Area growth agency's campaign will paint an inviting portrait of St. Louis

October 9, 2005

By Eric Heisler
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

RCGA campaign will paint an inviting portrait of St. Louis

St. Louis leaders will launch a campaign this week to polish the region's image in the minds of America's business elite.

The $2 million-a-year campaign is being funded with public and private dollars and led by the St. Louis Regional Chamber & Growth Association. It's aimed at bolstering the local economy by drawing business here.

The campaign focuses on St. Louis's high "quality of life." The RCGA settled on that theme after extensive research found that corporate executives find it highly believable and important. The image campaign will also tout a "quality workforce" and a "business- friendly" climate in St. Louis.

But critics wonder whether out-of-town business types will really bite on a commonly used and vague marketing message.

"If you say you have quality of life, you're not saying very much of anything at all," said Ben Wright, a principal at the Denver-based marketing firm ccintellect llc. "Everybody says they have quality of life. We used to use it in Denver, and I cringe every time I hear it."

Instead, Denver found success in promoting more specific mountain lifestyle themes, such as skiing and hiking, said Wright, who spoke to St. Louis officials earlier this year about marketing.

The marketing effort is part of the RCGA's larger $20 million economic development campaign to sell St. Louis to corporate America and draw new business here over the next five years.

The economic development campaign was drawn up amid concerns that the St. Louis area has trailed the nation in job growth in 13 of the past 15 years.

As it asked area businesses and governments to sponsor the campaign, the RCGA emphasized how peer regions -- and even smaller ones such as Louisville -- have outspent St. Louis on regional economic development.

The RCGA spent about $700,000 to hire Wilson Research Strategies and Fleishman-Hillard Inc. to help craft marketing ideas and design marketing materials. Over the next five years, the RCGA will spend about $10 million to deliver the messages.

The marketing will be aimed at corporate executives, real estate brokers, national media and consultants who advise companies on where to locate.

Chris Wilson, chief executive of Wilson Research, based in Oklahoma City, said using quality of life as a key message could be a misstep for other regions. But Wilson said his research showed that corporate executives see it as an especially effective theme about St. Louis.

"The thing that shocked me about St. Louis is that quality of life seemed to be a large driver of the region's reputation," Wilson said. "Executives who visited St. Louis remembered that."

This marketing effort is RCGA's most aggressive yet, in terms of money spent.

In its new campaign, the agency will focus on the nuts and bolts of economic development: selling the area and wooing business recruits.

The RCGA will present a new logo for the image campaign on Tuesday and will launch a new Web site this week.

Richard Fleming, president of the RCGA, said the agency decided on "quality of life" as its No. 1 message because "we wanted to follow what the research told us."

"I think the challenge and opportunity is to make our quality-of-life message clearly distinctive," Fleming said. To that end, the agency plans to emphasize both institutions, such as the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, and newer attributes, such as biking trails, he said.

Jim Pennekamp, executive director of the Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois, said economic changes had made quality of life an important determinant in where companies put their operations. That's because today's workers typically pick a place to live based on lifestyle rather than job opportunities.

He, too, believes that the quality-of-life message will work especially well for St. Louis because people from the outside -- not just locals -- believe the message.

"Look, if you live in a small town in the middle of nowhere, you may think you have a high quality of life, but the world may think differently," Pennekamp said. "But there's an overall perception that it's true in St. Louis."

Selling points

The "brand platform" of the St. Louis area's new marketing campaign includes the following key messages:

1. Quality of life

2. Quality workforce

3. Location/economic diversity

4. Business friendly