Middlesex County Economic Development

TYPE: Economic Development

GOAL: Grow Businesses in Middlesex

DURATION: 4 YEARS

About

Situated in the heart of the Northeast Corridor, between New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, and Washington D.C., Middlesex County is home to numerous Fortune 500 companies, prestigious universities, and world-class healthcare and research facilities. Its vibrant arts, culture, and dining scenes—driven by its diverse population—make it a highly desirable place to live, work and prosper.

CHALLENGE

The County is making strategic investments in three key industries: Life Sciences, Food Innovation, and Autonomous Technology/AI. Communicating the numerous benefits—such as Talent, Location, Innovation, and Productivity—both generally and specifically, required the advertising to be tailored to each stage of three distinct funnels. This resulted in hundreds of targeted executions, each with customized landing pages and long-form video and written content.

Approach

Our task was to introduce county initiatives and cultivate a strong sense of place and pride, all built by taking an unheard of approach to county government: build a brand for the community, applying private-sector practices to enhance and improve the delivery of public services—an approach rarely seen in government.

Strategic Insights

Middlesex is a place, not a business, but they make it their business to help companies thrive. It’s not a coincidence that industry leaders have chosen to operate within the county. It is invested in your success, and will help you find the people, places, and partnerships that will take business to the heights companies dream of.

Regardless of how a business defines success, everything needed to achieve it is already here—innovation, talent, investment, customers, partnerships, and more. This applies across all business sectors, with messaging further tailored to the specific target industries of Life Science, Food Innovation, and Autonomous Tech / AI.

A 30-second prospecting ad was launched broadly to introduce Middlesex County as a desirable business destination, targeting key markets to generate interest and attract potential businesses.

CREATIVE PLATFORM:
You Should Be Here, Too.

30-second and 15-second targeted ads were created for all three primary audiences and general business site selectors, building on the introductory message. These messages featured testimonials delivered by industry experts to further engage and resonate with each targeted group.

SOLUTIONS

The multi-phase campaign included 81 video ads, 28 audio ads, and dozens of digital display, native, and print ads. The content was distributed across LinkedIn, trade publications, programmatic display, programmatic video on streaming and cable, OOH, and more.

Every piece of content drove traffic to industry-specific landing pages where visitors could explore the benefits of relocating or expanding their businesses in Middlesex County and connect with a dedicated expert in their industry from the Office of Business Engagement. Over two hundred qualified leads have been gathered to date.

CAMPAIGN ELEMENTS