Does Your Promotion Calendar Need a Boost?
By Sheri Stuart | From Main Street Story of the Week | April 2000 | 163
 |
msnews-2000-04.pdf |
Does Your Promotion Calendar Need a Boost?
Are some of your events growing stale? Are you struggling to come up with new ideas to promote downtown's image? Here's a quick look at some activities that have been successful in communities around the country. Use them to stimulate your promotion committee's imagination.
Image-building activities helpcombat negative perceptions and promote positive image of various aspects of downtown.
"100 Good Things Going in Downtown Buffalo"
In 1994, Buffalo Place, Inc., began a public relations campaign to heighten awareness of downtown and gather positive feedback about the district from western New Yorkers. The campaign consisted of a contest entitled, "100 Good Things Going." Contestants were asked to describe their favorite thing about downtown in 10 words or less. Out of the 2,000 entries, 100 winners were selected and invited to a cocktail party where a video of the "100 Good Things Going" was played. Out of this group, one winner was randomly selected to bring two friends or family members to Buffalo for an all-expenses-paid weekend. Colorful posters and billboards featured the winning responses. For more information, contact Downtown Buffalo, Inc., 716/856-3150.
Art Gallery Guides
Do you have a strong mix of art galleries in your community? Consider developing an "Art Gallery" guide that highlights each gallery in your town. Include a map of gallery locations and a brief description of each gallery's specialties, the owner's name, and the hours. Use the guide to promote any "Gallery Walks" you might have or are planning to develop. For more information, call Sheri Stuart at 202/588-6152.
"The Owner is Home" Ad Campaign
Are a majority of your businesses locally owned and operated? An "Owner is Home" ad campaign, such as the one put together by Franklin, Va., can emphasize the positive aspects of local business ownership and its importance to the community. Some benefits to stress include: customer service, keeping profits in the community, etc. For more information, call Virginia Main Street, 804/371-7030.
Viroqua's "Got Milk" Annual Campaign
For the past four years, Viroqua, Wis., has developed a series of image ads based on the "Got Milk?" advertising campaign. Funded in part with a matching grant from the Wisconsin Marketing Board and Vernon County Dairy Promotions, the ads are given a different theme each year. This year's campaign focused on Viroqua's road construction project and featured road crews in full "milk mustache" under humorous slogans, such as "The Dirt & Dust, the Mud & Crud…Got Milk!?" Previous campaigns featured downtown business and community leaders and daycare center children. For more information, contact the Viroqua Partnership, 608/637-2666.
Downtown Magazine
Main Street Enid (Okla.) produced and circulated a four-color magazine appropriately called "Main Street Enid" to more than 20,000 residents of northwest Oklahoma free of charge. The magazine, which is more than 30 pages long, features the history of downtown Enid and showcases projects, people, and success stories of downtown merchants, business owners, and volunteers. Advertisements paid the cost of production and distribution. For more information, call Main Street Enid, Inc., 508/234-1052.
Downtown Gift Certificates
Designed to increase sales, downtown gift certificates are used in Main Street towns throughout the country. You can give them fun names like "Downtown Dollars" or "Main Street Bucks." Typically, a Main Street program will work with a local bank which will offer the certificates in denominations of $5, $10, $20, etc. Businesses voluntarily sign up to accept the certificates, which can be redeemed just like checks. Participating stores are marketed through jackets used to package the certificates, as well as through ads and flyers. The certificates are frequently used for employee bonuses, retirement gifts, and prizes or giveaways. For more information, call Sheri Stuart at 202/588-6152.
Student Passport to Downtown Walla Walla
Downtown Walla Walla's "Student Passport" is a promotional card created specifically for college students.
It encourages them to explore downtown by offering significant savings at participating businesses. Students
at area colleges can purchase the passports for $3.00. Information on participating businesses is listed at Downtown Walla Walla's web site: http://www.downtownwallawalla.com. The student passport is a joint effort of the Downtown Walla Walla Foundation, WWC Students in Free Enterprise, and participating businesses. For more information, contact the Downtown Walla Walla Foundation, 509/529-8755.
