That’s what Prince Edward Island is banking on.
On Three is working with investPEI, the Summerside Regional Development Corporation and the City of Summerside on an aggressive campaign to attract Health IT firms to the province. And it’s all based on a single brick.
“We were touring the new Health IT facility in Summerside and we passed a pile of bricks that had been collected from the redevelopment of the property,” explains On Three’s Heather Ciere. “We got to thinking about what the bricks represented beyond the multi-million dollar investment in this building. They represented the ‘building’ of a vision for Health IT too. Why not use something tangible like a brick to represent PEI’s ambitions?”
As a result of this idea, 250 bricks are being mailed out to targeted Health IT firms that would be a good fit to call the Holman’s IT Innovation Centre in Summerside home. Each package will contain an actual brick from the facility along with a postcard and a letter explaining why recipients have been mailed a brick and outlining the vision for Health IT that it represents.
“Generally, direct mail campaigns have a terrible ROI,” says On Three’s Jim McGimpsey. “They usually end up in the recycling bin before they are ever opened. But what about mailing a package with a brick inside? That makes people stop and take notice. Even if the reaction is one of confusion, it still ensures that the receiver looks further at the materials to make sense of their strange delivery.”
On Three is counting on this reaction to spark interest and open the door for further conversations. “We could play it safe with a glossy brochure or we could do something different,” explains McGimpsey. “This way, people will remember us as the city that sent them a brick – the city that took a chance and worked hard to get their attention”.
The campaign is part of a ramp-up to the Healthcare Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Conference in April. It also features a companion web destination and email campaign with testimonials from local Health IT leaders.
“It’s a coordinated effort that marries direct mail, email, online and face-to-face interaction,” says Ciere. “The brick will become a familiar icon for PEI’s Health IT ambitions, and we believe this will set the province apart in attracting new investment.”
Prince Edward Island was ranked 4th worldwide for Advanced Software Development by KPMG. It is aggressively pursuing this sector as an area of growth. The brick campaign will play a significant role in this attraction strategy. For more information, visit investpei.ca/healthIT.
Tags: economic development marketing, Health IT, Prince Edward Island