We’ve also got No Limits, apparently.
Alex Tonelli, a 2011 graduate of the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a San Francisco entrepreneur, has never visited Houston. But he has impressions: Extreme heat, strip clubs, NASA and an oil-dominated economy.
His friends who have moved here have positive things to say, Tonelli added. But for the most part, among his peers, “Houston is not a commonly mentioned place where people consider moving.”
Well aware of such attitudes, the Greater Houston Partnership on Tuesday launched – to fanfare that included a three-minute video featuring everything from an astronaut bouncing on the moon to musicians rocking at the local House of Blues – a new image campaign designed to highlight some of the city’s amenities, from parks and museums to restaurants and the Galleria.
The campaign slogan, “Houston: The City With No Limits” also was unveiled to civic leaders and media gathered at NRG Stadium.
The image campaign will include television spots that reflect Houston’s upbeat spirit, diversity of opportunity and fun atmosphere, said Bob Harvey, president and CEO of the Greater Houston Partnership.
TV spots will run locally this year, and Harvey said the campaign will go worldwide next year.
Around $12 million will be spent over the next five or six years, either on marketing the city through the image campaign or targeting degreed young professionals. Starting next year the Greater Houston Partnership will visit college campuses, Harvey said.
Many outsiders consider Houston a good place to find work, but may not think of it as a great place to live, said Jamey Rootes, president of the Houston Texans and chairman of the Greater Houston Partnership’s image campaign.
Misperceptions about the quality of life in Houston impede the city’s ability to attract new companies and young professional talent, Rootes said. He wouldn’t name names or give dollar amounts, but he said specific opportunities have been lost in recent years.
The “City With No Limits” website is here; scroll down a bit to see the aforementioned video. It’s pretty good, with catchy music and visuals. If you didn’t already know it was about Houston, you might not clue into it until towards the end when there are clips of the four pro teams plus the Shell Houston Open. That may be the intended effect, to have it sort of sneak up on you. Anyway, I thought the hipness campaign from last year was pretty decent, but that was a Greater Houston Convention & Visitors Bureau effort, whereas this is the Greater Houston Partnership aiming at getting people to move here. I’m not sure if the two different themes will build on each other or if they and they myriad others we’ve had over the years are just a confusing jumble. I wonder if anyone has any data to track the effect of these campaigns, some of which have surely been more successful than others. Be that as it may, if nothing else we’re more confident about the product we’re selling these days; all that love about our food scene has to have helped. Swamplot and CultureMap have more.