About a year ago the Greater Cleveland Partnership teamed up with Cleveland Convention and Visitors Bureau and the business development group Team NEO to form the Greater Cleveland Marketing alliance. Its mission was to develop a marketing campaign with a broad regional focus. Rick Batico, the Partnership's Vice President for Regional Marketing, says the concept is in its final development stage, and the group expects it to be a major tool in Northeast Ohio's efforts to lure visitors and new residents.
Rick Batico: We've developed an umbrella brand from which we can hang a travel and tourism campaign, a business attraction campaign, and also do in-region marketing to help people within the region understand all the great things going on around here.
The marketing hook includes a new name to identify the region - which the marketing group is keeping closely guarded until it's unveiled in late April. Batico says the business community has kicked in $2.5 million to get the campaign rolling. Bill Rice, 90.3.