In an effort to rejuvenate San Francisco's public image and economy, a consortium of the city's business leaders is endorsing a $4 million advertising initiative. Titled "It All Starts Here", the campaign celebrates globally renowned enterprises that originated in the Bay Area, with corporate heavyweights such as Uber, Levi Strauss, Pixar, and OpenAI associating with the movement. Advance SF, the non-profit business entity behind this push, has major backing from prominent figures like fintech innovator Chris Larsen and Gap's Chairman, Bob Fisher. This promotional move is timely, preceding the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders’ Meeting scheduled next month in the city, and seeks to overshadow issues like escalating crime, homelessness, and a deteriorating downtown region.
Parallel promotional efforts are underway, with SF Travel launching a $6 million "Always San Francisco" global campaign in May to entice business and leisure travelers post-pandemic. February also saw the “Heart of SF” social media drive promoting downtown ventures and events. Even though SF Travel predicts a boost in tourism with 23.9 million visitors in 2023, up from 21.9 million in 2022, these numbers still lag behind the pre-pandemic visitor count of over 26 million in 2019.
The crux of "It All Starts Here" is to reinforce San Francisco's legacy of fostering financial triumphs and innovations. Rich Silverstein, the mind behind the campaign and co-founder of the advertising firm Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, emphasizes San Francisco's unparalleled record in the realm of innovation, tracing back to monumental developments like the railroad.
Post-pandemic, numerous cities and states are revamping their brand images. Connecticut, for instance, recently spotlighted its legacy of nurturing entrepreneurs with "Make It Here". New York City, playing on its iconic "I Love NY" slogan from the 70s, introduced "We Love NYC", albeit with mixed reactions. While acknowledging the challenges San Francisco faces, Silverstein envisions this campaign as a catalyst for change, hoping to rally the city's denizens to collaboratively address and overcome its problems.
