Case Study

Business Oregon:

Sharing the impact of Oregon innovators

Challenge

Business Oregon is the state’s economic development agency focused on promoting a globally competitive, diverse, and inclusive economy. They partnered with QT to craft a comprehensive marketing campaign to raise awareness of the Oregon Innovation Council (Oregon InC), a public-private partnership under Business Oregon responsible for shaping state innovation policy and supporting innovators in bringing new technologies to market. Oregon InC’s initiatives result in the creation of high-wage jobs, increased local business spending, and the attraction of significant federal and private investments to communities throughout the state.

QT started by conducting 25 interviews with a diverse group of regional stakeholders, revealing that innovation was seen as beneficial for the economy, but Oregon InC’s impact was relatively unknown as its funds are distributed by third-party accelerators. There was also confusion about what innovation is and who benefits from it. To drive change, the campaign would need to reach state leaders, the general public and past beneficiaries who could be messengers for the Oregon InC story.

Approach

To increase awareness of Oregon InC, QT implemented a comprehensive marketing campaign using a funneled approach. The campaign included creation of a vibrant new brand representing Oregon’s innovative spirit, new messaging to clarify Oregon InC’s objectives and impact, and a new tagline: “Innovation Drives Prosperity for Every Oregonian.” The campaign centerpiece was a fresh landing page sharing new data on the scale of Oregon InC’s impact and grant recipient success stories. QT also developed a toolkit that enables grant recipients who receive funds through third parties to promote Oregon InC.

To educate our audience and drive them to the landing page, QT launched a highly targeted digital display and social ad campaign across Oregon. The paid campaign was paired with local media outreach focused on grant recipients’ success stories, their hyper-local economic impact, and why state support for innovation is vital.

Results

The campaign achieved impressive results, generating substantial engagement from the target audience and empowering dozens of influential beneficiaries to become advocates for Oregon InC.

2.6M

impressions

11,300

ad clicks

14,000

landing page views

Services provided for this project: