Division A - Public Relations Programs
Category 10 - Other
River District Name Change Campaign
Priority Marketing & The Fort Myers Redevelopment Agency
Golden Image Award
Research/Situation Analysis:
For more than 20 years, the Fort Myers Redevelopment Agency (FMRA) has
led efforts to redevelop downtown Fort Myers. Historically the city’s
hub, downtown had slowly descended into blight and economic decline as
businesses and residents moved to areas of new growth. Around 2000,
FMRA experienced significant progress after the city adopted a plan
developed by famed architect and city planner Andres Duany for the
revitalization of downtown, and began a streetscape improvement project
per his recommendation. Also, several large developers began planning
new luxury high-rise residential projects in the area. In 2006, FMRA
dedicated funds to use for public relations and selected Priority
Marketing (PM) to assist with communication. PM did extensive research
including business focus groups, phone interviews and man-on-the-street
questionnaires to gauge public perception of downtown Fort Myers.
Utilizing the results, the firm created a comprehensive communications
plan that focused on changing the image of downtown Fort Myers. Two key
findings helped with this decision: a majority of survey respondents
had a negative reaction to the word “downtown” and an overwhelming
majority believed its location on the Caloosahatchee River was its most
attractive asset. Therefore, one of PM’s most significant
recommendations to FMRA was to change the name of downtown Fort Myers
to the River District. The name change would signify the real change
that was occurring, remove the word “downtown” and the negative
connotations it held for many people, and highlight what was deemed the
area’s most attractive asset – the river. Considering residents had
referred to the area as downtown Fort Myers for more than a century, PM
launched the communications plan with an understanding that the name
change would be a gradual transition occurring over several years.
Further, FMRA recognized that the goal of the name change campaign was
simply that: to get people to utilize the new name. PM recommended
independent campaigns to follow aimed specifically at attracting new
business and new visitors to the River District. Target Market: The
target markets for the campaign were the Fort Myers City Council, River
District residents and businesses, and the general public.
Objectives: 1) To obtain unanimous City Council
approval for the name within one council meeting. 2) To generate at
least one major news story about the approval of the name change in the
local media, directly resulting from the press conference. 3) To
influence the media to use the new name instead of downtown,
specifically to use River District 30% of the time by month six. 4) To
ensure 10 uses (five solicited and five unsolicited) of the River
District name in public relations efforts by River District business
partners as a measure of the business community acceptance of the name
change.
Implementation: The FMRA enthusiastically adopted
the plan so the first step in achieving the name change was to secure
City Council approval. PM developed a logo and a presentation outlining
the research results and explaining its strategic and creative
rationale to the City Council. PM showed the council that the name
change was good for the River District, and also for the entire city,
with a polished verbal presentation. The speech was capped off with the
unveiling of a bright, artistically designed logo that promoted the
desired image for the River District, explaining the logo would drive
the overall look for the name change campaign to follow. To maximize
publicity in the event the name change was approved, PM planned to
announce a press conference on the steps of City Hall following its
presentation and prepped the FMRA spokesperson for interviews. PM was
prepared to immediately prepare a multi-media campaign to promote the
name change including newspaper advertising; magazine advertising;
television advertising; direct mail postcards; quarterly newsletters;
and personal letters to the media, area business owners and managers,
and other community leaders.
Evaluation: 1) The presentation was so
successful, it met applause as well as unanimous approval by the City
Council. Several council members commended the FMRA/PM team for the
research, professionalism and creativity of the name change plan and
the logo. 2) All four TV news stations and the only daily local paper,
The News-Press, attended and covered the name change story. One of the
TV stations, the CBS affiliate, aired the story live at Noon, and The
News-Press announced the change as “breaking news” on its Web site. The
advertising equivalency of media coverage of the press conference was
$47,945. 3) Based on a media audit spanning the six months following
the River District name change announcement, the media used the River
District name with increased frequency each of the first six months,
from 12% in the first month to 42% in the sixth month. The advertising
equivalency of feature stories about the River District totaled
$189,140. 4) The business community embraced the River District name
and began using it to identify the location of their businesses
immediately. The goal of five solicited and five unsolicited uses of
the name River District was far exceeded. A survey of business leaders
found that 80% reported using the River District name in promoting
their business. Of those same leaders, 53% reported hearing their
customers refer to the area as the River District. 93% of the leaders
said they display the River District newsletter in their businesses.
Based on informal responses, the name change campaign has had a
significant impact on building word-of-mouth exposure for the River
District.
Budget: FMRA recognized the importance of each
public relations tactic in the campaign and authorized each piece in
advance, based on an estimate, instead of approving an overall budget.
Production expenses, $70,856.75 and PM time 183 hours (including
research, creative development, city council presentation, publicity
coordination, presentation boards, newspaper advertising, magazine
advertising, television advertising-, postcard, media letters, VIP
letters).