Q&A with Marketing Candidate Patrick Sutherland

If you have seen the "Welcome to West Orange, New Jersey," video that debuted this spring, then you have also seen the work of Patrick Sutherland, founder and owner of Direct Ignition, LLC, which produces high-quality, affordable online videos for local businesses with Vidoovy.com.

Born in Newton, N.J., Sutherland, an award-winning advertising veteran who has spent his career working with Fortune 500 companies, has increasingly become a major player in West Orange’s efforts to attract new businesses and residents.

Once Mayor to improve West Orange's image last spring, Sutherland volunteered by creating a nearly three-minute video for .

And according to Schneider Co-owner Roger Schneider, the video spurred an immediate uptick in customers:

"We had people inquire from four different counties (Bergen, Hudson, Morris and Essex)," he said. "We received increased phone calls and foot traffic … specifically relating to people seeing the YouTube video." 

Since then, Sutherland has created about a dozen videos for local businesses as diverse as West Orange theatre Luna Stage and Parsippany Indian eatery Mysore Woodlands with the goal of turning viewers into clients.

For Sutherland, producing videos for businesses is just the starting point of his web-marketing strategy: Once the video is created, Sutherland socializes the finished product on websites, such as YouTube, DailyMotion and Google Places.

As a marketing maven who has shot big-budget commercials for Burger King and Land Rover, Sutherland sasy he wants to bring "Madison Avenue-level messaging and video production to businesses on Main St."

Last week, after one of the firms that was originally appointed to market the town stepped down, Sutherland had the opportunity to and present himself as a viable replacement. In the midst of this exciting opportunity, Patch caught up with Sutherland to see why he loves West Orange and what his vision is for the town should he nab the job.

West Orange Patch: How long have you been living in West Orange?

Patrick Sutherland: I first moved here about 15 years ago.

WOP: What's your experience been like in this township?

PS: I have been very happy that we decided to live in West Orange. In fact, when we were ready to move out of the first home we bought, we looked all over northern New Jersey but eventually moved in to a house about 300 yards away from our original home.

WOP: Tell us more about the work that you do.

PS: I currently have two areas that I am involved in. I am still doing freelance work as an advertising creative for many of the ad agencies in N.Y.C.; I work on developing branding strategies and creative campaigns based on those strategies for Fortune 500 companies.

In addition, I have my own company called “Direct Ignition, LLC” that is leveraging amazing advances in inexpensive digital video-production techniques, the explosive growth in Internet search and the skills developed on Madison Avenue to redirect commercial traffic back to our downtown commercial district.

WOP: What's your experience with marketing and PR?

PS: I have a BFA in Advertising from the School of Visual Arts, and I have spent close to 20 years in staff and consulting creative positions with many ad agencies from BBDO, Ogilvy and McCann on the large end to Fallon, Cliff Freeman and DeVito/Verdi on the small end.

I have also been an instructor of Advertising at the School of Visual Arts and an Adjunct Professor of Advertising at Kean University.

Over the years, my fellow ad industry creatives have been kind enough to recognize me with various awards, including Addy, the Art Directors Club, Cannes, Clio, Kelly, New York Festival, Obie and The One Show.

WOP: How did you come to produce videos for West Orange?

PS: The inspiration came from a simple observation. I would drive by the big chain restaurants in the commercial areas outside of town and see lines out the door every weekend. Then I would take my family to one of my favorite restaurants on Main St. here in West Orange, and it would only be half full.

My next thought was, "I helped create this situation through my work in advertising." The next logical thought was, "If I helped create this situation then I can help reverse it." I then created the Vidoovy.com service to focus on bringing world-class advertising practices to Main Street businesses through low-cost web-distributed video.

WOP: You went before the PR Commission for the town's marketing position. How did it go?

PS: It went great. I love the fact that this administration has taken an innovative approach to municipal procurement: Rather than only relying on government and elected officials for vetting possible vendors, they have established committees of taxpayers with specific skill sets from the private sector to provide guidance. And when you go before taxpayers as a potential vendor, you better bring your A game. Believe me, they asked tough questions, but as a resident of this town, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

WOP: What are the next steps?

PS: Well, I guess the first step is to be accepted as a vendor by the Town Council. After that I will be sitting down with the vendors that have already been selected by the township to establish a situational understanding. Once we are all on the same page, we will establish a to-do list and a target calendar for delivering creative content to the town council for consideration.

WOP: Will you be presenting before the council? If so, when?

PS: Should I be selected, I will certainly be presenting before the council but I will need to sit down with the other marketing vendors, the Mayor’s office and council members to work out a calendar.

WOP: How will your appointment benefit this town?

PS: The first step for a branding project like this is to develop a competitive positioning for the town. In this sense, it is very similar to branding any product or service. Our goal is to illustrate how we are unique when compared to the surrounding towns so that we can increase market share, and the market share we are talking about in this case is the number of visitors visiting our town, the number of businesses opening in our town and the number of families deciding to live in our town. Once we get a buy-in on a positioning from the Mayor and Town Council, it will be the foundation on which all the content we develop rests. 

My appointment will benefit the town because of my unique combination of experiences.  I am not only deeply familiar with the best practices of the advertising world, but I am also deeply familiar with all that West Orange has to offer.