Westporter Picked to Pitch the State

By James Lomuscio

“I Love New York.” “New Jersey and You.” “Virginia is for Lovers.”

Tony Kobylinski: Seeking “major rock” brand. Contributed photo

And Connecticut?

Westporter Tony Kobylinski is thinking.

Kobylinski, whose New York ad firm this month got a piece of Gov.  Dannel P. Malloy’s $22 million state marketing campaign, says the most demanding task will be to develop “a brand for the state.”

“I think one of the biggest challenges is to bring the Connecticut DNA to the forefront because right now there’s really a lack of any kind of brand for the state,” said Kobylinski, creative director for Chowder, Inc., one of four companies hired from 21 proposals for the two-year campaign.

“I really think of it as Connecticut’s DNA, and that’s what we’re trying to find an uncover,” added the Westport resident of 15 years. “I know it’s there.”

Sandwiched between major media markets in New York and Boston, and with the Connecticut River a de facto dividing line between Yankees and Red Sox fans, the Nutmeg State, the third smallest in the union, has long felt fractured.

On Tuesday, Kobylinski, whose company is the creative arm of the state’s campaign, began a week-long brainstorming session, holed up with principals of the three other companies hired by the state Department of Economic and Consumer Development (DECD).

The other firms include Media Storm of South Norwalk, the ad placement company with the lion’s share of the state budget, $22 million, to buy TV, online, radio and print ads, Kobylinski said. In addition are the St. Louis-based public relations firm Fleishman-Hillard and The Harrison Group, a Waterbury research company that will conduct all of the focus groups.

Kobylinski noted that the “I Love New York” campaign, which “set the gold standard” for state promotions, is the level for which they are aiming. He said the goal is to have the “branding campaign break by April.”

“We’re developing two campaigns simultaneously,” he said. “The other campaign will be sharing people’s Connecticut stories, to gather and share these great Connecticut stories.”

The difficulty in finding a brand, Kobylinski said, is the stereotype of Fairfield County affluence as indicative of Connecticut, “and Fairfield County is just one fifth of the state.”

“Because of that, the four-fifths don’t feel like they’re part of the state, and our task is to make it borderless so that we’re all part of the same Connecticut,” he said.

In the throes of an economic downtown, Connecticut abandoned its marketing campaign two years ago, an abandonment Malloy wanted to reverse after seeing how surrounding states still promoted themselves as places to visit and do business.

Kobylinski stressed that the DECD presented the marketing companies with three specific tasks to address in the campaign: economic development, tourism and talent retention. He said that his company is looking for “a magic rock” brand that can hit all three goals simultaneously.

“The magic rock is going to be this branding idea that’s going to speak to all three pillars, and it should be based on truth, something that people can relate to,” he said.

When people begin to see that brand, he added, “They will buy into it.”

A New Jersey transplant, Kobylinski said he had no trouble being sold on Westport when he first looked at the town 15 years ago.

“My wife’ best friend moved up here, and I really wanted to stay within an hour’s commute from the city,” said Kobylinski, an art director working at Young & Rubicam at the time. “I came up here and absolutely fell in love with the place.”

He and his wife Susan have three daughters who attend Long Lots Elementary School, Bedford Middle School and Staples High School.

Now a principal at Chowder, Kobylinski said he got the idea for the company name after seeing an old poster for New England Clam Chowder at McSorley’s Old Ale House in New York City. An eclectic, creative mix, a chowder, was how Kobylinski said he viewed the company’s 12-member team of artists and copywriters.

He said Chowder was picked, with the contracts signed about a week ago, because of its experience promoting tourism. Its largest client is the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism. Chowder also worked with the North of England Development Association to entice executives to relate to the country’s northern tier.

Now Kobylinski’s task is much closer to home, and he admits it will be a challenge as he and other marketers roll up their shirtsleeves over the next week.

“I think we have a lot to work with, and we’re really excited about it, and we’re looking to make a splash,” he said.