By Mark Hansel
NKyTribune managing editor
The April Covington Business Council luncheon featured a presentation from Source Cincinnati Executive Director Julie Calvert on the organization’s effort to market Cincinnati to the country.
Source Cincinnati Executive Director Julie Calvert explains how earned media is helping to enhance the reputation of the region, at the April Covington Business Council Luncheon (provided photos).
Source Cincinnati is placing stories about the region in a strategic, authentic way to help drive economic impact though visitors, business expansion, talent retention/acquisition and new investment.
Calvert said the effort is about focusing on the investment, the innovation and the lifestyle that is driving the reputation of this region.
“One of the primary reasons we were commissioned is because there is a gap in this region,” Calvert said. “When you look around there are some great stories being told in the health care sector, great stories in business, great stories in hospitality. When you look around and see what is driving the reputations of cities and regions, it’s who’s aggregating that story overall and talking about that story to the national media.”
Source Cincinnati, was created in 2014 as an independent, non-profit organization envisioned to amplify the “Cincinnati Story.”
The organization is funded by a regional business and civic coalition, uses social media and national press outreach to enhance perceptions of Cincinnati as a world-class region for everything from business and innovation to start ups and quality of life.
“It’s hard work, but we know that, in the research we have done with other organizations in the regions that we have spoken with as we put this plan together, earned media is the most credible way to get your story out.,” Calvert said. “It is considered a third-party endorsement.”
Earned media may sound like a little bit of an inside-baseball term to many but it’s really as simple as talking to reporters and providing a story.
“It’s not an advertisement, it’s not an advertorial, it’s not produced by an organization,” Calvert said. “It’s actually a reporter talking about your story of the region, your product or service.”
Representatives from Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport received the CBC Member Spotlight Award for April.
Calvert was employed by the Cincinnati Convention and Visitors Bureau, where she served in leadership positions for 15 years, at that time Source Cincinnati was given a three-year commission. For a time she served in both roles, which she says she enjoyed.
“It was kind of a natural shift to be able to do that as far as telling the story of hospitality but then to ratchet that up and start talking about innovation, biotech and transportation. We really feel that this is one of the most unique programs in terms of collaboration and coalition that has come together to do this,” Calvert said. “We are actually seeing some really good results over the past few years.”
Media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, Travel & Leisure, CNN and others are telling the stories about downtown growth on both sides of the river.
Included among them are the revitalization of Over-the-Rhine and Covington, the region’s dynamic start-up and entrepreneurial communities, and diverse employment opportunities.
Venues and attractions such as Hotel Covington, Braxton Brewery and Duveneck Square in Covington are being showcased to national acclaim.
“It’s interesting because as I was driving across the bridge today, I was really struck by all of the development that is happening on this side of the river,” Calvert said. “For people like me that’s progress, it’s another story to tell, because something else is happening.”
The New York Times recently named the Cincinnati region No. 8 among its best places to visit in 2018 and published stories about the region six times last year.
The goal of Source Cincinnati is to generate as many stories for Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky, and Southeast Indiana as possible.
“So, in doing that, we knew it wasn’t going to happen just here,” Calvert said. “We needed to find some partners here on the ground that really had the connections with national media, sort of like a generator of leads.”
Source Cincinnati partnered with the New York-based agency Development Counselors International, a group that works with cities and states on helping to tell their stories and connecting them with national media.
“We are a very unique client for our partner in New York – they serve as us in cities and states that they represent,” Calvert said. “We really are the only region in the United States that has a dedicated effort, working with media, to drive stories for the region. We do all the work here and they push that out for us.”
The numbers that tell the story of the organization’s success seem complicated – 230 national placements, 5.3 billion impressions and an ad value of $21.5 million – but really are not.
The 5.3 billion impressions are the numbers of eyeballs that are seeing the messages that are being put out there. If a monetary value was placed on that, the organization would have to spend about $21.5 million in advertising to get the same amount of impressions that were generated through earned media.
“We think that’s some pretty good value,” Calvert said. “These are stories that really encompass the region, that are happening on all sides of the river. As much as we can get Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky out on the radar screen, we believe that reputation is going to grow.”
The reputational storytelling is focused on lifestyle. The message is designed to tell new residents or visitors what there is to do and see and what life is going to be like in that region.
“We are talking about the bourbon heritage, the theater heritage, how those things match up across the United States with this region,” Calvert said. “Transportation is a big thing, especially for millennials, who are looking for the next great city.”
Research determined that the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky region did not have a bad reputation as much it was just unknown.
There were some obvious points of knowledge such as the Reds or chili, and Calvert said even WKRP in Cincinnati still resonates with some people, but the region lacked a true signature.
“We could sit around a table and decide and guess what we think might be an attractive reputation, but we wanted to be smarter than that,” Calvert said.
With that in mind, Source Cincinnati also enlisted the help of The Reputation Institute, a think tank out of Boston that works with Fortune 500 companies, helping them to understand what is driving the reputation of their brands and products.
“We believe that when people are looking for cities to move to or to visit, to invest, it’s the same principle, it’s a purchase decision,” Calvert said. “So we want to approach it from a very businesslike standpoint and really look at this region as a place where we want people to make a very serious investment.”
For more information on Source Cincinnati click here.
The monthly Covington Business Council (CBC) Luncheon provides opportunities for members to interact with each other, as well elected officials and community leaders. Luncheons generally include a presentation on a topic of local interest to the community and take place at the Madison Event Center in Covington.
Contact Mark Hansel at mark.hansel@nkytrib.com
