Marketing and Transit: Pooling Resources

We instead can utilize our marketing budgets to encourage conversions via lubricating access to our storefronts. We have seen some bars in Cleveland run a bus out into the deep east and west suburbs to bring people to W. 6th St. The Chamber of Commerce could help organize with a few other local businesses to improve the bus frequency/head-ways. The marketing around these services would be better suited using pooled resources.

People use what is sold to them and everywhere they look is a car dealership, commercial, or other nerd discussing the value of "freedom" that cars provide. We can provide express services to certain economic hubs. When have you seen a direct mailer for a transit line? These services help facilitate the economy and these businesses benefit from the additional traffic. We cannot rely on local marketing agencies to fill this roll, as they need to extract some of their own profit to meet their fiduciary duty.

It may be an interesting project for the American Marketing Association (AMA) of the region. They have an independent reason to be reaching out to the marketing officers and have the opportunity to demonstrate their marketing knowledge. This would allow transparency and feedback from the community to help guide the marketing for public services. It would give the AMA a good tool to use for education within the group and demonstrating their competency.

We have to get creative if we want to see the change in our lifetime. Practice in logistics will be helpful not only for brick and mortars, but for public services as well. You need people showing up to speak your ideas to the public officials. One person is a crank, twelve people are a movement. Even six people help convey your message rather than a single hard-headed individual.

Opportunity exists for us to improve the lives of our neighbors while still providing value to our local economy. All of this requires people to show up. Touch Grass(TM). What ever happened to organizations sending out direct mailers for events? How deep in Facebook and Google Ads are you that you forgot about the most important aspects for attendance: awareness, proximity and access. Marketers must use all of the tools at their disposal for brick/mortar retail and events. A robust campaign requires as many channels as you can meet critical mass for with the allotted budget. Stop allowing single channel campaigns without a word of concern and caution. Tell your clients the truth. Agencies, you know who you are.