RI Commerce Picks 2 Out-of-State-Firms to Brand and Promote RI Tourism
Thursday, October 01, 2015
The Rhode Island Commerce Corporation announced its selection of three firms for its $5 million tourism campaign - and picked the design firm of Milton Glaser to rebrand Rhode Island.
The 86-year-old Glaser who created the I Love New York Campaign in 1977, was selected above 50 other agencies along with a division of the French conglomerate HAVAS, who was tapped to lead the PR. Havas is headquartered in Puteaux, France, a suburb of Paris and is among the World’s largest communication firms.
A small Rhode Island design firm - now called Epic Decade (formerly IP.21 Studios) is slated for a contract focused on story telling. The firm once received $35,000 in state funding to retain one job and create three more. The firm received the grant in 2010 and is now located in Jamestown.
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All of Rhode Island’s largest ad agencies competed including RDW Group, Duffy and Shanley, PriMedia, Atom Media and the Providence Journal’s parent company, Gate House Media.
The Governor, who serves as Chair of the Commerce Corporation, crowed about the selections.
“We’re focused every day on putting people back to work,” Raimondo said. “Marketing Rhode Island effectively will attract both businesses and tourists -- both are important parts of growing our economy and creating more jobs.”
“We’re pleased to introduce this dynamic and experienced team today,” said Commerce Secretary Stefan Pryor. “Havas and Milton Glaser have the creative and media firepower to build a compelling brand and propel it to the forefront of Americans’ consciousness, while the talented professionals at Epic Decade will help produce a campaign that is authentically Rhode Island. This is the team Rhode Island needs to compete effectively for tourists and businesses.”
Parsing the Process
One Rhode Island firm that pledged to raise millions to match the state’s appropriations was highly critical of the process and the message it sends.
“I am troubled by the clear message that is being delivered by the state to corporate leaders whose firms they wish to attract," said Michael Mota, founder of Atom Media. ‘Come do business in Rhode Island, but don’t expect to find the talent here needed to advertise, market, and otherwise promote it.’
“The Commerce Corporation in effect has sent jobs out of state and otherwise deprived Rhode Island of a significant economic boost,” he said.
URI Distinguished Professor of Business Edward Mazze had a different take.
"This campaign is very important and involves a major investment in dollars. The state needed to select marketing communications agencies with experience in developing a brand and a marketing and public relations campaign that attracts tourists and businesses, and at the same time give Rhode Islanders a positive feeling about their state," said Mazze. "Going with the best was the right use of public funds."
"As long as the local firms were judged using the same criteria as the out-of-state firms, there is no issue. It is customary practice to submit proposals for review….it is the way business is done," continued Mazze. "For those local firms who are angry because they did not get the contract, they need to put on their big boy and big girl pants and understand that knowing a “Joe” may not work anymore."
This story was originally pblished at 8:21 pm on September, 30, 2015
Related Slideshow: Tourism Promotion: See How Much States Spend
Below is the amount spent at the state level on tourism promotion, the total amount of expenditures, and the ratio of tourism spending to total spending. Figures on tourism spending are taken from skift.com, a global travel news and information site.
State expenditures were obtained from the National Association of State Budget Officers. Information is for fiscal year 2013, the most recent for which data in both categories was available. Note that complete data was not available for the states of Connecticut and Washington. States are listed in order of lowest to highest spenders.
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48.
State: Pennsylvania
Tourism Spending: $5.8 Million
Total Expenditures: $85.3 Million
% of State Budget Spent on Tourism Promotion: 0.0068%
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47.
State: Indiana
Tourism Spending: $2.3 million
Total Expenditures: $28.1 million
% of State Budget Spent on Tourism Promotion: 0.0082%
Photo: Diego Delso
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46.
State: Ohio
Tourism Spending: $5 million
Total Expenditures: $58.2 million
% of State Budget Spent on Tourism Promotion: 0.0086%
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45.
State: Rhode Island
Tourism Spending: $710,000
Total Expenditures: $7.8 Million
% of State Budget Spent on Tourism Promotion: 0.0090%
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44.
State: Iowa
Tourism Spending: $2.4 million
Total Expenditures: $19.5 million
% of State Budget Spent on Tourism Promotion: 0.0123%
Photo: Ben Franske
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43.
State: New York
Tourism Spending: $19 million
Total Expenditures: $133 Million
% of State Budget Spent on Tourism Promotion: 0.0144%
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42.
State: Georgia
Tourism Spending: $6.8 million
Total Expenditures: $42.4 million
% of State Budget Spent on Tourism Promotion: 0.0160%
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41.
State: New Jersey
Tourism Spending: $9 million
Total Expenditures: $50.8 million
% of State Budget Spent on Tourism Promotion: 0.0177%
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40.
State: Massachusetts
Tourism Spending: $10.9 million
Total Expenditures: $57.5 million
% of State Budget Spent on Tourism Promotion: 0.0189%
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39.
State: Delaware
Tourism Spending: $1.9 million
Total Expenditures: $9.1 million
% of State Budget Spent on tourism Promotion: 0.0213%
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38.
State: California
Tourism Spending: $50 million
Total Expenditures: $211.4 million
% of State Budget Spent on Tourism Promotion: 0.0236%
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37.
State: North Carolina
Tourism Spending: $10.4 million
Total Expenditures: $43 million
% of State Budget Spent on Tourism Promotion: 0.0242%
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36.
State: Minnesota
Tourism Spending: $8.5 million
Total Expenditures: $33,074,000,000
% of State Budget Spent on Tourism Promotion: 0.0257%
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35.
