It features the lakes of course. A now annual bicycle ride. Neighborhoods. Sports. Nature.
“Come Discover Lakeland” www.comediscoverlakeland.com is a newly produced two+ minute video highlighting the City and its assets and its reasons to live and work in Lakeland.
Running Pony shot the video footage from spring to fall of this year, according to Commissioner Matt Wright who was part of the team to produce the marketing piece.
Others on the team were Vice Mayor Josh Roman, City Manager Jim Atkinson, Lakeland Chamber of Commerce president Wil Ashworth and Lakeland School System Dr. Ted Horrell.
Money for the project came from an EDGE (Economic Development Growth Engine) grant for $60,000.
Tom Skehan, City planning director, said the grant was initiated by the Lakeland Chamber of Commerce and matched by the City: $30K award and $30K match.
“The EDGE grant funded many marketing and Chamber building activities such as the Running Pony video, Geographic Information System (Mapping) enhancements to our website and much needed Chamber of Commerce accounting and contact management software,” said Mr. Skehan.
The video will be part of a regional marketing campaign for the city. Mr. Wright donated the video website to the City which will be used to reach residents and business owners in Shelby and Fayette Counties. “Robust social media campaigns on both Facebook and Twitter will be targeting residents looking to move or build,” he said. “A billboard on I-40 will also be part of the campaign as well as other targeted marketing initiatives such as information for Shelby County Realtors.
“We have a lot to brag about in Lakeland and this campaign shows what makes Lakeland so special, it’s the people,” said Commissioner Wright.
“Achieving 35,000 impressions on this campaign over the next six months should be very attainable in my opinion,” he added. Impressions are the number of people who watch the video, visit the site and interact with a post, etc. he noted.
“I’m excited from an economic standpoint. This will show business owners, retailers and restaurants Lakeland is quickly becoming a place they should explore for future growth,” said Vice Mayor Roman.
From Mr. Ashworth: “The Chamber has collaborated with the City for months to help produce the video that will be used to market our City and the amenities that it offers, and we are very pleased with the results. We believe the video and the associated website will help attract families and businesses that are interested in moving to our community.”
