The rapid growth of Downtown San Diego’s digital marketing agencies—in both number and scale—has stimulated much interest in the community. Prompting questions like, “What is causing such a robust digital agency cluster Downtown San Diego? And what can the city do to continue this growth?”
A recent breakfast panel hosted by the Downtown San Diego Partnership corralled San Diego’s leading digital marketing experts, including Underground Elephant’s Lauren Alexander, to openly discuss the birth of “Downtown’s Digital Madison Avenue.” Organized and moderated by Kris Michell, President and CEO of the Downtown San Diego Partnership, the panel discussion focused on how to increase the community’s understanding of and support for the sector’s growth.
To this point, digital marketing is already making waves in the San Diego economy:
Local employment in advertising, PR and related services has grown 7.5% since 2013.
The number of firms specializing in those services has risen from 418 to 452 over the same period.
10 local online advertising and marketing firms (including Underground Elephant) made it onto Inc. Magazine’s list of the US’s 5,000 fastest-growing companies in 2013; double the number of honorees compared to 2012.
The need for the City to send a unified message about its fast-growing digital marketing industry was echoed by many panelists. Lauren Alexander summed up the industry’s paradox, “We’re storytellers, but we’re not telling the story,” referring to the growth of digital marketing’s growth and the potential benefits it brings by contributing to San Diego’s innovation economy, entrepreneurial ecosystem, and creative class as a whole.
Not surprisingly, Kris recruited the forum’s panelists, on the spot, to help tell this story and they all agreed. Thus, this forum was a great step toward fostering inclusiveness and storytelling—the foundation for a digital marketing startup community with a unified vision and common cause: a more vibrant Downtown innovation ecosystem.
The day after the forum, the Partnership held its monthly Tech Startup committee meeting, hosted at Brandisty. Topics discussed during the digital marketing forum provided a great jumping off point for the committee to explore shared needs and start to brainstorm plausible action items before the next meeting.
The next move is simple: host even more gatherings of likeminded individuals committed to supporting the industry’s growth. As local technology and innovation continue to gain momentum Downtown, community support and stakeholder inclusiveness will be crucial for helping to diversify the City’s economic development and increase its clout as a job and revenue generator.
Since its founding as a pioneer city, San Diego has managed to sustain a strong local economy by continually repurposing assets and realigning economic development strategies to increase the City’s socio-economic gravitas. With the emergence of digital marketing downtown, the City is presented with yet another opportunity.
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The panel was comprised of representatives from other fast-growing Web-based marketing firms including Digitaria, Zeeto Media, Mindgruve, and Basic.