Our Commitment Statement

When we embarked upon this journey of creating an authentic, comprehensive and compelling brand for the Philadelphia region, it was exciting to see organizations of all types in counties and corners throughout our metro region all say, “Yes, we need this.” With such unanimous consent as to the need, the path forward is primed for unity in accomplishing this goal. Our recent momentum and consecutive years of success have only reinforced the fact that even as we prosper, we’ve struggled to unite behind a shared effort that ultimately elevates us all.

Recently the Governance Committee participated in a mini strategic planning session, and it became crystal clear that the issue isn’t that no one is telling the story of our region and our assets. The issue is the fractured nature in which we do it. Due to a long period of scarce resources and a lack of unified marketing efforts, organizations in this region with complementary goals, compete against each other. This is our status quo. But it’s 2020 now, and together, WE can create the change. Together, we WILL achieve this goal to which we have all agreed to contribute time, money and energy.

In the spirit of creating change, we are changing the name of this effort from the Philadelphia Global Identity Project to Philadelphia Global Identity PARTNERSHIP. Because this is bigger than a project. This is a collective effort at its core. No one organization is leading; we are all leading.

Our priority is elevating all of our individual efforts and amplifying them. No more lone-ranger mentality- we must be a pack- a team- collaborative and invincible. People will question how a group of people from different, diverse backgrounds- small businesses, nonprofits, corporations, multiple regional governments- will succeed at banding together to collectively brand our region and spur economic development for all.

Well, that’s exactly what we’ve been doing and the commitment abounds. Doing things in this complex, collaborative, non-hierarchical way is a much more challenging process, but it’s also the right way forward and the path to meaningful, lasting outcomes. This partnership that we have started to forge is only going to grow and solidify. Together we are stronger. And there will always be room for those who want to bring new ideas, talent, and energy to the table. Thanks to all who have been a part of the laborious and imperfect foundational stage and agreed to persevere and offer your advice to make the process and end product better. Keep doing that.

In the next few months, the Leadership Council will host different organizations, counties, etc. to share existing and planned marketing efforts so that we are informed and can boost their efforts. So much good work exists already:

Temple University has a brand strategy that aligns with Philadelphia’s; Montgomery County has a new business and talent attraction video and campaign; The Greater Philadelphia Chamber has a cell and gene therapy marketing campaign and an upcoming tech talent campaign; PHL CVB’s “Frankly Philly” video evokes emotion, moving locals to tears; Visit Philly has a LatinX campaign following a successful campaign tailored to African Americans; Campus Philly is leading an effort to attract diverse tech graduates; PIDC will be leading an effort to determine our City’s growth clusters; The second B PHL Festival is planned for this fall, and newly renamed Philadelphia250 is already using the work of Brownstein Group to craft Philadelphia’s narrative for the semi-quincentennial. Just some examples of the awesome stuff that will further solidify Philadelphia’s earned place on the global stage.

Our goal is to finalize our toolbox this year, so all of us have a shared playbook with consistent messages from which to sell the region. And we’ll likely deliver a few things the region needs and doesn’t have, things almost every region does have.

We’ll fill those gaps. Different organizations will lead projects, and we’ll learn about them, support them, and champion each other’s efforts. Philadelphia impresses people - just take a look at everyone in this room. But over the last few decades, we as a region built our own glass ceiling.

It takes courage to shatter it -- and imagine the possibilities once we do. Let’s look forward and do some amazing things together this decade!

On behalf of the PGIP Governance and Finance Committees,

Thank you for your continued support!