Knowledge District marketing begins

COURTESY (ADD)VENTURES
CAMERA-READY: Actor Dan Mills prepares to film a video that will be used to help market Providence’s Knowledge District.
COURTESY (ADD)VENTURES CAMERA-READY: Actor Dan Mills prepares to film a video that will be used to help market Providence’s Knowledge District.

The video shows a young man in an orange baseball cap standing in a field with the distinctive skyline of Providence behind him.
He starts to walk and – in a tight series of spliced shots lasting but 45 seconds – we see him walking through Prospect Park, Davol Square, Waterplace Park and Brown University. He passes by the Statehouse, AS220, the train station and the Providence Performing Arts Center as a trolley lumbers along. He sweeps through the financial district, marked by the Turk’s Head building, passes more than a few upscale restaurants and cuts through the stunning atrium lobby of the Alpert medical school.
He is a Broadway actor by the name of Dan Mills, a Cranston native, and his circuitous route was carefully chosen to show the economic-development highlights of Providence in a video that will be used to market the nascent Knowledge District, a high-tech hub of research and development.
The Providence advertising firm of (add)ventures created the 90-second video as the first step in what will be a full-fledged publicity campaign to draw businesses to the Knowledge District. It’s a campaign slated to begin in earnest in 2012, according to Judy Chong, director of communications and market development for the R.I. Economic Development Corporation.
Working closely with the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce, Chong said a subcommittee with representatives of EDC and the Chamber chose (add)ventures to make the video after a request for proposals was issued in September. The video stresses Providence’s location in the center of the Boston-New York nexus, while Mills’ amblings show how walkable Providence is, Chong noted in a recent interview.
The video ends by noting that Providence is home to more than 750 businesses, six “world-class” academic institutions and 530,000 square feet of active scientific and medical-research facilities.
The video is posted on the Chamber website (www.providencechamber.com).
It will be posted on YouTube and links were supplied to business leaders at the Chamber’s annual dinner meeting Nov. 21 so they can pass the information along to potential investors and businesses interested in Providence, Chong said. Although the nearly 20 acres of land freed up by moving Interstate 195 is the core of the geographic area known as the Knowledge District, Chong said the district is much more than that, as the video shows, because other places such as the Hasbro/38 Studios cluster on Empire Street and the AS220 arts center contribute to it as well.
What’s needed now, and what the marketing campaign will help accomplish, is to build upon what is already here, Chong said. Industries targeted by the campaign include life sciences, digital media, product design and information technology.
In the coming weeks, the Chamber, EDC and the subcommittee will build out specifications for a full-blown marketing campaign and requests for proposals will be sought in early 2012. Chong declined to say how much the marketing campaign will cost.
The video was one part of a three-month contract with (add)ventures for $22,500 that includes market research and market analysis, Chong said.
The video was introduced to the 700 or so people who attended the Chamber dinner last month, held at the R.I. Convention Center. Mills was in attendance and he took a walk through the crowd, wearing his trademark orange cap, Chong related.
Paul Salem, senior managing partner of Providence Equity, was keynote speaker, emphasizing the importance of innovation in business. He predicted the only job growth in the next 10 years will come from innovation and, he warned, businesses that are not innovating are in trouble.
Stephen Lane, president of Ximedica in Providence, also spoke at the dinner, stressing Providence’s many positive aspects. He urged business leaders to actively extol the benefits of running a business in the Ocean State.
“Who do you know that can benefit from being located in Rhode Island?” he asked. •

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