The front page of this week’s issue of PBN shows the wild scene on the water around Fort Adams State Park during the 12-day Newport stop of the Volvo Ocean Race in 2015.
More than 125,000 people were estimated to have shown up at the Race Village at Fort Adams then for the kind of iconic happening that any marketer would love to have to promote – and it returns next spring.
Unfortunately, events such as the Volvo race are not weekly occurrences. And therein lies the challenge.
Gov. Gina M. Raimondo’s administration has made it a priority to create a more powerful, central marketing function for Rhode Island, correctly concluding that tourism is one of the state’s most powerful economic engines, as well as one that has to compete on a national if not global stage.
So far, at least, there hasn’t been a lot of powerful, statewide messaging, unless you count the “Cooler & Warmer” campaign debacle, whose power was not necessarily perceived positively.
Soon the state will be rolling out a new campaign, but as important as the campaign itself is going to be measuring just how effective it is in the market.
Gov. Raimondo’s past as a venture capitalist required deep and accurate measurement of her firm’s investments, data that helped her decide what to invest in and whether to continue investing.
Rhode Islanders deserve no less serious an approach to understanding what marketing program is working and why it is or isn’t once the state starts its new marketing program.
