Re-branding Ohio: state seeks to jumpstart image with nationwide marketing effort.

• Author: Wilder, Brent
• Position: Cover story

Hang on, Sloopy.

A new campaign promoting Ohio as a viable place to establish a business and enjoy a quality lifestyle is inviting the corporate investment community to look through the "0" at what Ohio really has to offer.

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Showcasing the unique assets of Ohio in an effort to change existing negative and neutral perspectives of the state's business climate, a new branding campaign debuting in September will position the "0" as a visual device communicating the strengths of Ohio's diverse business investment opportunities in conjunction with its lifestyle resources.

The tagline? "Build your business. Love your life."

The slogan is the brainchild of the Ohio Business Development Coalition, a collaborative nonprofit marketing entity formed in 2004 by Ohio business and economic development groups and funded by the Ohio Department of Development.

The coalition is working in conjunction with international branding firm Landor Associates, a renowned San Francisco-based consultancy with offices in Cincinnati. The full-scale marketing effort, built on national research, lauds Ohio's positive business climate, addressing the perceptions and misperceptions of prospective business community investors.

"Ohio's unique promise of having everything you need to build a successful business and everything you need to have a fulfilling life was the concept that was getting the best play in market research," says Ed Burghard, a longtime marketing executive on loan from Procter & Gamble (P & G) to lead the development coalition as executive director.

Viewing Ohio as a product, Burghard, who holds the post of Harley Procter marketing director at P & G, says the development coalition set out to discover what business decision makers thought about the state. Research found that executives with the power to locate or grow business in Ohio based most of their opinions on out-of-date information and a lack of knowledge about the state, he says. Common perspectives were that Ohio:

1. Has an older economy dominated by the automotive industry

2. Is slow to change and slow to adopt innovation

Both myths stem from the "Rustbelt" legacy still prevalent among executives unaware of Ohio's economic evolution.

Ohio cannot expect to emerge from the "Rustbelt" stigma without presenting a viable alternative, says Lt. Gov. Bruce Johnson, whose duties include directing the Ohio Department of Development.

Without a comprehensive new marketing campaign, "You let the image of the state be defined by a marketplace without trying to have an impact on it," Johnson says. The migration of industry to the South and West over the past 50 years is not a new trend, yet it is presented as evidence that Ohio is "somehow losing," he says. The truth is "we're getting our fair share of investment."

Johnson points out that Site Selection magazine recognized Ohio as first- and second-place the last two years in its annual Governor's Cup recognition of the states with the most new and expanded corporate facilities. "People just expect to be the top; you've got to be Ohio State in the National Championship every year, or you're under performing," he jokes.

Accentuating the positive

"When we did the initial research on equity, awareness of Ohio's positive points was nonexistent," says Karen Daugherty, Chicago-based client director of...