Wall resigns, state drops slogan but keeps tourism logo

BETSY WALL, chief marketing officer of the R.I. Commerce Corp., has resigned in the wake of the troubled rollout of the state's new tourism and economic development promotional campaign. / COURTESY LINKEDIN
BETSY WALL, chief marketing officer of the R.I. Commerce Corp., has resigned in the wake of the troubled rollout of the state's new tourism and economic development promotional campaign. / COURTESY LINKEDIN

PROVIDENCE – Betsy Wall, a month into her job as chief marketing officer for R.I. Commerce Corp., turned in her resignation Friday, a casualty of the flawed rollout of the state’s new tourism and economic development program. Along with Wall, the new slogan, “Rhode Island: Cooler and Warmer,” was dropped from the campaign, although the new logo, designed by Milton Glaser Inc., the creator of the “I Love NY” campaign, will be kept.
Gov. Gina M. Raimondo held a press conference Friday afternoon to say that she had accepted Wall’s resignation, saying “It’s unacceptable how many mistakes were made in this rollout,” according to Rhode Island Public Radio.
The governor announced that Seth Goldenberg, CEO of Epic Decade of Jamestown, which was one of the three firms awarded the $4.5 million contract to create and disseminate the marketing campaign, will assume temporary leadership of the effort beginning Monday.
The governor also said that the state was going to recover $20,000 from Indie Whip, the Providence firm that submitted the promotional video which originally included footage of someone skateboarding in Iceland, as well as $100,000 from HAVAS PR, the New York firm that was the third party to the campaign contract.
During the news conference, Raimondo said that “it is crystal clear to me that Rhode Islanders have a deep and abiding passion for our state,” according to Rhode Island Public Radio, and that this passion would fuel the continuing efforts to promote the state.
While a new slogan will be created, the existing art will remain, and the governor noted that already businesses in the state are incorporating it into their own marketing efforts. Her staff said after the news conference that a social media toolkit incorporating the logo would be developed soon in order to help businesses tie into what will still be a significant campaign to promote the state.
Wall’s resignation was precipitous. Earlier on Friday she responded to requests for comments by noting that the controversy over the campaign’s rollout Monday had helped spread the word about the Ocean State.
“Some of the commentary on it has been very humorous. That’s a good thing. The fact is, oddly enough, all this commentary has resulted in a far wider distribution of Rhode Island’s newsworthiness,” Wall said.

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