According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, some the 20 cities on Amazon’s shortlist of potential sites for its second headquarters are seeing an unintended benefit from the presentations they created to pitch themselves to Amazon. The pitches are so impressive, they’re attracting businesses beyond Amazon.
The fight for Amazon’s business is fierce. More than 230 cities and regions submitted proposals to win a bid that will bring an estimated 50,000 employees and $5 billion in new construction. The 20 finalists stretch from Austin to Toronto, with three areas around Washington, D.C.
Philadelphia is a finalist. The Wall Street Journal article quotes the head of an investment firm in London who is looking to move to the US. He didn’t know much about Philadelphia until someone sent him a video that Philadelphia had made for Amazon. “The video resonated with us really well,” the chief executive said.
As a communication advisor, when I hear that something “resonates well,” I want to know why. I picked up the phone and had a conversation with Philadelphia city officials who were part of the presentation preparation. I came away with four valuable presentation tips that any individual, organization, or company can use to sell itself to potential customers.
1. Collaborate on the presentation. “We had a collaborative process from day one,” according to says Sylvie Gallier Howard, Philadelphia’s first deputy commerce director. The city had six weeks to respond to Amazon’s initial request for proposal. A few months earlier, city leaders had already started talking to stakeholders from the tourism industry, the tech sector, and a wide range of companies with the intention of developing a consistent message to promote the city. The Amazon pitch was the catalyst to accelerate the plan.
2. Know your customer really, really well. The group that developed the “Philadelphia Delivers” campaign read everything they could find on Jeff Bezos and the company, including Brad Stone’s book, The Everything Store. They knew that Amazon is looking for a city that gives the company access to strong technical talent, attractive proximity to airports and highways, diversity, and an enjoyable quality of life for its employees. Now take a look at the top three tabs on this website, which was part of Philadelphia’s pitch. You’ll see subpages titled: Talent, Logistics, Livability.
Far too often, I see what I call “company-first presentations.” Very little thought is given to the dreams or desires of the target audience. It’s a common problem, even in job interviews. Many hiring managers tell me job candidates are not nearly as well prepared as they should be. If you’re interviewing at a company whose CEO has written a book…read the book.
3. Tell the story with real people. Jeff Bezos is famous for banning PowerPoint at his meetings. He prefers “anecdotes” and “narratives.” In other words, he’s a storyteller. Instead of a highly-stylized video with sweeping views of the skyline and a professional actor narrating the copy, the city’s presentation team decided to create four videos based on the “Philadelphia Delivers” theme that features real people who live and work in the city. In one video, we hear from Brigitte Daniel, executive vice president of Wilco Electronics Systems. “Our value add is our diversity,” she says “Every neighborhood, every person, every ethnicity, every experience, every journey makes us unique…and will make Amazon know they’ve chosen the right place to build their new global future.” The videos also include leaders at Urban Outfitters, Vanguard, and other employers large and small. Renowned professors like Wharton’s Adam Grant also play roles.
4. Visualize Data. “Story maps” are among the most interesting elements of the Philadelphia pitch. The client—Amazon—is a company that makes many of its decisions based on data and metrics. The Philadelphia pitch team created 12 story maps which are infographics, delivering a visual snapshot of the data.
“Philadelphia Delivers” story map
Access to an educated workforce is important to Amazon. One of Philadelphia’s story maps is an interactive graphic that shows the universities and colleges in the region that graduate 90,000 per year. Some maps are designed to demonstrate that the city has a lower cost of living than other cities, while others are created to show how close the city is to major population centers.
Philadelphia city officials tell me that soon they’ll take the assets they’ve created for the Amazon pitch and turn it into a new campaign to promote the city. Boston, Toronto, and other finalists are doing the same. The finalists are expected to learn Amazon’s final decision in this calendar year. One will be chosen, but the other nineteen won’t come away empty-handed. They’ve significantly improved the presentations they’ll use to attract new business.