Pittsburgh's regional branding initiative Saturday, February 22, 2003 Pittsburgh (and Southwest Pennsylvania) is out to fix its image problem. Image Gap, a consortium of area economic development, tourism and membership agencies, is coordinating a regional branding effort. In September, it tapped three marketing agencies at the combined pricetag of $200,000 to begin research to determine what the region is — on the whole — and what it wants to be. The funding comes from area foundations. Branding a region is tough business. And there are two aspects of this process that make it worth watching. The first is the end product. The goal is not to define an overall image or brand, so much as it is to create a framework for marketing the region. The framework will be a tool that advertising and PR agencies can use in building their own advertising and marketing campaigns. There will also be a blueprint proposing how the various participating organizations can work together in delivering the Pittsburgh story. The second feature involves the Internet. This regional branding effort is using the Internet to collect information. While the web site is basic without a lot of interactivity, the effort does point the way to the future. To get a sense of how you can be more interactive, see how we used the web to develop and test Oklahoma's image campaign, "The New American Dream". We first collected information with an interactive interview. We next tested different ad concepts with another interview. (Note: we have taken down the streaming radio ads, so you can no longer hear them.) posted by Ed Morrison |		This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. links Some Background on EDPro Weblog The purpose of this weblog is to help economic development professionals -- EDPros -- keep up with the changes sweeping our profession. Strap on your goggles. It's a whole new game. There are no experts any more. The only place to learn about economic development is from other EDPros who are doing it. One other point: the prevaling approach (paradigm, if you like) in economic development is shifting from competition to collaboration. There are a lot of reaasons underlying this shift, but here's the important insight: You, your community, and your region will do better by collaborating and sharing information. So, spread the word...Share the knowledge. Tell a friend about EDPro Weblog. If you are using a news reader, here is the link to syndicate this site: Here's the link if you are a bloglines subscriber: Speaking and workshops on Open Source Economic Development As the idea of Open Source Economic Development starts spreading, more people are asking about it. Visit the I-Open web site to learn more. My colleagues and I are happy to explain the basic concepts in a talk or a workshop. E-mail Susan Alshuler if you'd like to learn more about workshops and speaking. Background on Ed Morrison Download some background information on me here.

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