The City of El Paso Launches
into New Territory

The Project

Over the years, we’ve had the pleasure of working with the City of El Paso on a number of community-based awareness projects. In 2022, our services were requested once again when we were asked to help with an exciting new project that would benefit the community for years to come.

Early in 2021, the American Rescue Plan was signed into law and developed as an effort to help Americans recover from the impact of COVID-19. The plan was allocated $3 billion, $1 billion of which was part of the Build Back Better Regional Challenge, a program aiming to boost economic recovery from the pandemic and to rebuild American communities. The City of El Paso entered the challenge and was ultimately awarded a $40 million grant to help with its own economic development efforts.

The opportunity was a timely one as the City had already been working on the development of its advanced manufacturing industry over the past several decades. Existing advantages such as the presence of manufacturing businesses, area military bases, a young workforce and a diverse aerospace education program at UTEP served
as its foundation. Meanwhile, the appearance of aerospace companies across the region helped to advance the initiative as a whole.

The City realized that area residents needed to be both made aware of and excited about the developing industry in order to benefit from both existing and future job opportunities. That was our cue to help.

The Approach

We started with a thorough review of research and information as well as deep-dive interviews with city representatives, local educators, and advanced manufacturing executives. This helped with the preparation of a detailed strategic outline and direction for the City.

An undertaking of this magnitude and longevity definitely required a comparable build-up of excitement to garner peoples’ interest. We wanted to be sure our creative direction and theme accomplished this while also incorporating factors such as the aerospace component of the industry, the shift in quality of employment opportunities, improvements to El Paso’s economy, plus a nod to our West Texas region and roots.

The resulting theme: El Paso’s Next Frontier. This was developed by focusing on what the industry entailed along with messaging that encouraged area residents to be prepared for the related jobs that were to come in the near future. As for the audience, it was agreed that our focus should be on those looking for higher-paying jobs throughout the region. However, it was also important to build awareness among area youth as well. Not only about future career opportunities but the academic pathways that would be necessary to attain them.

The Results

Our strategic direction was well-received by the City team as well as local leadership, receving unanimous approval when presented at City Hall. We launched an omni-channel combination of radio, social media, digital, outdoor and other components in a phased effort to start the campaign in a timely manner. All elements led users to a landing page where they could learn more about the campaign’s history as well as the industry’s future.

Throughout the campaign period, metrics showed that audience interest was rather high with a strong performance of impressions as well as click through engagement and completion rates of promotional videos. The social media portion of the campaign also performed well, as audience engagement via reactions and comments have been plentiful.

As proven with initial audience engagement, there’s plenty of interest in the City’s endeavors and how it will benefit area residents. Luckily, there will be lots more to share in the months and years to come… and CultureSpan is certainly ready to help strategize accordingly.

If you’re in the market for a strategy of your own, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at Gabriel.Acuna@CultureSpanMarketing.com to discuss the goals and objectives for your campaign.