MONTGOMERY, Alabama — The Alabama Department of Commerce this morning launched a new branding campaign – Made in Alabama – designed to build on the economic development momentum that has created more than 38,000 jobs in the past two years.
Commerce Secretary Greg Canfield unveiled the brand at a press event this morning, uncovering a representation of the brand in the form of a shipping crate built by AIDT, Alabama’s workforce training agency. See the brand being built here:
The centerpiece of the marketing initiative is a new web site, MadeInAlabama.com, that features sharable news content focusing on Alabama’s economic development successes and the advantages that make the state an attractive location for investment. MadeInAlabama.com, which went live today, centers on original and aggregated news content in topics such as manufacturing, workforce and innovation.
Canfield said the campaign will position Alabama as a powerhouse on global level when it comes to economic development. The initiative has set international business leaders and site consultants, as well as Alabama residents and businesses, as its primary targets.
“What this means for us is that our marketing and recruitment efforts will be even more tactical,” Canfield said. “It will be surgical, it will be strategic. We will make Alabama the state everyone wants to be when it comes to economic development.”
The launch of the MadeInAlabama campaign coincided with Gov. Bentley release today of the state’s 2012 New & Expanding Industry Announcements report, which showed that projects involving $5.4 billion in investment and nearly 21,000 new jobs were announced last year. That was a significant improvement from 2011, when $4.1 billion in investment and 17,300 jobs were announced in Alabama.
Bentley, at a press conference in Montgomery today to announce the Made in Alabama campaign and the jobs reports, said the branding campaign is part of the state’s push to land additional economic development projects and more new jobs. Since Bentley took office in early 2011, companies have announced Alabama projects with $9.4 billion in investment and 38,000 new jobs.
“This campaign will help us build on that momentum,” Bentley said.
The Made In Alabama brand and web site was designed and developed by Alabama-based public relations and advertising agency Big Communications. Original news content is being produced by a network of Alabama business writers specializing in economic development and technology.
