By Laurie Burstein
With $18 billion in public/private investments over the past five years, including $3 billion towards downtown revitalization, along with steady job growth and a wealth of lifestyle amenities, the St. Louis region is experiencing one of the biggest turnarounds of any
region according to nationally syndicated Washington Post columnist Neal Peirce. Now, a new economic development campaign is underway and business leaders say the timing couldn’t be better to tout the positive trends taking place across the region.
Under the auspices of the RCGA, the new campaign, called Greater St. Louis Inc., was introduced in October. With a renewed emphasis on deal making and job creation, this campaign is due to the unprecedented funding from 150 corporate and civic investors, as well as the rigorous research that went into creating the new brand platform.
 Rich McClure, president of unigroup and the chair of the board of trustees for
greater st. louis inc., helps introduce the new branding and marketing campaign. |
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Rich McClure, president of UniGroup and the chair of the Board of Trustees for the campaign says, “This campaign is about generating prospects and creating jobs for the region. To accomplish this, we introduced a branding and marketing campaign to reach decision makers throughout the region and on a national scale.”
“There are many compelling factors that set this new effort apart,” says Dick Fleming, president and CEO of the St. Louis RCGA.
“The depth of our research took this campaign to a new level as did the magnitude of the funding. We raised $4.2 million for each year in the five-year campaign and we still have more contributions coming in,” he adds.
But what really makes this campaign
different is how the research and funding will be put to use. The campaign has many outstanding components including:
1 Enhanced Regional Collaboration
A board of trustees with 18 representatives from private and public investors was created in March 2005 to oversee the campaign. Members represent key corporations, as well as public entities from across the region.
2 Extensive Research
The branding campaign is based on research from more than 700 interviews with external and internal business executives and consultants who were asked about their perceptions of St. Louis, and how they make business location decisions.
St. Louis-based public relations firm Fleishman-Hillard interviewed over 400 executives within the region and Wilson Research of Oklahoma City and Washington, D.C. interviewed 300 executives throughout the country. Interviews with CEOs and corporate executives, site location consultants, national real estate brokers, venture capitalists, recruiters and the news media were conducted over a six-month period.
In addition, focus groups and meetings with the region’s business, government and economic development leaders went into shaping the region’s new brand.
3 Unprecedented Resourcing
More than $20 million has been raised over a five-year period—a 50 percent increase from past campaigns. 150 corporate and civic investors from across a 16-county, two-state region contributed to the effort. This new level of funding now puts St. Louis on a par with competitor regions.
4 Metrics
4 for Measuring Success
The new campaign will be examined frequently using a system of metrics to measure the results in terms of driving more prospects to the region and creating more jobs and investment.
KEY FINDINGS
McClure says one of the most intriguing findings from all the research is the importance of quality of life. “We were surprised at how strong the issue of quality of life tested,” he says.
“The majority of those interviewed said quality of life is the big issue on where they put jobs. We learned that those familiar with
St. Louis said the area has the amenities that people want. For others, we are starting with a clean slate. That led us to create the new brand platform,” McClure says.
The marketing campaign includes these four marketing pillars:
• Quality of Life: St. Louis has the geographic/lifestyle diversity.
Quantifiable quality of life attributes—Big city amenities in a small town setting.
•Quality Workforce: A broad base of skills to draw from. Strong work ethic.
• Location/economic diversity: Diverse business base. Able to capitalize on options afforded through two states. Central location provides ease of access.
• Business friendly: An emerging opportunity to define strengths, especially in regulatory, legislative, and entrepreneurial areas.
THE BRAND PROMISE
The centerpiece of the branding and marketing campaign is the new logo and tagline: St. Louis: Perfectly Centered. Remarkably Connected.
“This logo and tagline are a verbal shorthand for communicating our brand,” says Steve Johnson, senior vice president of economic development for the RCGA, and involved in the day-to-day management of the campaign.
Johnson says the logo and tagline deliver many important messages about the region including:
• ease of access
• a sense of being connected
• a community that’s centered in location and character
• a balance between living and working
“Everyone is united on the logo,” Johnson adds. And to demonstrate the regional collaborative effort, the logo and other marketing materials have been adapted for other counties in the region such as St. Clair, St. Charles greater St. Louis partner, he explains.
COMMUNICATING THE MESSAGE
A critical component in the marketing campaign is the new economic development portion of the website: www.gotostlouis.org, as part of a totally new overall website, www.stlrcga.org.
“Because websites are the number one tool used by site selection and real estate consultants when researching new communities, it was crucial that we create a very robust website,” Fleming says. “We believe that our new website, developed by Fleishman-Hillard, rivals any of our competition.”
The site provides a wealth of factual information for companies, site selection executives and investors considering the St. Louis region for start up ventures, expansions or locating new facilities. The new site features brand-focused design and content, is comprehensive and easy to navigate.
Other marketing tools include new collateral materials such as a 20-page executive marketing overview of the regional data, a sales prospectus focusing on the four brand pillars, detailed profiles of the region’s five industry clusters, and a national media relations campaign to support the overall program. In 2006, direct mail, trade shows and targeted online advertising will be part of the marketing mix.
FROM THE INSIDE OUT
Another key component of the branding effort is a peer-to-peer communications program. Campaign research shows that business location decision-makers, particularly CEOs and other executives, want to hear from their own peers here in St. Louis.
| (left to right): Dick Fleming, RCGA president and ceo, and Steve Johnson, RCGA senior vice president
of economic development, describe the compelling factors that set this new branding effort apart. |
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“Research shows that economic development campaigns are more successful when they adopt an “inside-out” strategy where the region’s own business people and residents serve as ambassadors for the community,” Johnson says.
Johnson says that local business people are being recruited to help tell the region’s story through testimonials and success stories as in the series of ads running in St. Louis Business Journal, the Post Dispatch and Commerce Magazine. The ads feature eight successful business executives and entrepreneurs, including Amy and Amrit Gill; Ed Ehrenberger, General Manager, Genco; David Robertson, Music Director Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra; Andy Taylor, Chairman and CEO, Enterprise Rent-A-Car; Brenda Newberry, Founder and CEO, The Newberry Group; Dr. Roger Beachy, President, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center; Diane Sullivan, President, Brown Shoe Company; and Dr. Tim Eberlein, Director, Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center.
In addition, local executives are participating by meeting prospects here and in other cities and by providing links to www.gotostlouis.org on their own companies’ websites.
So far, the campaign is off to a strong start with seven prospects on the short list and likely to close within six months, and another nineteen prospective companies being actively pursued by the RCGA and its regional partners.
Fleming summed up what the campaign has meant to the region by saying, “From the tagline and logo, to the research findings and website, the new campaign has really resonated across the region. We believe the campaign has created a new synergy across the board. There has never been a better time to live and work in Greater St. Louis.”
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