Educate the business community and the public on the current and future programs and plans of the MMD. All plans and programs designed are intended to continue to enhance and improve the business climate and the quality of life in the District.

Create a logo and brand.

Advertise the eclectic and historic aspects of the District focusing on our strategic location, excellent secondary and higher education opportunities and business and community diversity.

Become a business and community “Resource Center” for the District.

While there are a multitude of mediums, to build momentum, choices will have to be made as to which will be most effective both near and long term. Appendix A contains a comprehensive listing of mediums however, for this draft plan we have identified the ones we think will be most effective both from a coverage and cost perspective. Appendix B is a summary of the effectiveness versus costs of the various mediums based upon industry standards. The intent is to “stagger” the timing of the various campaigns, along with press releases, alliances with strategic partners, and other opportunities in order to have multiple mediums released each month throughout the plan year to maximize exposure for the district.

• Business Visits
• Website Development, E-News Blasts, Social Media (Face Book, Twitter, etc.) and on-line surveys
• Email and regular mailings of Newsletters, flyers, postcards, brochures, other
• Press releases
• Relationships and Links to Strategic Partners (GHP, St. Thomas, HAR, Area MD’s, other)
• Political outreach to elected officials (year end reports)
• Event Sponsorships (GHP, HAR, Real Estate Expos, other)
• Economic Development Tours
• Trade Shows (Streaming video about the district for use at website/tradeshows/other venues)
• Press Conferences, Interview, or Media Tours
• Seminars and Speaking Engagements
• Radio and Television ads

After each campaign we will evaluate and review the results and determine if we achieved the defined objectives and goals of this campaign. This will also allow us to reflect and consider modifications to the plan. The measurement tools will be visitors at the website, face book fan page, and by the number of people who sign up to receive the newsletter and/or who participate in on-line surveys.

EXTERNAL MEDIA:

• Audio/Visual material
• CD-Rom
• Competitions
• Direct marketing
• Editorial publicity
• Email
• Events
• Internet
• Letters
• Magazine ads
• Mailings – ads and press releases
• Marketing materials, (promotional items)
• Newsletters
• Newspaper ads
• Outdoor posters
• Public Exhibitions and Tradeshows
• Radio
• Receptions
• Seminars and Conferences
• Social events
• Sponsorship
• Telephone
• Television
• Video Conferencing

PEOPLE AS MEDIA:

• Academics
• Agents
• Business partners (Realtors, business owners, other)
• Consultants
• Customers
• Employees
• Journalists
• Other outside influences
• Retailers
• Stories of successful people from SB
• Trade associations
• Videos

Direct mail has the highest impact of any medium. The message reaches each recipient in a personalized way and at a moment they have chosen to consider our message.

Radio offers a dramatic improvement over “print” advertisements. The “listener” is captive to the message unless they switch stations or turn the radio off. The cost to reach the same amount of people that a print ad would reach, however, is significantly higher.

Magazines offer a slightly better opportunity to catch the reader’s attention. Readers tend to peruse magazines more carefully than they do newspapers, and because magazine ads are placed fewer per page, the competition for the reader’s eye is reduced. But magazine ads cost more than newspaper ads.

Newspapers are generally the cheapest way to reach a mass audience. However, newspapers carry many ads. It is easy for all but the largest display ads to get lost in the visual clutter. In any case, remember that newspapers are typically scanned by the reader. If an ad is seen at all, the headline will be glimpsed and the copy largely ignored.

Television also offers the advertiser an opportunity to speak to a captive audience. In fact, television viewers are even more apt to fully “tune into” an advertisement. The cost, though, of purchasing a television spot is even greater than that of radio.

Outdoor and transit advertisements are hard to avoid viewing. But, despite the high visibility factor, no one spends any great amount of time reading them. They are appropriate for very simple messages.