The Unspoken Tourism Taboo: Why Accounts Should Sometimes Go to Out-of-State Agencies

Weighing familiarity against a fresh look

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In late March, the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation rolled out its new marketing campaign from what seemed like a dream team at the time: award-winning global ad agency Havas and famed I Heart NY designer Milton Glaser. But within a week of the campaign's release, Ocean State's natives revolted, arguing that the new tagline, "Rhode Island: Cooler and Warmer," and simplistic sailboat logo weren't a good fit for the state and should have been created by a local shop.

It didn't help matters that a promotional video mistakenly used images from Iceland.

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