RELATED LINKS:

Objectives

Famed for its natural beauty and the quality of its produce, West Cork boasts a distinctive image and identity. Increasingly it is believed that the qualities that define this identity confer a competitive advantage at home and abroad.

West Cork’s renown reflects a rich and diverse landscape, environmental quality, vitality, innovation, strong traditions and a keen sense of its own heritage.

The West Cork Regional Branding Initiative is the enterprise development strategy of the West Cork LEADER Co-op Society Ltd. Its principal objectives are to:

  • Harness the distinctive image of the region as an aid to competitive advantage.
  • Promote the region with emphasis on the unique environmental, cultural and heritage resources.
  • Develop a branded identity for local goods and services emphasising distinctive regional origins and product quality.
  • Develop high quality goods and services using local natural resources to satisfy specific market needs.
  • Integrate the development and marketing of complementary economic sectors.
  • Achieve greater collective action by public and private sector in local development.
  • Use regional profile imagery and identity to stimulate enterprise development.

Since the commercial launch of the West Cork Regional Branding Initiative in 1998, a strong strategic focus has delivered exceptional benefits to local enterprises within the region. These include enhanced consumer recognition and loyalty, new enterprise development, improved production processes, access to markets, increased output and capacity, new product development, substantial group synergies and networking, increased turnover, profitability and employment and the development of a coherent identity and enhanced regional profile.