“We don’t want to copy them,” said one committee member, sliding a printed screenshot of the neighboring county’s homepage across the table. “We just like the energy, the structure, the color palette, the video style, the testimonials, the map treatment, and the way they say ‘Where Innovation Meets Opportunity.’ But ours should be completely unique.”
The discussion began with a presentation from the community’s economic development consultant, who recommended the organization “tell its story more clearly,” immediately causing visible discomfort among attendees asked to describe what that story actually was.
“Well, we’re pro-business,” said one board member.
“We’re centrally located,” added another, despite the community being 87 miles from the nearest interstate.
“We have quality of life,” said a third, officially exhausting the community’s current messaging platform.
After several minutes of silence, the committee agreed the campaign should focus on being “open for business,” a phrase members described as “powerful,” “ownable,” and “likely not used by anyone else.”
The consultant then displayed examples of recruitment campaigns from several comparable communities, including one that featured aerial footage of an industrial park, a happy family at a playground, a welder, a ribbon cutting, and a sunrise over a water tower.
“This feels very authentic to us,” said the committee chair. “Can we make it less generic while keeping all of these exact elements?”
The group then spent 38 minutes debating whether the campaign should include drone footage.
“I think drone footage says we’re modern,” said a local official. “Especially if it flies over a retention pond and reveals the roof of a massive spec building.”
Another member agreed, noting the organization’s last recruitment video included four minutes of water tower footage and “tested very well with people who already lived here.”
Committee members also expressed interest in updating the economic development website after analytics revealed the most visited page was the staff directory because no one could find the phone number.
“Our website has served us well,” said the economic development director, referring to a platform internally described as “temporary since 2016.” “But it may be time to move beyond the current homepage photo of a handshake, an empty field, and the phrase ‘Strategically Positioned for Growth.’”
The committee agreed the new site should be “clean,” “dynamic,” “interactive,” and “not too different from what we have now.” Members also requested more marketing metrics, despite having ignored the last four quarterly reports containing marketing metrics.
“We need to know what’s working,” said one board member. “Other than the things we already decided we like.”
The consultant suggested the campaign could focus on specific target industries, including advanced manufacturing, logistics, aerospace, food processing, professional services, technology, clean energy, headquarters, back offices, life sciences, and any company that returns calls.
This recommendation was well received, although one member asked whether the campaign could also appeal to retail developers, site selectors, entrepreneurs, residents, tourists, existing businesses, remote workers, hotel developers, restaurant groups, and people who may someday drive through the community.
By the end of the meeting, the committee agreed to move forward with a “highly original” campaign concept inspired by best practices, peer community benchmarking, stakeholder input, and the neighboring county’s website saved in twelve open browser tabs.
