DELAWARE ARTS ALLIANCE (dAA)
The Create Plan
In 2022, the Delaware Arts Alliance (DAA) launched the Creative Economy Advancement and Tourism Expansion (CREATE) Plan, a groundbreaking initiative to elevate Delaware’s creative and cultural tourism sector. As the 2024 unveiling approached, DAA partnered with First Ascent to craft a marketing campaign focused on storytelling and audience engagement to raise awareness, deepen understanding of the creative economy’s impact, and inspire action across various stakeholders.
Scope of Work
- Marketing Plan and Messaging Strategy
- Landing Page Design and Development
- Organic and Paid Social Media
- Email Marketing
- Local Media Advertising
- Communications Toolkit
- Blog Content – Creative Economy Profiles
- Print Collateral and Presentation Design
- Public Relations Support
Designing a Bright Future for Delaware’s Creative Economy
To support the CREATE Plan’s rollout, we led the effort to distill the 200+ page plan into accessible content for multiple audiences—including press, government leaders, and creative economy stakeholders. We crafted a new brand name, launched a phased landing page, and executed organic and paid social media campaigns. Additionally, we produced multilingual resource guides, developed a communications toolkit, profiled creative economy voices, designed presentation decks, and created a visually engaging magazine infographic to introduce the plan.
Empowering Stakeholders to Share the Message
To support ongoing marketing efforts following the plan’s launch, we developed a comprehensive 20-page communications toolkit. This downloadable resource included key talking points, ready-to-use social media assets, sample email newsletter content, and links to digital resources, empowering stakeholders to effectively promote the CREATE Plan.
Creative Economy Profiles
To showcase the diverse voices and experiences within the creative economy, we engaged a range of individuals for our Creative Economy Spotlight series. These profiles were shared on DAA’s website and social media platforms, highlighting the valuable contributions of Delaware’s creative community.
The CREATE Plan Makes a Dynamic Debut
In late summer 2024, the CREATE Plan officially launched and was met with an enthusiastic reception at three celebratory events across the state, drawing over 200 attendees from all three counties. These events brought together a diverse range of participants, including working creatives, government and elected officials, nonprofit representatives, and local business and community leaders.
First Ascent was instrumental in the success of our CREATE Plan campaign. Their ability to distill a complex 200-page report into concise communication materials that highlighted key messages, important data points, and recommendations for specific audiences was invaluable. We could not have delivered such a high-level campaign, with everything we needed for state, local, community, and other partners, without their team’s support. First Ascent has been more than just a creative execution partner—their insights as thought partners truly elevated the work, and their attention to detail really stands out. Their structured weekly touchbases provided just the right scaffolding, giving us the context we needed to quickly provide feedback and keep everything moving smoothly. Our board has expressed that this project has been a huge success, which speaks volumes to our work together and the results speak for themselves.
Neil kirschling
Executive Director, Delaware Arts Alliance
3.8K+
views of the CREATE Plan webpage
274
downloads of
CREATE Plan materials
260K+
social media impressions
Press & Media coverage
By distributing targeted media advisories and press releases to relevant journalists, we successfully secured coverage from prominent Delaware news outlets such as WHYY, WDEL, and the Delaware Business Times, amplifying the visibility of the CREATE Plan and its key messages.
Award-winning results
Since its release, this visionary initiative continues to gain momentum, receiving media coverage from print publications, broadcast news outlets, and organizations like the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies. 
In 2024, the CREATE Plan campaign was honored with a Platinum Award from MarCom—a full-circle moment reflecting the impact of our collaboration and the importance of creative work in our communities.
