Greater Des Moines Partnership

Category:Advertising & Marketing

Class:One

Greater Des Moines Partnership

Des Moines, Iowa

Synopsis:

Workforce development is one of the main areas of work for the Greater Des Moines Partnership. The ability to attract talented workers is a key focus of that work. For our region to build our workforce, we must be a net importer of talented people from around the nation and world. The Partnership has long mailed a “Relocation Guide” about Greater Des Moines to people who might consider moving to the region, often at the request of a local business recruiting that person.

In 2015, The Partnership saw the need to make a major update to the look, feel and content of the relocation guide, and put together a brand new Relocation Guide to showcase the region. The new guide provided shorter, catchier, easier to read and ultimately more informative text with more statistics and key messaging. It used more photography that was strategically chosen to showcase the quality of life and benefits of working in Greater Des Moines. Most uniquely, the format used was a circular flip-book, making the guide immediately appealing to pick up and conducive to flipping through over and over. It is sometimes referred to as the Des Moines version of the Rubik’s Cube. The Guide also incorporates The Partnership’s “Carpe DM Seize Des Moines” messaging.

Since its creation, the Guide has been sent to more than 1,500 people directly from The Partnership, and has been distributed through local companies. It has also been a very popular item at job fairs and on college campus recruiting efforts. All told, we ordered 7,500 Guides and have very few left due to the demand that has been shown for them. We had anticipated the 7,500 order lasting two years, and that quantity will not even get us through one full year of usage. Although it is difficult to keep specific statistics on how many people were influenced in some way by the piece, we can note that it has received high praise from many of our stakeholders including board and committee members. We have also received phone calls from a number of organizations that have inquired about who designed and printed the Guide. It was also regarded by attendees at the Development Councilors International Marketing Summit as one of the most innovative pieces shared at the summit.

Since 2010, Greater Des Moines’ population has grown 8.9 percent, outpacing surrounding Midwest metros of Chicago, Omaha, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Minneapolis and St. Louis. The growth is a result of many factors that contribute to the positive momentum of our community, and our organization is intentional about building programs that foster that growth, as well as sharing that growth in new and innovative ways with people around the country and world. The Relocation Guide is a great example of our intentional efforts to share our story.

The Relocation Guide’s budget was about $21,000 for the printing of 7,500 Guides.