Meet WilmToday, the city’s rose-colored foray into the content game

You might have seen a new publication crop up recently under the name WilmToday. No, it’s not affiliated with Rob Martinelli’s magazine, Delaware Today. It’s actually a new reputation management campaign helmed by the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development.
The website highlights positive aspects of living, working and playing in the city. It’s no secret that the reputation of Wilmington suffered a few blows in the past because of a certain Newsweek article that drove the premise for Zach Phillips’ subsequent “Remaking Murdertown” podcast.
The Office of Economic Development certainly does not have its head in the sand. It was obvious that a negative image for the city would hurt its economic prospects. That’s why officials partnered with Tapp Network, a digital marketing company based out of The Mill, to counter the negativity.
How? Through showing the happiness of everyday Wilmingtonians.
“This office was particularly concerned about getting positive information out about the city of Wilmington to the general public and specifically business leaders,” said Office of Economic Development Deputy Director Alfred Lance. “The news media directly impacts their impression of Wilmington and their business decisions in terms of whether they’re going to expand to Wilmington or go to another location.”
It’s not just a website, it has also become a hashtag: #WilmToday, which seems to be catching steam on social media. (Watch out, #netDE.)

This Wed. 7-9pm. come enjoy @dogfishbeer #pumpkinale & pompkin #catapults and free samples of #noblerot! #netde #inwilm #wilmtoday pic.twitter.com/uQ3NQOmLhd

— Hagley Mus. and Lib. (@hagleymuseum) October 3, 2016

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“Because we’ve been focusing more on the positive story, it’s been really about getting that piece out,” added Lance. “We feel like the negative pieces are the prevailing story about Wilmington.”
Along with this new publication, Tapp Network is compiling reports on behalf of the city on the current state of online chatter to see whether the campaign is effective or not. We’ll check back in a few months and see where the results stand.