MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WPMI) The Alabama Department of Commerce Tuesday unveiled a new business-to-business brand for the state: Made In Alabama.
The brand launch is backed by the introduction of the Department’s ground-breaking new website,
MadeInAlabama.com, which tells Alabama’s economic development story through sharable news content.
The branding and marketing initiative resulted from a set of recommendations included in Accelerate Alabama, the Strategic Economic Development Plan presented by the Economic Development Alliance of Alabama and adopted by Governor Robert Bentley in January of 2012.
“Accelerate Alabama called for us, through the Department of Commerce, to develop a strategic and effective marketing plan for reaching site consultants and company representatives from across the world,” Governor Bentley said. “Made In Alabama answers that call and goes one step further by reminding people here at home that we have a lot to be proud of.”
Proof of Alabama’s recent economic development accomplishments was also announced Tuesday when Gov. Bentley shared the Department of Commerce’s 2012 New and Expanding Industries report. The report shows a 32 percent increase year-over-year in capital investment in the state of Alabama from new and expanding industries. In 2012, companies announced $5,405,382,649 in investment and 20,847 new jobs coming to Alabama.
MadeInAlabama.com centers around original and aggregated news content in topics including manufacturing, workforce, innovation and infrastructure. It builds on a growing global marketing trend in which brands are becoming online publishers in order to increase engagement with their customers.
“When we looked at cost-effective ways to tell the whole story of what is happening here in Alabama as well as the incredible potential for continued growth, there was no question that this online news platform should be the foundation for our marketing efforts,” said Secretary of Commerce Greg Canfield. “Alabama is at the cutting edge when it comes to high-tech industrial manufacturing and groundbreaking medical research, and we need to deliver a marketing program just as sophisticated.”
The Made In Alabama brand and website was designed and developed by Alabama-based public relations and advertising agency Big Communications.
