Toronto Pearson Airport is Canada’s biggest and most heavily used airport accounting for 60% of the country’s international arrivals. A pillar of Pearson’s strategy coming out of the pandemic is employee acquisition and retention. “I AM TORONTO PEARSON” (IATP) is a brand developed by Pearson in 2016 to serve the community of over 50,000 employees and required a refresh to facilitate their new plans in growing and celebrating that community.
We took inspiration from athletic brand advertising and promotions in professional sports to evoke a sense of heroism, camaraderie, and energy into the IATP look and feel. Through its photographic style and taglines, IATP celebrates its community and the jobs that they do. We created a custom typeface based on Pearson’s departure gate signage — a subtle reference to the traveler being the end focus of IATP.
Client
Toronto Pearson Airport
Services
Visual Identity
Copywriting
Website
Photography
Awards
Credits
Photography:
Taha Muharuma
Daniel Neuhaus
Video:
Colin Clark
We crafted a new employee community identity for Canada's largest airport to improve workplace pride and to provide a foundation for Pearson's new retention and acquisition efforts.
Toronto Pearson Airport is Canada’s biggest and most heavily used airport accounting for 60% of the country’s international arrivals. In 2016 Pearson developed “I AM TORONTO PEARSON” (IATP) to serve its community of over 50,000 employees. Beginning in 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic took a toll on Pearson's business, reputation, and employee morale.
Upon emerging from this period, Pearson ultimately wanted to revitalize its diminished workforce and reputation among employees by investing in its employee community. Our studio was engaged to help with the first important step of Pearson's 10 year strategy: invigorating the workforce culture by re-crafting the IATP brand.
When it was developed, IATP was much more focused on traveller perception, which limited employee engagement and sentiment toward the brand. In speaking with people who worked at the airport it was evident (surprisingly so) that there was a swelling pride those people shared with each other about their work and workplace.
However, we learned that the community was only interested in IATP as a repository of relevant workplace rules and information, or as a source of free swag. To achieve its new goals, IATP needed to address this disconnect with it's audience and refocus on the people it represents, instead of travellers.
With over 50,000 people, this community was the size of a small city and it needed a "We The North" rallying cry. We believed that by making airport employees the focus of IATP's brand identity, Pearson could tap into the pride already felt among workers. The idea was that IATP could celebrate its employee community by capturing joy in the workplace while elevating jobs through grandiose metaphors. This would demonstrate Pearson's appreciation for their employees and inspire even more pride in the workplace among workers and future applicants.
What we crafted for Pearson was a new community whose identity re-frames and empowers the employee as a “resilient hero”. Taking visual cues from Pearson Airport itself, we built the community a visual system designed to lean more toward Nike athletics than corporate ERG. It’s taglines, written in a custom-made type based on the Pearson’s gate and baggage signs, we developed to galvanize the community’s sense of pride what they do at and for the airport. It was essential that this brand felt sincere and reflective of the community so we took a street photography approach in order to capture authentically candid and joyful moments.
- Brand New
- Greater Toronto Airport Authority
