The Promotion Committee
In its “heyday”, downtown served a clearly defined local market, so downtown promotional activities were relatively simple – the occasional sale, ads in the local paper, etc.  For the most part, individual businesses “marketed” themselves.

However, the retail marketplace has changed dramatically.  Consumers are now offered increasing choice – not only in what to buy but in how to buy it.  The volume of commercial “noise” has increased to the point at which the average consumer is subjected to thousands of advertising messages per day.

This dynamic environment has rendered traditional promotional practices obsolete.  Businesses can no longer afford to promote themselves individually.  In order to stay competitive, downtown must collectively rethink how it defines, attracts and keeps its customers.  This process, called Promotion, focuses on developing and implementing a clearly articulated strategy for marketing downtown in much the same fashion as major retailers or shopping malls market themselves.

The Promotion Committee’s job is:

• To understand the changing market – current and potential shoppers and your competition
• To identify downtown assets – including people, buildings, heritage and institutions
• To define your market niche(s) - your unique position in the marketplace
• To create new image campaigns, retail promotions and special events to lure people downtown