NETWORKS Sullivan Partnership, the economic development organization for Sullivan County and its cities of Bluff City, Bristol, and Kingsport, and marketing and recruitment arm for Hawkins County, launched the first of a series of promotional videos May 31 to serve as supporting pieces to the community video the organization first made public two years ago. Like the first video, the latest marketing piece was produced as a collaborative effort with Cumberland Marketing. With its regional flavor, NETWORKS is offering the second video to other organizations and private companies.
“After the first collaboration with Cumberland went so well, turning out a product that has received more than half a million views and been recognized with an award of merit by the Southern Economic Development Council, we knew that keeping with our plan to produce a subset of topic-specific videos was the right path,” says NETWORKS CEO Clay Walker. “We’ve utilized Cumberland for a few other, smaller projects, and we are always amazed by two things: how well our team meshes and communicate with theirs – which is of utmost importance when taking on a creative endeavor – and the world class quality of their work.”
Walker said that from the beginning, the team recognized that in order to show the quality of life people enjoy here, the video would need to include footage beyond the Sullivan and Hawkins counties’ borders.
As the video neared completion, NETWORKS staff thought that it was something anyone in the region might want to use, so Walker proposed the idea to make the finished product a “gift to the region” at the April Board of Directors Meeting. The Board voted unanimously to do so.
“This video was intended to showcase the variety of exciting things to do that we enjoy and can sometimes even take for granted. You can’t tell that story within city or county boundaries, just as you can’t tell our available workforce, network of supporting industries, or countless other stories we tell in economic development,” Walker added. “So, if other organizations can use this video as a vehicle to tell our story, particularly to attract visitors, residents, and people to fill key positions, we obviously want to make this available to them.”
Full video here
