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Since
Rise of the Creative Class author Richard Florida’s visit to the University of Cincinnati in 2001, Cincinnati leaders and young professionals have yearned openly for positive and hip national exposure for the city, especially in light of the transformation of the Fountain Square district in 2005-06, which has witnessed the investment of $600 million in public-private dollars and the addition of more than a dozen restaurants and nightclubs.
Despite the significant investment in bricks and mortar for the city’s epicenter, by summer of 2008 Cincinnati still had not garnered a large positive national spotlight to tell the story of the city’s rebirth and to build momentum for the future in attracting and retaining young professional talent, the region’s heart and soul.
The popularity of the 3 Doors Down video,
It’s Not My Time, which was shot entirely in Cincinnati in March of 2008, gave metaphor studio – working with the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky Film Commission and Time Warner Cable of Southwest Ohio– the platform to recruit VH1 VJ Alison Becker and VH1’s Top 20 Video Countdown to spotlight Cincinnati’s progress.
challenge
The challenges behind this project were manyfold: Cincinnati is not often thought of as a music-oriented destination in the manner of Seattle, Nashville and Austin, and VH1’s Top 20 Video Countdown rarely tapes out of its home headquarters of New York City. When VH1 has taken its Top 20 Video Countdown on the road, it has demanded the destination venue pick up its entire production tab, such as video-crew expenses, talent fees, transportation costs, hotel accommodations and per-diem expenses.
In addition, up until the summer of 2008 there has been a lack of inertia among civic leaders to leverage Cincinnati’s music scene and second-tier arts community, such as the Film Commission, ArtWorks, Lightborne Communications and Shake It Records, as leading, in-your-face vehicles to promote the renaissance of the city.
Furthermore, attracting a network program to travel thousands of miles is fraught with logistical and timing concerns.
metaphor’s solution
metaphor studio – utilizing its four-dimensional approach to public relations – seized upon the opportunity of the 3 Doors Down video
It’s Not My Time debuting at No. 14 on VH1’s Top 20 Video Countdown in May by immediately contacting officials at Cincinnati City Hall to garner their support in inviting VJ Alison Becker and VH1’s Top 20 Video Countdown to Cincinnati to connect the dots of the back story of the video tied with the rebirth of Cincinnati.
metaphor, together with the Film Commission, was successful in earning the interest of VH1 President Tom Calderone to bring the program to Cincinnati in early June.
Knowing a timely, national media opportunity could slip away if the video fell in popularity or if the interest of VH1 waned, metaphor’s new PR unit under the direction of CEO Suzanne Beane and SVP Raymond Buse III went to work to serve as the catalyst of the VH1 recruitment effort by enlisting a diverse group of city and statewide leaders to sing Cincinnati's praises to VH1, including: Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, Sen. George Voinovich, U.S. Reps. Steve Chabot and Jean Schmidt, Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory, Cincinnati Vice Mayor David Crowley, Cincinnati City Council Members John Cranley, Laketa Cole, Chris Bortz, Leslie Ghiz and Roxanne Qualls, Mayor Mallory's Young Professional Kitchen Cabinet, Hamilton County Commissioner David Pepper, Ohio State Sens. Eric Kearney and Robert Schuler, Ohio State Rep. Steve Driehaus, Bootsy Collins and his newly formed Cincinnati USA Music Heritage Foundation, National Underground Railroad Freedom Center CEO Donald Murphy, 3CDC CEO Stephen Leeper, Cincinnati USA Convention & Visitors Bureau CEO Dan Lincoln, UC President and 2008 Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber Chair Nancy Zimpher, and many, many others.
"Retaining and attracting highly mobile, young professional talent is a key economic development initiative for Midwest states like Ohio," Gov. Strickland wrote to VH1 President Calderone. "I cannot underscore enough how much the dedicated and energetic people of Ohio would appreciate VH1's timely spotlight on Cincinnati."
Gov. Strickland concluded by saying: "I encourage you to consider telling the story of the rebirth of a great American city – Cincinnati, Ohio – on your network as it plays a major role in shaping and defining American popular culture."
Due to metaphor’s vision, leadership and tenacity, VH1 committed its production team to visit Cincinnati Sept. 5-6. metaphor and the film Commission crafted a very diverse shot list of Cincinnati landmarks and icons with a distinct urban feel for Top 20 Video Countdown tour of the city, including: the John Roebling Suspension Bridge, The Ascent at Roebling's Bridge, the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum, the Serpentine Wall, the Cincinnatus Statue at Sawyer Point, Union Terminal, Findlay Market, Bellevue Hill Park (where 3 Doors Down filmed their dramatic perspective of the Queen City skyline), Camp Washington Chili, the Campy Washington Mural, Shake It Records, the Backstage District, Fountain Square, Lightborne Communications, Arnold's Bar & Grill, City View Tavern with the world headquarters of P&G in the background, and the American Sign Museum. A Fountain Square interview with Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Bootsy Collins, a native Cincinnatian, was taped and featured as the segue to the No. 1 video of the week.
To welcome VJ Becker and the eight-person VH1 production team to town, on Friday, Sept. 5 – at metaphor’s orchestration – city officials held a welcoming ceremony in City Council Chambers at City Hall and proclaimed the day as "Alison Becker Day" in Cincinnati. The office of Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland also issued a proclamation honoring VH1's visit to the Queen City.
Among the honors Becker – a noted actress and comedian with scores of national TV and movie credits to her name – received at the welcoming ceremony at City Hall included:
• Representatives of the Ivory Soap Brand unveiled an Ivory Soap bust of Becker.
• Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Bootsy Collins bestowed upon Becker a specially tailored King of Funk hat bearing the VH1 logo, and a pair of his famed star shades.
• Ben-Gal cheerleaders presented Becker with a specially tailored Bengals jersey bearing the No. 20 – as in Top 20 Video Countdown – and the nameplate reading "Mucho Video" in honor of Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson, who recently changed his legal name to Ocho Cinco.
• The University of Cincinnati Pep Band performed "You Can Call Me Al" in tribute to Becker's first name, Alison.
• Artworks – the inner city arts program for Cincinnati – unveiled a hand-painted, cherry red guitar electric guitar depicting a portrait of Becker surrounded by flying pigs and coneys, rendered by artist Scott Donaldson, who also created the Campy Washington Mural for ArtWorks.
• Servatii Pastry Shop created a large, triple-tier cake honoring VH1.
• Cincinnati City Council Member John Cranley, the first elected official to embrace bringing VH1 to Cincinnati, emceed the colorful proceedings, which also included Vice Mayor David Crowley and Council Member Laketa Cole.
• Members of Mayor Mallory's YP Kitchen Cabinet literally rolled out a Cincinnati-Red carpet in honor of Becker and dropped rose petals in her path as she entered City Council chambers.
Becker responded to the Cincinnati-centric tributes and welcome ceremony on her blog, saying: "OMG. Today (Sept. 5) was such a thrill. The city of Cincinnati presented me with an electric guitar with a portrait of me, a custom Bengals jersey, a funky hat from the King Of Funk, Bootsy Collins, a bust of myself hand-carved from Ivory Soap, and an official proclamation from the Mayor declaring today Alison Becker Day. Bonkers! Cincinnati is the best!"
metaphor’s four-dimensional approach to PR worked exquisitely with VH1, providing the hook (Cincinnati speaking as one to VH1); the timeliness (the popularity of the 3 Doors Down video); the brand (the renaissance of Cincinnati); to deliver the emotion of VJ Alison Becker in pronouncing, “I could not love this city any more. This is a great pumping city.”
