9/29/2003

Tom Edd Wilson, president and CEO of the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce, announced on Monday the details of a campaign to brand Chattanooga as the “naturally beautiful, can do community.”  The most visible sign of this campaign will be a series of billboards placed along major interstate corridors.  Each billboard will feature a little-known, business-oriented fact about Chattanooga along with a web address that will read “ChattanoogaCanDo.com.”  The billboard campaign is an effort to raise awareness about Chattanooga’s attractiveness as a place to do business among the 84 million people who drive through Chattanooga each year.

             The Chamber’s campaign specifically targets business decision-makers and site selection professionals utilizing a comprehensive marketing strategy that includes:

• A national public relations push that has already achieved articles in the New York Times, U.S.A. Today, U.S. Industry Today and nine other national publications.
• A direct mail campaign that will reach nearly 700 business-decision makers and site selection professionals each year.
• A business information web site, located at ChattanoogaCanDo.com, which was honored by the International Economic Development Council (I.E.D.C.), the largest association of site selection professionals, during its meeting in September.
• The Chattanooga Means Business video (viewable from the ChattanoogaCanDo.com web site), which took first place during the I.E.D.C. meeting in Cincinnati.
• Recruitment trips to Japan, Korea, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Detroit, and Ohio.
• Joining with the Tennessee Economic Development Partnership to co-sponsor a red carpet tour that will bring 20-25 site selection professionals for a first hand experience of our community.
• Tours of Chattanooga by site selection professionals, potential business investors, and media from outside the region.
• An effort to empower business leaders to act as ambassadors for the region by providing them with talking points and other support.
  

According to Wilson all of these efforts when taken together will begin the process of branding Chattanooga as a great place to do business.  “Although the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau has done a fantastic job of attracting tourism, our research shows that the Chattanooga region does not have a strong business image,” Wilson said.  “This campaign is year one of a long term effort to show the larger business community that Chattanooga is a great place to invest.”

J.Ed. Marston, Director of Marketing and Communication for the Chamber, described the process that led to the development of the campaign.  “We began the process with a public survey,” Marston said.  “Responses from that survey became the foundation of a two-day brand development session involving nearly twenty area organizations and businesses.”  According to Marston, the brand development session identified the phrase “naturally beautiful, can do community” as the core message that distinguishes the Chattanooga area from other communities. 

Because the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau is already 18-months into its “The Attraction’s Only Natural” campaign, the Chamber chose to emphasize the strong business message associated with the “can do” portion of the brand message.  “By collaborating with the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, we are leveraging each other’s efforts to build an image of Chattanooga as a great place to live, play, and work,” Marston said.

 According to Marston, the power of the message is its simplicity and authenticity.  “Chattanooga Can Do is not a departure from past public relations efforts,” he said. “We have received national press for nearly 30 years about our ability to focus on issues ranging from air pollution to downtown revitalization to the reclamation of depressed neighborhoods and then achieve real results through visioning and public/private partnership.”

Chattanooga Can Do is a catch phrase that connects our business legacy, our community achievements, and the innovation of our emerging technology businesses.  Whether you’re talking about bottling Coca Cola for the first time or building the Tennessee Aquarium or the commercialization of nanofibers, the basic story is the same:  In the Chattanooga region, when we dream it, we mean it, and we make it happen.  That’s Chattanooga Can Do.”

Marston also recognized the efforts of the Image Steering Committee, which was convened to drive the business-branding process and identify other ways area organizations could collaborate in marketing the region.  The Image Steering Committee consists of Chuck Cantrell, representing the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga; Gina Hatler, representing Hamilton County; Rob Pettway, representing the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau; Sandy Smith, representing Chattanooga State Technical Community College; Judy Weaver; representing Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport; and Todd Womack, representing the City of Chattanooga.

The Johnson Group developed the creative for the billboard campaign and the next wave of direct mail marketing.  The campaign is funded by the Chamber’s Tell the World! effort which raised nearly $9 million which will be used over the next four years to support economic growth through existing business expansion, increased entrepreneurial activity, and business recruitment.

 For more information, contact Todd Womack, Communications Director, at 423-757-5168

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