As a way to shine a light on the Outaouais region, a marketing company based in Quebec invited members from the Pontiac to participate in their upcoming podcast project.

Visages régionaux is a marketing company, which focuses on highlighting the beauty in different territories in Quebec. The regions included in the podcast include MRC Pontiac, MRC Antoine-Labelle, MRC Portneuf, MRC Brome-Missisquoi, MRC Avignon, Région du Bas-Saint-Laurent and Iles-de-la-Madeleine.

The podcast will be six episodes, each . . .

exploring different themes such as art, culture and entrepreneurship. It will be launched on OHdio Radio-Canada in September. “I think the subject is endless and this conversation does not exist elsewhere, we don’t hear about a podcast that is only oriented on the region. So it’s a new proposition that we’re putting together,” said Marie‑Eve Arbour, the president of the marketing firm.

Right now the team at Visages régionaux is doing interviews gathering information before going into post-op production where the team will add the storytelling aspect to it explained Arbour. “We’ll be expressing our ideas on how we see the region and how we think it’s beautiful, and that it’s a place for people to grow roots and thrive in,” said Arbour.

The different businesses that listeners can expect from the Pontiac include, Rémi Bertrand of Café Downtown, Andrew Jones of Nichabau Guitard, Marie Chapet of M. par Marie Chapet and Sylvain Drapeau of Escapade Huskimo.

“The fact that we’re getting featured with people from all over is really gonna give people from outside our region a perspective of what it’s like to live here,” said Colleen Jones, MRC Pontiac strategic communications advisor.

She hopes that this podcast will introduce the rest of Quebec to the Pontiac as it has a lot to offer. Jones also pointed out that working with Visages régionaux has been a great experience as they know the region so well, and know how to promote small community living as is has been the focus of the MRC in their territorial brand campaign.

“They really have a finger on the pulse of what is attractive about living in these regions because they’ve worked all over the province and they’ve also worked outside of Quebec as well.

Being from a small city herself, Arbour has always seen how special those communities were, and pointed out that the reason her business model is around putting a spotlight on predominantly small or rural communities because often people do not know about them.

“We need to talk about what’s positive and stop talking about what’s negative,” said Arbour. With that notion she started her business around two models, one is highlighting the beauty of what these regions can offer and the other one is looking at the problems and offering a solution-oriented approach to help solve them.

The podcast, a medium that may not be as popular as the written word or video, but people that tune into podcasts are there to listen and those are the people they are targeting, said Arbour. One of the difficult aspects of doing your own podcast is discoverability, but having the Radio-Canada platform to help push their podcast, is going to increase visibility and reach for them, Arbour highlighted.

After launching the podcast in September, she hopes to start working on a new project and possibly one that highlights one region and one subject because that would be easier, as it’s been “a huge puzzle to put together,” Arbour emphasized.

“I’m eager to see what the response will be, like it’s a huge reach that we’re building and I’m excited to start thinking about the next season,” she said.

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