CEO Council for Growth

The Challenge

When people think of Philadelphia, it’s often cheesesteaks, Rocky and the Liberty Bell that come to mind. Now, thanks to a dynamic and collaborative partnership between the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia and its 11 partners in the Cell & Gene Therapy and Connected Health Initiative, people increasingly see Philadelphia as the new center for a thriving cell and gene therapy sector.

The Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia’s regional CEO Council for Growth and its partners in the initiative engaged D+P to increase awareness of the region as the place to be for those working in cell and gene therapy and to attract companies looking to relocate or to expand.

Talent is a primary reason that organizations relocate. So, the CEO Council for Growth contributed to a research study with University City Science Center, University City District’s West Philadelphia Skills Initiative and Econsult Solutions, which found that the cell and gene therapy workforce in Philadelphia is projected to grow by 7,440 to 11,274 total jobs using high-range growth estimates in the next 10 years (Econsult Solutions, 2020). With thousands of new jobs on the horizon, Greater Philadelphia needed to make sure that it has the talent available to fill the needs of this fast growing industry.

The Approach

To build awareness for the region’s cell and gene therapy sector, D+P established a robust social media content calendar and advertising plan, as well as authoring original articles for the CEO Council’s monthly newsletter.

To increase awareness of opportunities for talent in the sector, D+P developed a feature video series to highlight the talented people who are part of the region’s cell and gene therapy workforce. The series, called Discovery Starts with Me, shows prospective talent what life is like in Greater Philadelphia – both in and out of the laboratory – through the stories of current talent.

The ongoing series is regularly posted on the CEO Council for Growth’s organic LinkedIn and Twitter channels and boosted with paid digital ads targeted to key audiences on LinkedIn. The collaborating companies and individuals are also given access to the video to use on their social media channels, and D+P debuts each month’s video in the CEO Council newsletter.

The Results 

As of April 2022, D+P has worked with seven cell and gene therapy companies to produce seven individual videos and one compilation video.

These videos continue to be top performing posts on the CEO Council’s channels. With more videos scheduled each month, more viewers can realize that discovery starts in Greater Philadelphia. The collaborative’s newsletter is also steadily gaining audience and our earned media efforts are garnering new and interested parties in trade, professional and business media.