker who has chosen to relocate in London, whereas we are citizen-‐based." New York is probably somewhere close to us, though it's not really up where we are. In the GTA, we are close to 50 per cent visible minorities. I don't think New York is up there. We are going to be a majority minority city very soon. More than half of this city's residents were born somewhere

else.”-‐Ratna Omidvar, President of the Maytree Foundation “The background buzz of conversations in other languages had become so commonplace to me that it took me a while riding the tube in London before I realized that Toronto was far more diverse. Partly, it was the languages themselves (mostly European languages in London and languages from all over the world in Toronto) but it was more than that. In London, the different languages are always spoken by tourists. In Toronto, it’s almost always residents.”-‐Kevin Stolarick, Martin Prosperity Institute.

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Towards a Unique and Compelling Story…

“Entertaining the World!”

Entertaining: To hold the attention of pleasantly or agreeably; divert; amuse. Consists of any activity, which provides a diversion or permits people to amuse themselves in their leisure time. The World: Everyone. All dynamics. People-‐the public, business, Government, etc. Toronto is the world! Toronto is a city that is uniquely comprised of a globally comprehensive diversity. Over half the population comes from allover the world.

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The Toronto Entertainment District overwhelmingly represents the idea of

‘Entertaining the World.’ In no other neighbourhood in Toronto can you find such a combination of clustered entertainment, knowledge based businesses and a robust residential community. Its DNA is based on providing cultural and entertaining experiences for the ‘world’, which is represented by the diverse residents, workers, and local/international visitors. The TED is a powerful platform or ‘collision zone’ where Toronto makes the very most of its diversity from a creative, cultural and economical standpoint.

“Toronto's unmatched globally comprehensive diversity has unknowingly been cultivating a new global mindset and a unique kind of creativity, which can only exist in this city. It is truly a pioneering culture of its own, and if further accelerated, it has the potential to function as an important

counterpoint to the economic and social image of this city. “-‐JT Singh

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Entertaining the World!

Office Towers Creative Businesses District Employees

Everyone: Residents, Businesses, District Employees, local and international visitors,

etc.

The Toronto Entertainment Districts

Unifying DNA

Message

Message Message

Great Experiences

Live with Culture

Work hard, Play harder

Condos Residents Hotels

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This story or its title (DNA) is not a branding claim, slogan,

tagline or an advertising campaign. This is who you are! And everything you do from now on should be true to who you are. Your PlacePrint book is a purposeful narrative, along with an actionable strategy to meaningfully position the TED in the ‘minds of people’. The three messages are key interpretations of the TED story. What

makes them useful is the fact that they all are reminiscent of “Entertaining the World”. Each of them is a variation of the main story because it is one story interpreted differently. They can be used by the many players and partners of the community to make

the TED story stronger, truer and easier to spread. All efforts (marketing, branding, development, street-‐scaping and etc) should

always be in alignment with your Unifying DNA.

G

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Your PlacePrint DNA is the foundation that can sharpen focus, tighten alignment, hone execution and -‐ in the process – deliver better results. Consistently building a compelling and clear story in the minds of people gives your place a ‘unique place dividend’. This simply means that people and business will be attracted more, stay longer, spend more money, and come back more often. In other words, greater socio-‐economic and cultural prosperity!

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Symbolic ActionsThe following proposed symbolic actions are meant to make the story of the TED stronger, truer, and easier to spread. The portfolio of ideas that follow doesn’t exactly constitute a grand strategy but rather it is an attempt to

spark the imagination and experimentation with multiple creative approaches that can be rapidly prototyped, tested, and communicated as part of a more definitive strategy. Your PlacePrint is meant to be a working

document where ideas can be continually revised or added through co-‐authorship.

Food for Thought and Action…

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Idea 1: Happy Hour

The TED should have a ‘Happy Hour Special’ where many of the businesses have promotions anytime between the hours of 4pm to 7pm when neighbourhood employees get off work. Going through the streets of the Entertainment district can be a vibrant experience, especially after a long day at the office. Offering Happy Hour Specials is a great way to keep the many workers around that usually escapes the district. This will coax them to stick around after work and unwind at the many great places that the TED has to offer.

Idea: Free WiFi

The whole of the Toronto Entertainment District should have free WiFi for the many residents, neighbourhood employees, visitors, and tourists. This is a great way to attract people to the area and keep them around longer. This is also a great way to share information about special events happening in the TED as when people log in, the TED website will be the homepage.

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Idea: David Pecaut Square should symbolize Diversity

The large public space — bounded by Roy Thomson Hall, Metro Hall, King St. W. and Wellington St. W. — was renamed for the late city-‐building guru, David Pecaut in April 2011. David Pecaut played a major role in creating Luminato and appropriately, the Luminato has moved its hub for free concerts and celebrations to this square. This square should ultimately be redesigned and reborn as the perpetually beating heart of Toronto’s diverse entertainment district. David Pecaut was also Toronto’s most influential advocate for diversity and therefore the square should creatively symbolize the diversity of Toronto. For example, why not have an iconic ‘statue of diversity’. This statue should be so iconic and remarkable that it should become internationally known as the symbol for Toronto -‐ similar to as the Statue of Liberty is for NYC.

