2020 Marketing Assistance Program
New in 2020
The 2020-21 Marketing Assistance Program will create marketing deliverables for 6 rural Tennessee communities. The goal of this program is to drive brand awareness, but also drive qualified prospect leads. By leveraging editorial coverage and paid advertising in a leading economic development trade publication, we can ensure that the marketing deliverables are being distributed to a qualified audience of c-suite executives, business decision makers and site selectors.
Overview
Corporate decision makers and site selectors consider digital resources as the most compelling marketing materials during their site selection process. To meet this growing trend, the 2020 Marketing Assistance Program will support economic development efforts for six Tennessee communities by providing each location with:
- A promotional video
- Custom photography
- One-page website highlighting the community’s business assets, locations and quality of life
- A pitch presentation template
- Editorial coverage and paid advertising in a leading economic development trade publication
Eligibility
Any community (city or county)—located in a designated Tier 2, Tier 3 or Tier 4 county—is eligible to participate.
Selected applicants will be awarded at the city or county level. Organizations that assist with economic development in their county or city are eligible to apply, but they must have permission from a community to apply on their behalf.
Additionally, recipients of the program must be willing to adhere to the following criteria:
- Attend 1-day meeting with TNECD and production vendor to scout locations within the community
- Attend biweekly meetings to complete milestones provided by TNECD and production vendor
- Coordinate all talent and locations for video and photography shoots
- Commit to two full days for video and photography shoots with TNECD and production vendor
- Identify a community representative to act as a spokesperson for editorial interviews
- Attend 2020 Governor’s Conference on Economic and Community Development
- Communities located in a county that previously participated in the Marketing Assistance Program are not eligible.
- Communities located in a county that previously participated in the Marketing Assistance Program are not eligible.
Scoring
Applicants will be able to score a total of 100 points. Points will be designated based on the following rubric:
Application (Up to 50 Points)
The application is structured to identify key advantages that will resonate with corporate decision makers and site selectors. These themes include available site inventory, workforce and education, existing industries/well-known brands and quality of life.
The application will be scored based on how each field is answered. We are looking for responses that will give us a good idea of what makes the community unique and why they are marketable to corporate prospects.
Businesses Participation and Locations (Up to 50 Points)
In order to create the most compelling marketing deliverables, we need participation from the primary industrial businesses that define your community. It is important that you confirm initial participation from each business and location so we do not run into access issues during filming. We will need to film inside of facilities. Exterior building shots do not count. To ease any concerns from the locations, we won’t film any proprietary processes/equipment and they will approval all footage prior to it being public. We’ll even provide free b-roll footage and photography to their team for their own promotional usages.
Key Dates
- February 24, 2020- Online application submissions due
- February 28, 2020 - Program recipients notified
- November 11, 2020 - Video, photo and presentation assets delivered
For more information or questions:
Justin Lane - Marketing Director
justin.lane@tn.gov
Emily Levin Snow - Marketing Manager
emily.levin@tn.gov