Outaouais d’Abord campaign

---Outaouais First campaign promotes Shopping Local to keep local economy rolling

Hoping to shine light on local businesses while spreading holiday cheer, L’Espace-O unveiled a Christmas-themed buy-local campaign on November 25, featuring a virtual Advent Calendar with 24 days dedicated to different enterprises in the region.

As part of the Outaouais First (called Outaouais d’Abord in French) initiative, the campaign launched via its social media platforms on December 1, and will showcase different themed products (like pieces of chocolate) or businesses in various parts of the region until Christmas Eve, according to its coordinator Geneviève Ouimet. “We never know which chocolate is hiding behind the door,” Ouimet said. “When they don’t have what they want at home, we would rather consumers move within our region to invest in the community rather than changing regions, provinces or using multi-national corporations.”

Allowing L’Espace-O to promote businesses in all corners of the Outaouais on the same platform, Ouimet said the campaign should be a very efficient and appropriately festive marketing strategy that will benefit everyone. “Often, people want to buy local but they don’t know where to start,” Ouimet said. “Residents in the region can make a difference with their choices of consumption … and it felt essential for us to accompany them by proposing paths to discover gifts that they’d want to offer to their loved ones.”

While the holidays are typically one of the most profitable times of year for many businesses – 30 to 40 per cent of annual sales – Ouimet noted that the second wave of the pandemic has painted a much bleaker picture this time around, further emphasizing the importance of supporting them. She said the campaign would also serve to shine a light on other buy-local initiatives spearheaded by some of its partners, including the Aylmer Association of Professionals, Industrials, and Merchants (APICA) Thematic boxes campaign. “It’s all about giving everyone regional visibility,” Ouimet said.

More information about the campaign is available via the following link - https://outaouaisdabord.ca/a-propos/campagne-du-temps-des-fetes/.