FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 27, 2017
Contact: Matt Sheaff (Commerce) 401-278-9149
Commerce Corporation Chooses Rhode Island Firms for Advertising
Campaign
Local agencies Nail and RDW Group to be Principals in Efforts to Market Rhode Island
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND—Feb. 27, 2017—The Rhode Island Commerce Corporation
today announced that it has selected three vendors to execute its upcoming tourism campaign.
At this month’s meeting, the Commerce Corporation Board voted to authorize the Commerce
Corporation to enter into agreements with NAIL Communications, the RDW Group, and NJF, an
MMGY Global company.
Under the leadership of Lara Salamano, the state’s Chief Marketing Officer, these three firms
will coordinate aspects of the state’s tourism campaigns, including content creation, advertising,
media buying, and public relations. Both NAIL and RDW Group are based in Providence.
“As a Rhode Island native, this is especially exciting,” said Lara Salamano, Chief Marketing
Officer for the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation. “The agencies selected represent a
tremendous amount of local knowledge, creativity, resourcefulness and most importantly,
industry expertise. Competition for tourism dollars and business development opportunities is
strong, and these partners will help us showcase the many elements that make our state such a
special place to live, visit, and work.”
The Corporation received 36 responses to the RFP that was issued in November. Staff
representing the Executive Office of Commerce, the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation, the
state’s regional tourism bureaus, and business leaders including representatives of the Greater
Providence Chamber of Commerce, participated in the review of nine contractors (three Rhode
Island based) who were selected to present their respective proposed plans and credentials.
The Corporation will enter into separate agreements with these agencies on March 1, 2017 for a
12- month agreement; with the option to renew for an additional 12 months. With the funding as
follows:
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

RDW Group: $1.7M
NAIL: $978,000
MMGY: $473,000
RDW Group, Inc. is a Rhode Island based full service agency offering advertising, digital
marketing, public relations, media planning and buying, web development and marketing
services to a wide range of clients across a broad industry sectors.
The RDW Group was selected due to their current Master Price Agreement with the state. As a
result, they offer the lowest commission rate for media buying at five percent.
“RDW is very happy to be selected,” said Jim Malachowski, Chairman/Managing Partner, RDW
Group, Inc. “We are providing our services at a deeply discounted rate as we want to do our
part to help our state grow and prosper.”
NAIL Communications is based in Providence, R.I. and past clients include New Balance, the
Providence Foundation, and the Rhode Island Food Bank.
“We couldn’t be more excited. For us, this is like putting on the jersey for the home team for the
first time,” said Jeremy Crisp, managing partner at NAIL. “We are really looking forward to telling
the stories that reflect just how special this little state is.”
NJF, an MMGY Global company, is the Public Relations, Social and Experiential Marketing
practice of MMGY Global, the leading integrated marketing communications firm specializing in
the travel, hospitality and entertainment industries for more than 35 years. NJF is headquartered
in New York City with a satellite office in Boston.
“We are excited to work with the state of Rhode Island and its tourism partners to help
showcase this dynamic destination to travelers and media,” says Julie Freeman, Managing
Director, NJF, an MMGY Global company. “We are committed to putting a spotlight on the
diversity of its progress, people and tourism offering to help Rhode Island stand out as a mustvisit destination in the Northeast."
“We commend Lara and her team at the RI Commerce Corporation on selecting these talented
and capable firms to lead the next chapter in promoting Rhode Island tourism,” President and
CEO of Discover Newport. “We are optimistic the selected contractors will produce inspiring
creative and powerful messaging to ultimately yield strong and tangible results.”
“Tourism, and meetings and conventions have a tremendous impact on the local economy,”
said Martha Sheridan, President and CEO of the Providence Warwick Convention and Visitors
Bureau. “We look forward to working collaboratively with the team at Commerce and these
agencies to further position Providence, Warwick and all of Rhode Island as an attractive
destination for business and leisure travel.”
The Commerce Corporation Board also voted to authorize the Commerce Corporation to enter
into agreements with the following firms to execute business attraction campaigns to promote
Rhode Island:


NAIL: $454,000
Havas: $691,000
Havas PR, currently the agency of record for the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation, has
been retained to continue their efforts to attract new business through public relations.
Havas PR, founded in Providence 41 years ago, has its global headquarters in New York City.
Providence serves as Havas PR’s New England hub, servicing RICC as well as Colliers
International Group, Merck Millipore Life Science, Primark and WEX, and with pro bono work on
behalf of Crossroads Rhode Island and Massachusetts General Hospital.
"We are happy to continue to serve the State of Rhode Island, increasingly a destination for
smart and innovative businesses and business leaders," said Marian Salzman, HAVAS PR
CEO.
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