Wambenger Trails Launched

The Collie Adventure Trails (CAT) brand was launched in Collie on Sunday 13 December with the help of local businesses and the Collie community. 

The CAT project is a $10 million McGowan Government investment to establish Collie as a premier trail adventure town that will attract local, national and international mountain bike and bushwalking tourists to support the local Collie economy.

Developing a brand

Part of the CAT project is to develop a trails brand for Collie that will be used in marketing, promotion and that sets the tone and voice of the brand/trails. A strong brand has been an important component of successful trail destinations elsewhere in Australia and around the world. While Collie Adventure Trails has been the project working title, the brand development process has come up with a new name, logo and brand.

Local design

Parks and Wildlife Service contracted a local Collie design and marketing company to assist in developing the trails brand and through a series of workshops and co-design with the community, the Collie trails brand has emerged. The brand and logo aim to express the unique personality of Collie as an emerging trail town.

Wambenger Trails

The brand name for the Collie trails is Wambenger Trails, Collie Western Australia.

Wambenger, or the brush-tailed phascogale, is a small native marsupial relatively common in the Jarrah forests around Collie and is not well known, but full of energy and spirit – just like the people of Collie. The logo is a stylised Wambenger.

The brand will be used in marketing, promotion and will set the tone and voice of the Collie trails. The brand and logo aim to express the unique personality of Collie and to capture the vision, values and purpose of Collie trails.

Values

The values of Collie that the brand represents are:

• We’re down-to-earth, friendly, fun-loving and helpful.
• We are welcoming and inclusive.
• We value and protect our environment.
• We celebrate our rich cultural roots
• We believe in collaboration for mutual benefit.
• We deal honestly and respectfully with each other, visitors, our community and our neighbours.

Plant and animal logos

In working with other prospective trail towns, Parks and Wildlife Service is strongly advocating that each new trail destination adopts a native plant or animal as part of its logo.

The Dwellingup trail brand features the red-tailed black cockatoo. This will provide a linking theme for all the trail destinations and assist in joint marketing of trail destinations in Western Australia.

A big thank you to everyone who helped to make the Wambenger Trails launch a success:

Parks and Wildlife Service, Western Australia, Shire of Collie, Visit Collie Ben Menaglio, Groove Addiction, WAGON 537, Interstellar Grill & Spit, Bizoo – Balloons, Gifts & Decorations, von Bibra Signs, Harris River Estate Winery Fran Dorozenko Collie & Districts Community Bank Branch, Lawns of Love, TraaVerse, Perth Trail Series, Black Diamond Lodge, Gumfire, Collie River Valley Bulletin, Cheeky Squirrel Forrest French Bakery, Reubens Newsagency, Salute Lingerie Lounge, White Stones Gifts & Homewares, Retro Respection, Crank’n Cycles Collie, Little Blue Door, The Colliefields, Chook Scraps, The VIC, Collie Art Gallery and all of our wonderful helpers. Congratulations to the treasure hunt winners and the winner of the $100 Collie Chamber of Commerce & Industry voucher to be spent in local stores.