Last week the Corvallis Chamber of Commerce held an excellent open forum to review the Oregon Business Plan (co-sponsored by Salbasgeon Suites). A key speaker at the open forum was Julie Curtis, assistant director for Brand Oregon (and former Corvallis Tourism director).

Julie spoke on a key element of the business plan: Brand Oregon. This marketing campaign is a unique and excellent example of branded product promotion, often cross-promoted with tourism, whereby we promote Oregon by promoting Oregon products.

Launched by Gov. Ted Kulongoski in December 2003 at the Oregon Business Summit, Brand Oregon is an economic development initiative designed to unify the state's marketing and communication through branding. To this end, Brand Oregon has developed partnerships with a wide variety of industry groups, nonprofits and state agencies, and has produced three distinctive campaigns, focusing on seafood, "Oregon Bounty" (wine, pears, cheese and hazelnuts) and business recruitment.

The results of these marketing efforts to date have been impressive, not only in terms of Brand Oregon's leveraging of state funds, but in positive economic returns. For example, during the seafood campaign, launched in April, salmon prices were up 77 percent; pink shrimp up 60 percent; albacore tuna up 22 percent; and retail sales of seafood were up significantly at participating grocery stores in Salem and Portland.

Wineries participating in the November Oregon Bounty campaign report their tasting room visits increased tremendously, and markets also report increases in sales of the featured products.

Funds and in-kind contributions for these two campaigns came from agricultural commodity commissions, the Oregon Department of Agriculture, Pacific Seafood, the Oregon Tourism Commission, Clear Channel Communications and ad agency Wieden + Kennedy. The business recruitment ad campaign launches next month with a private-sector match of $150,000 to fund the media buy, supported by the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department.

This winter the Oregon Forest Resources Institute will produce a Brand Oregon ad touting sustainable forest practices, featuring local businessman Barte Starker of Starker Forests. Other local tie-ins to Brand Oregon's efforts include Marti Staprans Barlow's in-room city guide for local motels, which features Brand Oregon themes and graphics, and participation from the Harrison House Bed and Breakfast and Whitewater Warehouse in the Web-based "My Oregon Story" program.

Why is all this important to Oregon and to Corvallis? The successes the campaign has generated for its agricultural promotions simply would not have happened without Brand Oregon's efforts to stretch individual organizations' limited marketing funds into branded campaigns.

The partnerships that have been forged by Brand Oregon are ground-breaking. The synergies between product marketing and tourism promotion have brought new ideas to the table and helped promote Oregon's image in compelling and imaginative ways — just take a look at the "Oregon Chef," "Oregon Conservationist" and "Oregon Vintner" ads, all produced and paid for by the Oregon Tourism Commission under the Brand Oregon banner.

The outlook for Brand Oregon is very positive, but all of us who stand to benefit from a stronger image for Oregon and our products must put our efforts into ensuring that the campaign continues. Right now there is no line item in the governor's 2005-07 budget to continue the work of Brand Oregon. It's the hope of Corvallis Tourism and all the partners that state agencies and the private sector will carve out funds to continue Brand Oregon's success.

Brand Oregon has proved that branded marketing can stretch small promotional budgets into a message that is a far larger whole than the sum of its parts. Let's make sure Brand Oregon continues to work for tourism and the state's economy.

ON THE NET:

www.oregon.gov/BRANDOREGON

www.traveloregon.com

John Hope-Johnstone is the chief executive officer of Corvallis Tourism, president of the Tourism Industry Council of Oregon and president of the Greater Western Chapter of the Travel & Tourism Research Association.