NEWS

Pittsburgh Region Prepares to “Roar”
New Campaign Announced, Project Director, Agency of Record Named

Pittsburgh, PA. August 19, 2005 – Get ready to hear Pittsburgh roar. Twenty-seven Pittsburgh organizations have partnered in a new marketing campaign designed to promote the region’s vast array of arts, culture and family attractions. The campaign will feature a series of animal-themed events and programming in Pittsburgh and surrounding communities under a marketing initiative dubbed “Pittsburgh Roars.”

“We’re throwing a party next year. The theme is animals and everyone is invited to come,” says Michael Watson, Senior Vice President of the Richard King Mellon Foundation and co-chair of Pittsburgh Roars. He adds that Pittsburgh Roars communicates a powerful unifying theme that people of all ages will find fascinating – the beauty, fun and wonder of animals.

The campaign will begin in March 2006 and run through December 2006. The goals of the campaign are to position Pittsburgh as a destination for visitors; generate economic benefits for Pittsburgh; increase attendance at participating venues; and garner national attention.

From live, exotic animals in their natural habitat to animals as depicted through the centuries by great artists to animals on the big screen to animal exhibits dating back to the dinosaurs, Pittsburgh Roars is an unprecedented opportunity that offers something for everyone while packaging the Pittsburgh region as a great place to visit.

More than two dozen organizations will be involved in the campaign, including The Andy Warhol Museum, African American Cultural Center, Carnegie Museum of Art, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Carnegie Science Center, Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, City Theater, Frick Art and Historical Center, Manchester Craftsman Guild, Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Pittsburgh CLO, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Pittsburgh Opera, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium, Quantum Theater, Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center, the National Aviary, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and WQED Multimedia. Other partners include the Greater Pittsburgh Convention & Visitors Bureau, Allegheny Conference on Community Development, Richard King Mellon Foundation and offices of Mayor, city of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County Chief Executive.

Pittsburgh Roars’ March 2006 launch will coincide with the banner exhibition at the Carnegie Museum of Art entitled “Fierce Friends, Artists & Animals in the Industrial Era.” The exhibition is presented in collaboration with the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, where it will open this fall. Pittsburgh will be the only other venue where people can view this extraordinary exhibit.

Other events from various museums, cultural organizations, conservancies and attractions are in the planning stages.

The organizing committee for Pittsburgh Roars announced that Donna L. Bour was recently hired as Project Director. Most recently, Donna served as Managing Director of the successful 2005 CITGO Bass Master Classic Local Organizing Committee. Previously, Donna worked in the healthcare field and for several arts organizations.

“The set of skills Donna brings is exactly what is needed to coordinate the many facets that will make this region ‘roar’ with excitement next year,” says Suzy Broadhurst, chair of the Board of Trustees at Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh and co-chair of Pittsburgh Roars.

To handle the marketing, advertising and public relations aspects of Pittsburgh Roars, the organizing committee has chosen GBL, Inc.,
JA Interactive and Markowitz Communications.

“This combination of skills and capabilities brings a full range of creative services and adds real excitement and energy to the project. This talented team will coordinate the promotional activities with the Greater Pittsburgh Convention & Visitors Bureau,” states Pam Golden of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development and co-chair of the Pittsburgh Roars marketing committee.

The Pittsburgh Roars campaign will be modeled after Pittsburgh Shines, a 2001 citywide marketing campaign that was designed to highlight the vibrancy of the local arts scene. Light!, a major exhibition at Carnegie Museum of Art, served as the centerpiece of the campaign. The Pittsburgh Shines campaign was the first effort by the Greater Pittsburgh Convention & Visitors Bureau to package a number of local arts events under one theme.

Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh initiated the Pittsburgh Roars idea as it started to explore the possibility of a citywide marketing and tourism campaign for 2006. Initially started as conversations between the two Oakland museums to coordinate their programming around a central theme, the idea grew to include the entire Pittsburgh region.