State: Maryland
Tourism Spending: $10.4 million
Total Expenditures: $36.2 million
% of State Budget Spent on Tourism Promotion: 0.0287%
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34.
State: Kentucky
Tourism Spending: $7.4 million
Total Expenditures: $25.6 million
% of State Budget Spent on Tourism Promotion: 0.0288%
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33.
State: Kansas
Tourism Spending: $4.8 million
Total Expenditures: $13.9 million
% of State Budget Spent on Tourism Promotion: 0.0344%
Photo: Gerald B. Keane
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32.
State: West Virginia
Tourism Spending: $7.7 million
Total Expenditures: $22.3 million
% of State Budget Spent on Tourism Promotion: 0.0345%
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31.
State: Mississippi
Tourism Spending: $6.4 million
Total Expenditures: $18.5 million
% of State Budget Spent on Tourism Promotion: 0.0346%
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
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30.
State: Wisconsin
Tourism Spending: $14.9 million
Total Expenditures: $42.7 million
% of State Budget Spent on Tourism Promotion: 0.0348%
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
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29.
State: Tennessee
Tourism Spending: $11.7 million
Total Expenditures: $30.4 million
% of State Budget Spent on Tourism Promotion: 0.0384%
Photo: Jeremy Atherton
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28.
State: Virginia
Tourism Spending: $17.6 million
Total Expenditures: $45.7 million
% of State Budget Spent on Tourism Promotion: 0.0385%
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26.
State: Arizona
Tourism Spending: $12.9 million
Total Expenditures: $28.2 million
% of State Budget Spent on Tourism Promotion: 0.0456%
Photo: Luca Galuzzi
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25.
State: Oregon
Tourism Spending: $12 million
Total Expenditures: $25.8 million
% of State Budget Spent on Tourism Promotion: 0.0465%
Photo: Max Schwarz
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24.
State: Alabama
Tourism Spending: $11.6 million
Total Expenditures: $24.5 million
% of State Budget Spent on Tourism Promotion: 0.0473%
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
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23.
State: New Mexico
Tourism Spending: $7.1 million
Total Expenditures: $14.6 million
% of State Budget Spent on Tourism Promotion: 0.0483%
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22.
State: Louisiana
Tourism Spending: $13.2 million
Total Expenditures: $27.3 million
% of State Budget Spent on Tourism Promotion: 0.0483%
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20.
State: Missouri
Tourism Spending: $11.6 million
Total Expenditures: $22.9 million
% of State Budget Spent on Tourism Promotion: 0.0506%
Photo: Daniel Schwen
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19.
State: Colorado
Tourism Spending: $14.7 million
Total Expenditures: $29.035 million
% of State Budget Spent on Tourism Promotion: 0.0506%
Photo: Gorgo
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17.
State: Michigan
Tourism Spending: $27.4 million
Total Expenditures: $47.3 million
% of State Budget Spent on Tourism Promotion: 0.0578%
Photo: Dave Parker
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15.
State: South Carolina
Tourism Spending: $13.6 million
Total Expenditures: $22.2 million
% of State Budget Spent on Tourism Promotion: 0.0612%
Photo: MoodyGroove
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14.
State: Arkansas
Tourism Spending: $15.1 million
Total Expenditures: $21.4 million
% of State Budget Spent on Tourism Promotion: 0.0704%
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13.
State: Illinois
Tourism Spending: $55.4 million
Total Expenditures: $65.2 million
% of State Budget Spent on Tourism Promotion: 0.0849%
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State: Florida
Tourism Spending: $56.2 million
Total Expenditures: $63.9 million
% of State Budget Spent on Tourism Promotion: 0.0879%
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11.
State: North Dakota
Tourism Spending: $5.1 million
Total Expenditures: $5.712 million
% of State Budget Spent on Tourism Promotion: 0.0893%
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10.
State: Idaho
Tourism Spending: $7.2 million
Total Expenditures: $6.691 million
% of State Budget Spent on Tourism Promotion: 0.1076%
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
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9.
State: Utah
Tourism Spending: $14.4 million
Total Expenditures: $12.679 million
% of State Budget Spent on Tourism Promotion: 0.1136%
Photo: Bernard Gagnon
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8.
State: Maine
Tourism Spending: $9.8 million
Total Expenditures: $7.679 million
% of State Budget Spent on Tourism Promotion: 0.1276%
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State: New Hampshire
Tourism Spending: $6.9 million
Total Expenditures: $5.017 million
% of State Budget Spent on Tourism Promotion: 0.1375%
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
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6.
State: Wyoming
Tourism Spending: $12.6 million
Total Expenditures: $9.132 million
% of State Budget Spent on Tourism Promotion: 0.1380%
Photo: Shiras Rajendran
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5.
State: Alaska
Tourism Spending: $17 million
Total Expenditures: $11.838 million
% of State Budget Spent on Tourism Promotion: 0.1436%
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State: Nevada
Tourism Spending: $14.8 million
Total Expenditures: $8.897 million
% of State Budget Spent on Tourism Promotion: 0.1663%
Photo: John Phelan
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3.
State: Montana
Tourism Spending: $12.3 million
Total Expenditures: $6.04 million
% of State Budget Spent on Tourism Promotion: 0.2036%
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State: South Dakota
Tourism Spending: $12.2 million
Total Expenditures: $4.098 million
% of State Budget Spent on Tourism Promotion: 0.2977%
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1.
State: Hawaii
Tourism Spending: $75 million
Total Expenditures: $11.584 million
% of State Budget Spent on Tourism Promotion: 0.6474%
Photo: Cristo Vlahos
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