Idea: Improve Way-‐finding

Firstly there isn’t a single updated or compelling map of the Toronto Entertainment District available on the Internet. This is problematic since the key reputational issue with the district is that people don’t have a collective mental map of the place. A simple and compellingly designed map that is

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easily available online and at various locations within the district would be helpful and is standardly important. In addition to the map, there also needs to be more creative and compelling way-‐finding techniques implemented through out the district. For example, the current banners that are being used are ineffective and not clear. The picture on the right shows one of the banners, and the picture on it looks a starfish if anything. They should be redesigned so that they make it clearer of which part of the TED people are in and what that particular area primarily offers. Overall the ‘brand identity’ should be redesigned so it exemplifies “Entertaining the world” and consistent community markers should be placed through out the district to further define the destination.

Idea: Cultural Food Vendors

The ‘Toronto a La Cart’ street food stands should be most visible in the TED. This is a place where many people flock to for street food, especially during the clubbing hours.

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As of right now, there are only typical hotdog stands. Instead there should be food vendors though out the district that reflects the vibrancy of Toronto's remarkable diversity. These vendors can also help change our food culture by demonstrating that fast food can be healthy, interesting and personal.

Idea: Diverse Street Musicians

The TED is the soul of Toronto and nothing amplifies the soul and life of the streets more than street performers. Diverse musicians should be encouraged and incentivised to perform in key areas of the district on the regular basis. The more diverse the musicians, the more it will symbolize Toronto’s uniqueness and the more attractive the district will become.

Idea: ‘International’ Outdoor Movie Screenings

This year TIFF and the BIA presented free outdoor screenings of classic screen musicals at David Pecaut Square. This is an amazing series of events but these events would be greater if every week a different movie from a different country could be played. This would be more aligned to the DNA of the place.

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Idea: Encourage local restaurants to serve a few dishes of ‘inter-‐cultural’ cuisine.

Victor restaurant at the Le Germain Hotel which is located in the TED perfectly understands Toronto as a city that makes the very most of its diversity. The restaurant serves unique dishes that cross-‐mingle flavours of different cultures. What’s more is that the executive chef David Christian has also created the ‘Toronto Spice’ that contains international spices all integrated within one perfect spice. This is a powerful and compelling symbolic action and it should be spread throughout the district and eventually the whole city, as David Chrystian is more than willing to share it.

Share your ideas!... The ideas must directly or indirectly coincide with the TED’s ‘Unifying DNA’ because the aim is to make the ‘TED’ story stronger, truer, and easier to spread!

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Final words…

The value that visitors logically expect from the Toronto Entertainment District is real entertainment and culture that reflects the global nature of Toronto. “Value” is “the promise and delivery of an experience.” And if your brand promises an experience, your destination better deliver! If an ‘Entertainment District’ is all ‘nicey-‐nicey’, then that means, it is not interesting enough. Remember – ‘a little bad is good’.

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Your PlacePrint DNA is not something that should be allowed to sit on a shelf

to be admired. Rather, it can be a catalyst for stimulating creativity,

synergy, engagement and strategy in ways that drive results. Once you know WHO you are, everything

changes for the best!

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Project Description A great deal of inquiry, considerations, and thought went into formulating this report. The first step consisted of research from publications, white papers, newspapers, books, and statistical sources. While this provided a “black and white” picture, the “color” was filled with insights derived from an outside perspective: • Less formal interviews with ‘man-‐on-‐the-‐street’ and also in-‐depth interviews with local opinion leaders

(politicians, business leaders, BIA members, civic organizations, and etc.) • Street surveys with locals young and old, visitors and people living outside the neighborhood • Deep tissue exploratory research mostly on foot and public transit and sometimes the car. To truly experience a place, I do it the Jane Jacobs way which is to walk, walk and walk. I am rather militant about the importance—the necessities—of exploring like this. Until I learn a place with my feet, I never really feel like I know it. I went everywhere in the area and took a tonne photos, notes and meaningfully mingled with the locals along the way to get a real sense of the place. • Engaged in a workshop. In the workshop we established a baseline view – What’s working and what are the pain points. Also we developed and discussed scenarios of what the overarching ‘DNA’ can be for the area and considered how to build on current strengths and address gaps. Once it was creatively determined on what could and should be the story, then practical symbolic actions were devised that can inspire further discussion and make the story stronger, truer and easier to spread.

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JT Singh is a think and do tank providing innovative and actionable insights. We help places evade sameness by enabling

them to become relevant, unique and productively

creative.

[email protected] WWW.JTSINGH.COM

The Toronto Entertainment District BIA commissioned this project.

the toronto entertainment district placeprint dna

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