Maybe it's that Canadian government entities have more money to spend on self-promotion. I have no idea. In any case I was recently searching for business development and tourism videos about different cities on the Internet, and I came across one about Winnipeg, Manitoba (a place I have never been) that I actually liked:
A Day in the Life, from Discover Winnipeg
These types of promotional videos all too often miss the mark, but I think this one does a pretty good job of giving me more than just shots of a prosperous-looking skyline, a dramatic sunset, someone playing a saxophone, people holding shopping bags walking down a city street, the obligatory "nightlife" shots inside a nightclub, etc.
I think the first-person repetition ("I live here, I work here, I play here"), the (no doubt carefully chosen) pictures of everyday people, and the time-elapsed representation of a typical day in the city greatly aid the viewer, especially the younger viewer, in envisioning themselves in Winnipeg. The acknowledgment of the temporal dimension seems to be key in filling in holes that a conventional booklet with photos often doesn't. Oftentimes universities, in marketing themselves to prospective students, include itineraries of a variety of students to give more of a 4D impression of what life in said place is like. This strategy seems to work. You get a sense of the various ingredients and variations that could make up a possible day, week, or lifetime.
The other, more conventional video about Winnipeg that's available on the same website seems to be aimed more at the visitor than the prospective resident, including split-screen shots of various hotels, convention halls, etc along with I think too much footage from other things in the city. I think the music is supposed to impart a feeling of energy and vitality to the montage but in my opinion it's intrusive and cheesy to the point of being embarrassing. I would imagine this is aimed at middle-aged business professionals with boring personalities.
Demonstrating a distinctly different approach to place marketing, and aimed at young people in the same way the first Winnipeg video seems to be, the website of Stay Invent PA tries to exude a tech-friendly image while listing various ingredients that would make up a day in the life of living somewhere in Pennsylvania. I understand that the "mood" function is supposed to impart a feeling of agency to me in my visiting the site, i.e. I can customize the site (and by extension Pennsylvania) to meet my needs...but I don't think the variations are interesting or distinct enough. The stock photography of young professionals doesn't leave much of an impression, either, and there is too much mumbo-jumbo about the way the initiative was organized.
And is this really enough to get a person to "stay invent PA"? I don't think so:
Health care, education and high technology rank among the top employment opportunities in the Pittsburgh area. Home to seven Fortune 500 companies, Pittsburgh offers big city amenities and boundless hospitality in an atmosphere that is small-town friendly. Travelers arriving by plane can enjoy the first-class service at the Pittsburgh International Airport, voted one of the best U.S Airports by Conde Nast Traveler.
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