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Click away for
economic development
Virginia’s
coalfield region marketers are using an old toy in a
new marketing pitch to get noticed. They’re are
giving out View-Masters — those classic low-tech
toys with a drop-in disk — to site-selection consultants
around the country with images of the seven-county region’s
best business sites and local culture.
The
hope, says marketing director Sandy Ratliff, is that
the novelty will keep the region’s marketing material
from getting tossed. The idea has been used by attractions
such as resort hotels and theme parks, but Ratliff says
she can’t find any place that’s used it for
economic development. “It hopefully will change
the perception people have of this area,” she says.
The
first mailing went out with a free View-Master and a
disk with images of a new industrial park in Lee County.
That’s not exactly Disneyland or Old Faithful,
but it may buy a few seconds of attention. They’re
mailing out another disk every month through June, with
images of other industrial parks, business sites and
nearby attractions such as the Barter Theatre and Bristol
Motor Speedway.
The
idea came out of a dinner meeting last summer with a
site-selection consultant, when Ratliff asked her what
caught her eye. “She said, ‘Well, something
unique.’” The View-Master idea emerged and
Ratliff found an Oregon company that would custom-make
the disks. They had the 3-D images shot by a local photographer.
Ratliff
says the region’s promoters haven’t gotten
any feedback from out-of-state site consultants yet.
“We knew we wouldn’t have overnight success,”
Ratliff says. They’ll decide this summer whether
to continue the Lebanon-based campaign.
Virginia
Business - April 2003
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