Marketing missteps beg answers

As state leaders labor to move on from the firestorm that followed the rollout of a $5 million tourism marketing campaign, a key question remains: What happened?

Gov. Gina M. Raimondo on April 1 responded to widespread criticism by dropping a widely panned slogan, “Rhode Island: Cooler and Warmer.” She also accepted the resignation of Betsy Wall, R.I. Commerce Corp.’s chief marketing officer, and said the new logo, designed by the creator of the “I Love NY” campaign, will be kept.

As the point person for the campaign, Wall had faced criticism for a promotional video that included footage from Iceland and an error-filled website.

State officials have said a new slogan will be created, likely with something missing from the development of the original slogan: public input.

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End of story?

Not until it’s clear why so many mistakes were made and who beyond Wall was involved, says Commerce Corp. board member Karl Wadensten.

“So many things are about [understanding] processes,” said Wadensten, CEO of VIBCO Vibrators in Richmond. “Some people did some egregious things. Whose wheelhouse was this? … If we don’t have clarity on this, how are you going to go forwards?”

Wadensten said he’d like to see a review of how the new campaign was developed and unveiled, but isn’t sure who should do it.

“It should be someone unbiased” and who does “not have a big ego,” he said. “People talk about transparency – that’s how you get [it].”

Wadensten believes the public uproar over the confusing slogan and sloppy rollout could in the long run turn out to be a positive for the state and its marketing.

“This is the perfect opportunity to unite Rhode Islanders and get all their passion and energy around this,” he said. “It might be a defining moment,” adding the public should help develop a new slogan.

Commerce Secretary Stefan Pryor did not immediately return calls seeking comment. But he told The Providence Journal he does take responsibility for the mistakes and that he is leading the effort to examine what happened and learn from it.

Raimondo on April 6 said the R.I. Department of Administration will assist Commerce in the review.

Gary S. Sasse, founding director of the Hassenfeld Institute for Public Leadership at Bryant University, said it is important that state officials fully explain publicly what happened and who was involved.

“Initially there was a very flawed process,” he said. “It was too internal and there was not enough opportunity to solicit ideas.” The resulting mistakes, he said, call into question “how Commerce RI is being run.

“There was a feeling the old [R.I. Economic Development Corp.] wasn’t coordinated effectively,” he added. “The new secretary was given a tremendous amount of responsibility and power so we wouldn’t make these kind of mistakes.” •

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