At 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, after 10 months and $200,000 in research and development, the Yukon kicked off a new marketing strategy for the territory.

'Larger than Life' is the new buzz phrase accompanying a new logo meant to promote the allure of the territory and capture the hearts and wallets of adventure tourists from around the world.

The extensive effort by the Department of Tourism and Culture and the private sector was driven by a desire to embody what is unique to the territory in a snappy cornerstone for Tourism's new marketing strategy, Pierre Germain, director of tourism explained yesterday.

'Implementation begins immediately, at about 7:30 tonight,' Germain told reporters invited to a briefing Tuesday in advance of last night's official unveiling of the new look by Tourism and Culture Minister Elaine Taylor.

Whitehorse musician Barb Chamberlain was commissioned to write, produce and perform a piece featuring the 'Larger than Life' slogan.

With an audience of some 70 on hand at the Visitor Reception Centre, and with Marc Paradis on percussion, Dave Haddock on base, Bob Hamilton on guitar and Amanda Leslie singing back-up, Chamberlain sang the song publicly for the first time.

Germain said while the new logo and slogan were developed for use by the Department of Tourism, it's hoped other departments will equally embrace the new brand.

The greater the exposure, the greater the returns, Germain explained.

As with the Canada's True North slogan and logo emerged on promotional material six or seven years ago to take over The Magic and the Mystery, the private sector will also have access to the new brand for its own brochures.

Germain said he's already been in touch with the Department of Economic Development and a couple of other government departments to push the Larger than Life line.

As they do now, non-governmental organizations like the Yukon Quest and other groups that host similar events will be encouraged to adopt the new brand, he said.

'We are marketing the Yukon in a firecely competitive world,' neil Harling, Wilderness Tourism Association of the Yukon president, said in a governemnt press release issued today. 'The new brand is strategically important if we are to continue to successfully attract visitors. Extensive research has confirmed that the new logo and tagline will work well with all sectors of Yukon's tourism industry.'

Street banners promoting the new look are expected to be in place across the Yukon by the end of next month, and Canada's True North road signs will be replaced as quickly as possible, working from the border inward.

Germain said the new brand could be used on everything from advertisements to recruit doctors, to straight-out tourism campaigns.

In a sample of the new approach, Germain showed several examples of possibilities for advertisements with catchy intros for a sales pitch of one sort or another, all boasting the new brand.

• 'When you leave your practice for the day, what will you see?' reads one catch phrase on a sample advertisement to recruit doctors.

'As a doctor, the opportunities in the Yukon are as endless as the views. With towering mountains, rivers that run forever and the spellbinding midnight sun, medicine can be your career, adventure can be your life.'

• 'Anthropologists says the woolly mammoth came here in search of food. We say they came for the scenery,' reads another introduction advertising the continuing pristine nature of the territory.

• 'The oxygen may be pure, but it's still easy to lose your breath.'

• 'Prospectors came in search of gold. But fell in love with the greens, blues and reds.'

Germain explained development of the new brand began last summer as an initiative by Tourism and its senior marketing committee comprised of private sector professionals who provide the department with advice on marketing initiatives.

To develop a new brand, they first needed to identify the personality of the Yukon, the foundation for a new strategy, he said.

Germain said scenic beauty, the wide-open spaces and the natural phenomena of the northern lights and the midnight sun were sewed as the common thread attracting visitors to the territory.

From there arose the tag line 'Larger than Life' and a new logo developed by Zero Gravity of Calgary, in conjunction with a number of local companies.

Included in the research of the new brand was a test survey of the new brand sent out to 2,500 travellers outside the Yukon who had either requested information on the territory or fit the profile of a typical tourist who would visit.

Of the 1,713 surveys returned, 84 per cent said the new slogan Larger than Life resonated positively about the Yukon, Germain explained.

He said in the scheme of things, the Yukon competes in a worldwide market for tourism dollars, with other countries that drape themselves in pristine wilderness and unique opportunities.

The Yukon has an annual marketing budget of $8 million, while Alaska spends $10 million, B.C. $50 million and Alberta $48 million, he pointed out.

And Canada in general, he said, has always had to fight the image of inclement weather and cool temperatures.

Germain said not only was it essential to find the right mix for a unique brand, but it remains equally essential that the Department of Tourism and Culture and its partners stay the course with the next product for at least five years to get a true sense of how its received. There is a review scheduled in year-three to measure its success to that point, he said.

'At the end of the day, we are a pretty small fish in a big pond and the more we can make the marketing pieces work together, the more we can compete,' Germain said.

A strong brand, explained the director of tourism, helps to overcome the inequities when wrestling with the larger players for a share of the market.

Germain said he thinks the new brand is a keeper, for the foreseeable future in any case.

British Columbia, he pointed out, has had its brand, with the slogan Supernatural British Columbia, for nearly 20 years now.

'The Yukon is a place that is larger than life,' said Germain, himself a long-time Yukoner.

He said the Department of Tourism and Culture would like to feature six or so photographs of the territory at the heart of the campaign, though they only have a couple right now.

There could be a call for private photographs and professionals commissioned to fill the need, he said.

A photo of a setting sun over the Tombstone Mountain range by Fritz Mueller of Whitehorse was used as the centrepiece for Tuesday's unveiling, and will remain as one of the six.

Another one of the six, said Germain, will likely be the photograph by Whitehorse photographer Richard Hartmier of three Yukoners overlooking a cliff face in the Tombstones.

It's been around for a while, Germain acknowledged, but suggested if it works, it works.

In addition to the $200,000 the department spent to develop the new brand, another $200,000 was provided for implementation, over and above the normal $8-million marketing budget.