Rhode Island Commerce Corp hires new chief marketing officer
By Bianca Buono
@BBuonoABC6
Rhode Island’s Commerce Corporation has hired a new chief marketing officer after the controversial roll-out of its “Cooler and Warmer” campaign. Commerce R.I. has hired Lara Salamano to replace Betsy Wall.
Wall resigned in April after critics came down on her for the state’s catastrophic tourism campaign. The campaign consisted of a slogan, “Cooler and Warmer”, a tourism video that contained shots of Iceland, and a website that was factually inaccurate.
"It’s hard to speak to what was done in the past. I’m really just thinking about you know what I will do in the future," said Salamano, not wanting to dwell on the failed tourism campaign.
Salamano was born and raised in Warwick and graduated from the University of Rhode Island. She worked in the marketing field for 20 years in New York for companies including Pop Media and Nickelodeon. At a press conference Friday, R.I. Secretary of Commerce Stefan Pryor stressed the importance of hiring a Rhode Island native.
"Her expertise is remarkable. She has a long career and a very successful career in marketing. In addition she brings a passion when she speaks of Rhode Island," Pryor said.
Despite Salamano’s extensive resume, this will be her first job in the tourism field.
"If you know how to target an audience, you know how to make a successful brand, you know how to garner results, you can do that across any sort of industry," she explained.
Salamano starts on July 11th and will receive a salary of $135,000 per year.
© WLNE-TV 2016
