Title
Twinklefest Marketing Initiative
Report
Issue:
Discussion of the specific activities and costs associated with 2018 holiday promotion
Staff Contact:
Mark Rentfrow, Downtown Liaison, Community Planning and Development, 360.570.3798
Presenter(s):
Mark Rentfrow, Downtown Liaison, Community Planning and Development, 360.570.3798
Background and Analysis:
At the PBIA board meeting on 9/13/18 it was decided that group of 3 PBIA board members along with the Downtown Business Liaison and the Downtown Ambassadors would collaborate to determine the board’s 2018 Twinklefest strategy.
This year’s Twinklefest promotion took a more streamlined approach than in recent years by relying on social media and in store promotions as the primary means of advertisement to the public. The City’s Downtown Ambassadors and Downtown Liaison promoted the program through radio promotions and public events such as Oly on Ice.
Downtown businesses were also notified via the PBIA list serve about the opportunity to sign up and participate.
Voting was open to the public at www.olytwinklefest.net from December 1st through December 31st. 90 businesses participated in this year’s promotion and a total of 228 unique votes were received. The 2018 Twinklefest business winner as determined by the most votes received was Hot Toddy. As part of the promotion they will receive a promotional write up in Thurstontalk.com which is currently underway. A member of the voting public was also randomly selected to receive a gift certificate prize package worth over $100.
Neighborhood/Community Interests (if known):
Twinklefest continues to be a popular event for downtown businesses to participate in.
Options:
Discussion only
Financial Impact:
$7,000 was set aside for holiday promotion in 2018. These funds were spent on additional holiday street lighting, in store lighting for participants and a business write up in ThurstonTalk.com