Ads accent oft-unseen prizes in Portsmouth

PORTSMOUTH

Realtor Karen Marie Smith knows that out-of-towners sometimes have to see Portsmouth to believe it, so she'll get them in her car and drive them there.

"They'll say, 'Wow, I didn't even know there were any nice areas of Portsmouth,' " she said.

The city's economic development team hopes a new marketing campaign will have the same effect on a larger scale. Ads spotlighting different neighborhoods began running earlier this month on an electronic billboard on Interstate 264, and network TV commercials will begin running regionally in January.

"It's certainly nontraditional in that we're not soliciting businesses, we're

soliciting residents," Economic Development Director Patrick Small said.

The first round of spots features nine neighborhoods. Photos show stately waterfront houses, historic homes and flag-lined porches.

"Get More In Portsmouth - tell your Realtor," they say.

Another line of ads will feature the friendly faces of local residents in their neighborhoods, with their names and the slogan: "This is my Portsmouth."

Ringer/rg, a Virginia Beach-based marketing agency, developed the campaign.

"The bottom line in this campaign is promoting the fact that you can get a lot more for your dollar buying a home in Portsmouth," said Jeff Ringer, the company's president.

The TV ads will have two phases with combined budgets of about $66,500, not including some production costs, according to a summary from Ringer/rg.

Small said he had enough in his marketing budget to pay for the campaign through the fiscal year, which ends June 30. He had freed up money by slashing advertising in trade publications, magazines and other print media - buys that in Small's experience returned little value.

The billboard placement was free because the city already gets a certain number of spots there, Small said. Creating those ads cost less than $5,000, he estimated.

Smith, a Realtor for Long & Foster who has been selling homes in Portsmouth for 17 years, said the marketing campaign could help boost interest. The city has improved its image in recent years - notably the look of its entrances off I-264 - but it still has a ways to go, she said.

"I think a huge hurdle Portsmouth still has is their reputation for the schools," she said.

City and school officials celebrated last year when all local schools earned full accreditation for the first time, but this year the division received the ignoble distinction of having the worst graduation rate in the state.

Dave Forster, (757) 446-2627, dave.forster@pilotonline.com