Dear Brand Atlanta Stakeholder:
Since we last gathered as a group for our quarterly meeting, your Brand Atlanta team has continued to build on momentum achieved in 2006. Operating under bridge funding approved by the City of Atlanta in November, Brand Atlanta is executing a comprehensive set of marketing initiatives for 2007 that will continue to actively promote our great city among visitors, prospective visitors and residents alike.
Recognizing everyone's busy schedules and the importance of your time, in lieu of meeting on a quarterly basis in 2007 we've chosen to update you periodically via e-mail. We will reserve holding future stakeholder gatherings to introduce key new phases of our campaign.
In the meantime, following are some recent highlights that I want to share with you:
- Brands are built and stay vital when they are relentlessly and consistently promoted. We continue to assertively put the Atlanta brand and our positive messaging in front of key targeted audiences through refreshed signage, partner promotions and other cost-effective marketing methods.
Examples include our continuous presence at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and our welcoming of attendees at highly trafficked year-end events like the SEC Championship, the Chick-fil-A Bowl and the Atlanta Football Classic.
We also continuously develop and place refreshed banners on local street poles, such as those promoting the Titanic exhibit and Mei Lan, the new panda cub at Zoo Atlanta. Thanks to the support of Bain & Company, Georgia-Pacific Corp., and The Coca-Cola Company, Mayor Franklin is currently utilizing a gorgeous new Brand Atlanta hardcover book to introduce Atlanta to key dignitaries who are becoming familiar with our city via her outreach efforts.
A special merchandising program with Macy's has provided a prominent retail platform for visitors and residents at key area malls to purchase branded apparel and keepsake products. And, we are now working closely with City of Atlanta departments to identify new opportunities for visible brand adoption by key city units.
- We recently completed compelling new visitor research, which is helping to shape the creative direction for the next phase of our advertising and marketing strategy. In addition, we are currently identifying specific out-of-market audiences that we can reach most efficiently and effectively. We want to motivate them to take a deeper interest in experiencing all that Atlanta has to offer.
The next phase of the campaign is being developed based on insights gained from newly conducted "ethnographic" research of visitors hailing from Birmingham, Jacksonville and Chicago. This type of qualitative approach pinpoints how consumers from these markets perceive Atlanta, plan their travel and connect to our city emotionally during their visit. Seeking further input on our plans for the campaign's next creative phase, we recently shared this research with our partners at the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau and other community leaders. Launch of the new campaign elements is scheduled for the second quarter of 2007, and we greatly look forward to sharing more about these plans with you in coming weeks.
- With travelers and residents alike regularly turning to the Internet for all there is to see and do in Atlanta, on-line communications continue to play an integral role in our branding efforts. In conjunction with the ACVB, we are already driving online traffic to Atlanta.net, which links visitors to what Atlanta offers.
In the near future, we'll be providing ATL residents with enriched information about events and attractions in our region via Atlanta.net. This is part of a broader 2007 refresh of this high traffic visitor Web site operated by the ACVB. In the meantime, we continue to promote Atlanta through bi-monthly e-Blasts to our ever-growing database of engaged residents, often offering special opportunities for recipients to share with friends and families. If you haven't done so already, please sign up at BrandAtlanta.com yourself and encourage people in your organization to do so as well.
- To serve you, the greater Atlanta community and news media with general information about Brand Atlanta, Inc., we've recently upgraded our former Web site and given it a new address, BrandAtlanta.com.
The first-time login of username/password "stake/holder" allows you to register your profile and help us serve you better while you visit the site. I encourage you to take a look and, as a stakeholder, take advantage of opportunities to promote your organization's events of interest to visitors and residents by submitting an Event Promotion form.
- Our organization is well structured and poised to both execute our 2007 marketing strategy and continue to actively collaborate with our local partners.
Organizationally, we've received a 501(c)3 designation from IRS, executed a performance contract with the Atlanta Development Authority and completed an audit covering our first fiscal year, receiving an unqualified audit opinion.
Our partners at the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau (ACVB) earlier this month approved a resolution that would integrate Brand Atlanta into their organization after fiscal 2007-08. They are leading the effort to identify permanent funding sources for branding. In the meantime, funding from the City of Atlanta has been provided for the current fiscal year (2006-07) but will require approval from the Atlanta City Council to cover the entire two-year funding that Mayor Franklin originally recommended for Brand Atlanta.
Currently, we are operating out of office space that has been generously provided pro bono by King & Spalding at 1180 Peachtree Street in Midtown.
In December, we hired a business development director, Val Porter, who is actively identifying new collaboration opportunities with mission-aligned organizations, key partners that drive visitation, and leaders of key Atlanta visitor assets and venues.
In addition, we are advancing efforts to integrate our branding strategies with those of key industries by category, including the retail, culinary, higher education, and arts and culture segments – each of which represent Atlanta so well in the marketplace.
- Finally, I am pleased to report that Russell Reynolds & Associates, which is conducting a pro bono search for a permanent Brand Atlanta executive director, is moving toward completion of its search. I continue to work closely with our leadership committee to support this important decision. Look for a further update about this process in March.
In the meantime, until our next update, please accept my thanks for your continued support and involvement in promoting our region.
If you have comments, further ideas for promoting Atlanta or if we can answer questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. I encourage you to stay in touch during this pivotal year in Brand Atlanta's evolution.
We look forward to keeping you informed via our Web site and e-mails as we share our excitement about all that Atlanta means to us. We are enthusiastic about what has been accomplished so far but equally excited about where we're heading this year. Thank you for your excellent partnership.
Virginia Hepner
Interim Executive Director
