Brand and marketing guru Roger Brooks will be back in Okotoks next week.

After his visit last year, the Town of Okotoks has hired Brooks to come back for a branding initiative called the Art of Branding Your Community on Sept. 29.

Shane Olson, manager of economic development, says Brooks visit will focus on planning ahead.

"This is really about the future and how we want to set ourselves apart for tourism so we can be different from other communities," he says. "He's going to talk about how branding goes beyond logos and tag lines and the benefits of branding our community in the years ahead. Who do we want to attract, what do we want to be known for, will be the focus of his talk."

Olson says the event will be beneficial for the downtown area as a whole.

"Businesses have the ability to attract people in and improve their bottom line sales and so this brand will be a community collaborative brand that we come up with at the end of the the process to hopefully figure out ways that we can bring visitors to our downtown, have them stay longer and spend money in the downtown core."

The Art of Branding Your Community with Roger Brooks is free for businesses to attend and will take place at the Rotary Performing Arts Centre from 8:15 a.m. - 10 a.m.

Deadline to register is Sept. 25. To sign up click here.

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