The Business Development Board of Palm Beach County was honored at The Florida Economic Development Council’s (FEDC) 2012 Annual Meeting with three first-place awards in promotional and marketing innovation — and two of those were for creative work done in collaboration with Alchemy.
The BDB received the first-place award in the following categories: Ad Campaign for its “Right Here.Right Now.” multimedia effort targeting out-of-state corporate headquarters via a direct appeal to those companies’ CEOs (produced with Alchemy); External Publication for its annual business magazine and investor/member directory, Profile Magazine (primarily an in-house effort with the help of an outside publisher specializing in this sort of hybrid product); and E-Media for its micro-site at www.HQpbc.com, the web-based component of the “Right Here. Right Now.” campaign (again, with Alchemy).
FEDC’s annual awards both emphasize outstanding marketing strategies and encourage the development of more effective marketing tools through example. Judging criteria included creativity, impact, quality, originality, and substance. In a press release announcing the wins, the BDB’s President and CEO, Kelly Smallridge, said, ““We are extremely proud to be recognized for the way we market Palm Beach County to businesses. The BDB was able to compete statewide and win three awards due to the commitment of the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners and the private sector.”
Ms. Smallridge went on to make direct reference to the ongoing work Alchemy has been doing with the BDB over the past two years in rebranding all of its collateral and revamping the look of its various media, from print collateral and ads, to web and social. “We updated our brand through the design and implementation of new print materials and a new website to better market the attractive business climate in Palm Beach County to potential corporate headquarters. It’s very rewarding to be recognized by our peers throughout the state as having programs which are innovative and designed to showcase the assets of our corporate environment.”
It has been rewarding for Alchemy as well to work with a client so open-minded to change and willing to step away from the tried-and-true look developed by so many economic development organizations around the country with which Palm Beach County competes.
The Business Development Board of Palm Beach County is the official public/private economic development organization for Palm Beach County and Enterprise Florida. Founded in 1982 — and celebrating its 30th Anniversary, for which Alchemy designed a special logo that will be unveiled at its annual Gala in September — as a not-for-profit corporation, the BDB’s primary purpose is to attract and retain new industry, business investment, high-quality jobs, and workforce development through corporate relocations, expansions, and international trade. During the past five years, the BDB has assisted companies that have created more than 7,900 direct jobs with average salaries greater than $55,400, resulting in more than $400 million in capital investment to Palm Beach County and an economic impact that exceeds $1.8 billion. And that benefits us all.
