In case you’ve missed a headline or two, Alabama is moving in a next-level direction across multiple industries. Its aerospace engineers are building future-generation rockets while its scientists are unraveling genetic mysteries. At the same time, ultra-modern Alabama factories are revolutionizing how products are made and advancing mobility technologies that will change the way we travel.

To raise awareness of these and many more game-changing advances, the Alabama Department of Commerce on Monday launched a digital marketing campaign called “Next” that showcases the state’s contributions to fields such as space exploration, national defense, bioscience, advanced manufacturing and mobility technologies.

“We want to make sure the world knows about the exciting developments unfolding in Alabama that illustrate the extraordinary capabilities of our workforce and the next-level innovation taking place in our key industries,” said Greg Canfield, secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce.

“Inside our factories and laboratories and within our entrepreneurial ecosystem, Alabama is prepared for whatever is next because we are already helping to shape the future,” he said.

An installation at the Economic Development Association of Alabama’s summer conference teases the Alabama Department of Commerce’s “Next” campaign. (contributed)

High-tech activities

Canfield previewed the “Next” campaign at the Economic Development Association of Alabama’s summer conference, an annual meeting of the state’s top business recruitment specialists at the Grand Hotel Golf Resort & Spa at Point Clear .

The campaign launches with a website – madeinalabama.com/next – built with 3D animations that are responsive to the user’s cursor movements. The site’s experiential design is meant to convey to a national and international audience the technological sophistication found in Alabama’s leading industries.

Content on the site captures a range of the advanced high-tech activities growing in Alabama, including additive manufacturing (3D printing), electric vehicle production, digital smart factories and genomic medicine.

Additionally, the futuristic look of “Next” will be featured in digital and print advertisements, some of which will include QR codes to provide a three-dimensional experience.

Brand extension

The campaign represents a new chapter in the Commerce Department’s “Made in Alabama” brand, which kicked off in 2013 as a multichannel platform to share the state’s economic development success stories and position it for additional economic growth.

The Alabama Department of Commerce’s “Next” campaign has a website and will use sophisticated digital and print advertising. (Made in Alabama)

The brand’s centerpiece website experienced a record year in 2020, with a 43% increase in total site visits.

“Next” complements the department’s “RurAL” campaign, which debuted this year as a content-rich online hub that spotlights the business advantages of the state’s rural communities and is a resource for the economic development professionals who work there.

All Commerce campaigns are designed and directed by Birmingham-based Big Communications.

“Throughout our long-standing partnership with Commerce and Secretary Canfield, we have helped corporate decision-makers and site-selection consultants tune out undeserved static about Alabama and focus on its growth potential,” said Aaron Gresham, executive creative director at Big.

“With Next, we are reinforcing the same message by placing the impressive developments taking place in the state firmly on the radar screen for the world to see.”

This story originally appeared on the Alabama Department of Commerce’s Made in Alabama website.