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French Toast Fest video garners Amherst national marketing award

A video developed by the Town of Amherst to launch its first ever French Toast Fest has been recognized by the Economic Developers Association of Canada with a Marketing Canada Award for best marketing video in Canada.

The award was accepted on behalf of the town by Amherst Business Development Officer Rebecca Taylor on Sunday, Sept, 22, 2019, during the association’s annual general meeting in Edmonton, Alta.

“I was thrilled to hear that the video was judged best in Canada because it shines a light on Amherst at a national level,” Taylor said. “The whole team did such a great job putting it together, and it’s fantastic to see the results recognized.”

Mayor David Kogon said the award is a welcomed recognition of the town’s ongoing efforts to enhance community well-being and economic development within the community, two of the town’s strategic priorities.

The mayor credited Taylor with being at the centre of those efforts.

“Rebecca is a true go-getter,” Kogon said. “She not only played an integral role in implementing and promoting our first and highly successful French Toast Fest, but has and is playing a major leadership role in marketing our town locally, provincially and nationally through a variety of means.”

The video, titled Better Together, was shot last winter by One Eye Bear Productions of Halifax. It tells the tale of a matchmaker who brings two young neighbours – one works at a local egg production facility, the other works at a local bread plant – together over a meal of french toast, and suggest things are “better together.” It concluded by urging folks to attend French Toast Fest.

“Since we’re home to the largest bread factory (Weston Bakeries Ltd.) and the largest egg factory (Maritime Pride Eggs) in Atlantic Canada, and we’re surrounded by thousands of acres of maple sugar woods, it just made sense to put the them all together,” Taylor said.

The festival was a week-long restaurant event that was held at the end of March. It saw seven local chefs create dozens of sweet and savoury takes on french toast.

“The video, while promoting French Toast Fest, also presents Amherst as a cozy little town and great place for young adults to live and work. This fits into our population attraction and retention strategy,” Taylor said.

The video was viewed 1,000 times in the first 24 hours after it was posted on YouTube and was shared through the Town of Amherst Facebook page. By the end of the campaign, it had been viewed more than 3,000 times.

The video can be seen at: https://youtu.be/eweYQC_RIpQ