New Ads to Promote “The Diverse City”
The Birmingham News
Kelli Hewett Taylor, News staff writer
Commercials for the new catch phrase, “Birmingham: The DiverseCity,” will air on Turner South as part of Convention and Visitors Bureau marketing.
“Celebrating diversity in Birmingham is a good thing to do,” said John Montgomery of Big Communications.
The new print and TV ads complement a short documentary about Birmingham. The ads show people enjoying the Alabama Theatre, fine dining and golfing.
Lodging taxes pay for about $1 million a year in promotions, which often market events such as City Stages.
The visitors bureau mainly targets convention and trade show magazines, and buys a few radio ads in cities such as Jackson, Miss., and Memphis.
Montgomery says the city still needs a national image.
“There was research done in 2002 and Birmingham had no real positive or negative image with meeting planners,” he said.
Marketers say people often need a new mental image of a city to replace an old one. “I don’t know that Birmingham’s image is negative as much as it is misunderstood,” said Rob Dondero, of R&R Partners, which created the “Las Vegas: What happens here, stays here” ad campaign. “You probably have all the things you need already; you just need to recraft it and get it out to people.”
For more information, please contact Robin Oliver, Director of Public Relations, at 205-322-5646, ext.103 or email her at robin@bigcom.com
