Knowledge Center
Marketing, Communications and Events
Place managers narrate and communicate the identity and outward facing mission of the place to residents, tourists, businesses, and other stakeholder groups, thereby communicating the place’s unique brand. By expressing the identity of the place, the brand should invoke a sense of place, leaving individuals with the intangible feelings that one gets when engaging with the authenticity of the place.
The brand is used to market the place to these various stakeholder groups, attracting and inviting them to live, work, play and invest in the place. A diversity of tactics are used to market a place ranging from events, messaging, online engagement, street-level activation and more.
Downtown Movie Nights
The City of San Antonio established Downtown Movie Nights in 2014 to promote activation in public spaces. The free movie screenings are hosted throughout downtown within various cultural public spaces. At Travis Park and La Villita, the outdoor movies are accompanied by food trucks, themed giveaways, and pre-show programming, such as photo booths, art and educational activities for children, and special appearances from actors dressed as characters from the movie.
We’d love for you to see this member-only resource to help make a difference in your district. Make sure you are logged in or join IDA to learn more about how members get sh*t done!
Dundas Roncesvalles Peace Garden, Toronto
The site of the Dundas Roncesvalles Peace Garden (DRPG) was previously a concrete promontory jutting into the wide, busy intersection of Dundas Street and Roncesvalles Avenue. The site was broadly disliked by pedestrians who often dashed, unsafely across the road to get away from blazing heat in the summer or windswept barrens in winter. The Roncesvalles Village Business Improvement Area (RVBIA) was able to fund the DRPG project through strategic partnerships.
We’d love for you to see this member-only resource to help make a difference in your district. Make sure you are logged in or join IDA to learn more about how members get sh*t done!
Fancy Animal Carnival
Five sculptures were installed in DowntownDC from May 4-Oct. 5, 2017. Each giant animal sculpture was adorned with Taiwanese symbols and motifs which created painted patterns that reflected folk culture and religion as well as the artist’s personal experiences and observations. The BID created an online walking tour of the animals, identifying each location via a map and designed an aesthetically- pleasing way to showcase the animals and offer details about each sculpture.
We’d love for you to see this member-only resource to help make a difference in your district. Make sure you are logged in or join IDA to learn more about how members get sh*t done!
LIT CITY Baltimore
In 2016, Downtown Partnership of Baltimore set its sights on Preston Gardens, a green space in Downtown Baltimore positioned between the upper and lower lanes of St. Paul Street, a major artery into the city. With many projects underway, including new color-changing LED lights in the tunnel, the Marketing & Communications team brainstormed events that would engage and excite residents. The team had the idea for a party in the gardens, and it became a massive success!
We’d love for you to see this member-only resource to help make a difference in your district. Make sure you are logged in or join IDA to learn more about how members get sh*t done!
Madison Night Market
A late 2016 study of downtown retail, conducted by the City of Madison and the BID, entitled “Ensuring a Vibrant Downtown Retail Destination” encouraged retail pop-ups, shop-around promotions and specialty markets as strategies to support a healthy retail district. As a direct and immediate effort to undertake strategies recommended from the study, the BID hosted the 1st ever Madison Night Markets.
We’d love for you to see this member-only resource to help make a difference in your district. Make sure you are logged in or join IDA to learn more about how members get sh*t done!
Reimagining Girls’ Night Out
Oh man, Girls’ Night Out? Hasn’t that been done (to death)? Hold on a second, though. Downtown Somerville’s Girls’ Night Out is worth a look exactly because the concept is…well, maybe a little moth-eaten. If you can give an event enough of a makeover to change minds about what Girls’ Night Out is supposed to be, sell out the event a week in advance, and give skeptical businesses one of their most profitable nights of the year (at least 65 conversions on average), that’s worth talking about.
We’d love for you to see this member-only resource to help make a difference in your district. Make sure you are logged in or join IDA to learn more about how members get sh*t done!
Shop for a Cause Day
The spirit of giving. Fabulous shopping. Making a difference. These are the hallmarks of Portland Downtown’s Shop for a Cause Day, a cherished community event that captures hearts while creating change. Shop for a Cause Day is designed to raise funds and awareness for local nonprofit organizations while, at the same time, showcasing our vibrant small-business community.
We’d love for you to see this member-only resource to help make a difference in your district. Make sure you are logged in or join IDA to learn more about how members get sh*t done!
Things Are Looking Up: BLINK Backstage in Downtown Cincinnati
In October 2017, downtown Cincinnati saw itself with new eyes during the inaugural BLINK light and art festival. The four-day, free event was one of the largest light and art events in the nation, featuring 57 large-scale light installations projected onto iconic buildings and landmarks throughout 20 city blocks. Over one million visitors came to see BLINK, an event that showcased the city’s revitalized urban core, celebrated its historic architecture, and drove record setting traffic downtown.
We’d love for you to see this member-only resource to help make a difference in your district. Make sure you are logged in or join IDA to learn more about how members get sh*t done!
Year of Wisconsin Avenue
Milwaukee’s Wisconsin Avenue has long served as the State’s civic and cultural “Main Street.” In spite of a recent resurgence of private investment within 16 of the Avenue’s most prominent properties, the corridor lacked the pedestrian-level vibrancy that peer-cities exude. That is, until the summer of 2017. Milwaukee Downtown, BID #21 declared 2017 “The Year of Wisconsin Avenue,” with a series of public art and quality-of-life initiatives that reshaped the Avenue as the community living room.
We’d love for you to see this member-only resource to help make a difference in your district. Make sure you are logged in or join IDA to learn more about how members get sh*t done!
#IgoDowntown Music Video
The Louisville Downtown Partnership (LDP) hosted a launch party featuring the world premiere of the “#IgoDowntown” a music video to promote the downtown brand, showcasing local musicians Jecorey “1200” Arthur, Laura Ellis, Gayle King, Love, Joy and Faith, Frankie Moody and Ben Sollee. The upbeat video, filmed on locations throughout the Downtown area, also includes special performances by CirqueLouis, Dance 360, The Louisville Leopards and Squallis Puppeteers.
We’d love for you to see this member-only resource to help make a difference in your district. Make sure you are logged in or join IDA to learn more about how members get sh*t done!
