Downtown groups propose marketing cooperative

The initiative – conceived by Downtown Springfield Association and Urban Districts Alliance – would allow businesses to leverage ad budgets and jointly market themselves under the “It’s all downtown” slogan.

“Now that there’s a revitalization, we wanted to be able to offer something to keep the momentum going,” said Mitzie Zerr, a City Utilities employee and DSA volunteer.

Earlier this year, DSA informally surveyed downtown businesses in an effort to gauge support for a cooperative marketing program, and 19 of the 24 businesses that responded expressed interest, said UDA Executive Director Rusty Worley.

“What we’re hearing is that folks are open to that,” he said. “That’s a pretty good start.”

Ninety-five percent of businesses that responded to the survey said they pay for some sort of print advertising, and 63 percent said they advertise online. About half had tried radio advertising, and a third had advertised on television.

Twenty businesses that participated in the survey spent roughly $20,000 a month on advertising, Worley said.

The organizations are now exploring the possibility of pooling the money for a new campaign that would explicitly market retail stores and restaurants as part of downtown’s myriad offerings.

“Everything we can do to reinforce new people coming to center city, the stronger we all are,” Worley said.

The program would be similar to Springfield’s Best Inc., a nonprofit association comprising locally owned and operated member businesses that share marketing strategies and resources to stay competitive. Details are still unavailable, but Worley said businesses would be able to buy into the program at various levels, depending on their size, budget and marketing needs.

“We would make that flexible,” he said.

Six local ad agencies initially expressed interest in assisting with the downtown marketing cooperative, Worley said, and the list was recently narrowed to three firms: Wannnemacher Advertising Co., ACR Nally Communications Co. and Black Suits.

The lead firm will likely be announced this week.

“We want to reinforce that it’s all downtown, and a marketing firm can help us hone that message,” Worley added.

Stephanie Weiss at Ella Weiss Wedding Design, 400 E. Walnut St., Ste. 120, said she’s interested in hearing more about how the marketing campaign would work.

“I’m always open to new possibilities and new venues,” Weiss said. “I would have to look at all the parameters. … I think it’s something that would probably work great.”

Weiss said she already refers customers to other Springfield businesses – many of them downtown – for their wedding-planning needs.

Weiss said customers learn about her bridal boutique – opened in December – from a mix of print advertising in local magazines, radio ads and word-of-mouth referrals.

Worley said a downtown marketing summit is in the works that would allow Weiss and other downtown business owners to discuss the cooperative approach and brainstorm marketing strategies. The summit will likely occur in the next six weeks, he said.

The UDA is also revamping the center city Web site, www.itsalldowntown.com, with a comprehensive calendar of events happening in the greater downtown area, including Commercial Street.

The Web site would act as a “Google for all things downtown,” Worley said.