Thank You for "Just Looking"
Are your merchants trying to find a way to turn "just lookers" into buyers? Consider printing non-negotiable coupons that say: "Thank You for ‘Just Looking'! I am sorry you were unable to find exactly what you were looking for today--but your visit to our store was greatly appreciated! Please take this coupon as a gift for coming by. Bring it on your next visit--it's worth $5.00 off the purchase of any item valued at $20 or more!" Ask merchants who choose to hand out these coupons to keep track of all that are returned so you can assess their effectiveness. For more information, call Sheri Stuart at 202/588-6152.
"Fashionable Collinsville Corsets to Catsup" Fashion Show
Highlighting both its business community and its heritage, Downtown Collinsville (Ill.) held a fund raiser that showcased women's fashions from 1900 to the present and netted the program $2,400. A narrator, dressed in tails, read a carefully scripted history of fashion while male escorts conducted each model from the stage to the audience. Lavish desserts, professionally prepared, were served to the audience before the show began. For more information, contact Downtown Collinsville, 618/345-5598.
Victorian Festival
Want to generate increased tourist traffic during the off-season? Create a multi-day festival based on your local history. Port Townsend, a seaport in Washington State, took advantage of its Victorian heritage by creating an annual event that showcases restoration, renovation, crafts, hobbies, and designs of that period through a collection of workshops. The festival also features entertainment and special activities to immerse participants in the spirit of the era. For information, contact the Main Street Program of Port Townsend, 360/385-7911.
Cool Cars Under the Stars
Elmhurst City Centre, Ill., sponsors a classic, antique, and collectible car show every Wednesday night, June through September, in a downtown bank parking lot. Each Wednesday has a different theme. Surveys taken during the event show that it is reaching its target market of people over 35 with incomes over $50,000. Businesses now remain open on Wednesday nights, and downtown restaurants report that business has increased more than 20 percent. Last year, the ongoing event attracted more than 45,000 visitors. Wednesdays are now bigger than weekends in downtown Elmhurst. For more information, contact Elmhurst City Centre, 630/993-1600.
American Pie Day
With January 23 officially designated as American Pie Day, Belleville (Ill.) Main Street merchants were asked to make pies for customers to sample while visiting their stores. A car dealer sponsored a trolley to give shoppers rides to participating businesses, and merchants provided recipes for homemade or purchased pies, although some were "secret family recipes."The recipes were compiled in a booklet, with one ingredient missing from each pie. Customers could get the missing ingredients by visiting the businesses and sampling the pies. And, since it was January, many shops also treated pie-eaters to hot chocolate! For more information, contact Belleville Main Street, 618/239-9428.
Downtown Tour
The Main Street program in Paris, Tenn., researched each building in the historic downtown area and produced an audiotaped walking tour of the district. The cassette and audio equipment can be rented at the chamber of commerce for a small fee. For more information, call Sheri Stuart at 202/588-6152.
Letters to the Editor
A community in Pennsylvania re-searched all of the local newspaper's letters to the editor during the town's entire 200-year history. The letters reflected the many ways the community has changed over the years and addressed major issues ranging from the Civil War to Civil Rights. A playwright compiled the letters into a play, which drew sell-out crowds and attracted national publicity. For more information, call Sheri Stuart at 202/588-6152.
Celebrate a Hometown Holiday
Want to generate business during the holidays and promote your activities in one marketing piece? Consider developing a holiday insert like the one produced by Astoria (Ore.) Main Street. This special insert included a holiday message from the mayor, a calendar listing of all holiday events downtown, and a coupon drawing to generate business for the district's merchants. The coupon for each participating store included a photo of the owner and employees, and merchants placed decorated coupon collection boxes at the back of their stores, so shoppers were exposed to all of their merchandise! For more information, call Susan Kempf, Washington State Downtown Revitalization Program, 360/993-1600.
By Sheri Stuart, Program Associate, NMSC, and Susan Kempf, State Coordinator, Washington Downtown Revitalization Program
As you add new events and activities to your promotion calendar, remember to:
and an evaluation summary.
