The state’s Chief Marketing Officer Anthony Anthony will leave early next year after nearly three years in the role, Gov. Ned Lamont announced Tuesday, crediting him with helping reshape how the state presents itself to the nation and the world.
Anthony, who has served as CMO since March 2023, will depart effective Feb. 6 to pursue a new professional opportunity, the governor’s office said.
During his tenure, Anthony led an effort to rebrand Connecticut, moving away from long-standing perceptions of the state as “boring, small and expensive” toward a modern identity rooted in cultural pride, history and a sense of surprise — most notably through a widely shared emphasis on Connecticut’s pizza scene.
The state launched its new brand in October 2023, aligning its messaging across tourism, business recruitment, innovation and resident pride. Officials say the strategy helped raise Connecticut’s profile nationally while supporting population growth, business attraction and visitor spending.
According to the administration, earned media impressions for Connecticut have grown by 841% since 2022, increasing from 3.4 billion to more than 32 billion worldwide.
State pride also reached its highest recorded level since tracking began in 2012, with 61% of residents expressing pride in Connecticut. Net Promoter Scores — a measure of how likely people are to recommend living, working or visiting the state — also rose sharply across multiple categories.
Lamont said the rebrand reflected a broader shift in how state leaders talk about Connecticut.
“Early in our administration, I said what I believed then and now — no more bad mouthing Connecticut,” Lamont said in a statement. “I wanted our state to stop apologizing for who we are and start celebrating it. Anthony took that message to heart and turned it into a strategy that people feel every day.”
Daniel O’Keefe, commissioner of the state Department of Economic and Community Development, said Anthony “brought imagination to economic development and helped make our strategy something people could understand, celebrate and share.”
Anthony said he is grateful for the opportunity to serve and for the support he received from state leadership and that he now proudly calls Connecticut his home.
The governor’s office did not announce plans for finding Anthony’s successor.
