Local ads challenge big cities

This college town is an oasis of liberalism in a resoundingly conservative state, a place where tree sit-ins have become as routine as sign-waving protests against Starbucks and other corporate operations.\nBut in a new effort to attract high-tech businesses and entrepreneurs, the home of Indiana University has turned to an advertising campaign that drops the index finger on the peace sign and gets, well, borderline belligerent.\n"Frankly Atlanta, we don't give a damn," reads one ad, which later claims those "old Southern ways ... they're just 'gone with the wind.'"\nAnother chides New Englanders: "Hey Boston, let's see you pahk ya cah."\nThe ad agency that created the new campaign sought a strategy to separate Bloomington from all the other smaller towns in the country.\n"It seems there are always these 10 or 12 cities across the country that are always getting the attention. So we decided to make them mad," said Tom Hirons, head of Hirons & Co., which created the campaign for the Bloomington Economic Development Corp.\nThe edgy ads won "Best In Show" at the American Economic Development Council's 2001 awards competition, despite the fact that they've only run in IU alumni magazines published in the target cities: Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Denver, San Jose and Seattle.\nAside from taunting the cities -- poking fun at Seattle's rainy weather and San Jose's power outages -- the ads list statistics like cost of living, commute time, crime index and percent of population that holds at least a bachelor's degree. Bloomington beats these cities in all the categories, thus the campaign's slogan: "Urban amenities without the big city hassles. Bring it."\nWith the downturn in the manufacturing industry, Indiana has been pushing for more high-tech businesses to bolster its economy. Both Indiana and Purdue Universities are making huge tech investments, and are working to attract researchers and create locally headquartered businesses.\n"We've got a lot of things to market here besides an open field where you can build a building," said Linda Williamson, president of Bloomington's economic development corporation.\nCity leaders were skeptical about the new ad campaign when it was first brought to them, she said.\n"It was not immediately loved," Williamson said. "But in short order they really bought into it."\nIt's too soon to see any definite impact from the ad campaign, though Williamson said there's been increased traffic on her office's Web site and they have had some inquiries, ranging from people wanting to retire in Bloomington to people looking to start a business.\nThe next step is placing the ads in newspapers and magazines in the targeted cities.\n"It's time for someone to challenge the myth that these top-ranked cities are really the best," Hirons said.\nJane Martin, who covers the Midwest for a Massachusettes-based venture capital firm, said Bloomington's goal is not so far-fetched. She worked for some time in the Silicon Valley area, and she found that the best-known high-tech hubs aren't always as attractive as one might guess.\n"We had a tough time recruiting people into San Francisco," Martin said. "The cost of living was horrendous. We really think these nontraditional areas, in terms of venture capital, are the best-kept secrets around."\nStill, the larger cities -- the Goliaths to Bloomington's David -- are not exactly shaking in their boots.\nThe San Jose Office of Economic Development wasn't even aware of the ad campaign. And Atlanta didn't seem phased.\n"We really believe people here love it here, and they're not likely to leave," said Laura Kane, senior vice president of marketing for the Atlanta Office of Economic Development. "When you've got good tech talent, you have to expect people will try to raid it. It's flattering, obviously, that they targeted us."\nYet Bloomington's not done playing. Research is already being done on this peaceful little city's next victim.\nLook out, Chicago.