A new marketing campaign by Airdrie Economic Development aims to incentivize people to shop locally as businesses rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Shauna Quinn, the City of Airdrie’s tourism development officer, the Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is campaign – which will run until Nov. 28 – intends to “pull at the emotional and sentimental connections” that residents have with Airdrie’s local business community. The ultimate goal, she said, is to stimulate the local economy, encourage mindful spending and build a sense of community pride.
“There’s no question the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has deeply affected our small business community, their owners and employers,” she said. “These shops, restaurants and services are the foundation of our local economy and the backbone for relentlessly supporting our social, cultural and environmental well-being.”
The Airdrie Chamber of Commerce (ACC) is partnering with Airdrie Economic Development to promote the campaign. ACC Executive Director Marilyne Aalhus said the campaign will emphasize how shopping locally contributes to the vitality and health of Airdrie’s economy.
“When you’re shopping local, you’re contributing to a tax base, but you’re also contributing to employment within our community so that your neighbours and family can work within the community and profit from that,” she said. “We need to do that more than ever during these challenging times.”
According to Quinn, Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is had a soft launch in mid-July and will run until the Christmas shopping season begins in late November. At an Airdrie City council meeting Aug. 17, Quinn outlined the overlapping phases of the campaign.
The first phase, she said, runs from July 15 to Sept. 10 and focuses on promoting awareness of the initiative to community members.From Sept. 1 to 30, Quinn said the campaign will enter its engagement phase, also referred to as “Hearts of Airdrie.” During this time, Airdrie residents are encouraged to post photos to social media showing what they “heart” about the city, and tag local organizations and businesses.
“With that alignment, we’ve also provided additional reach for the dining program Taste Airdrie and the cultural events of ARTember, to again increase the awareness of all the things happening in our community,” she said.
The campaign will then move into the action phase slated for Sept. 26 to Nov. 21. Quinn said this phase will include an eight-week contest that further incentivizes local shopping.
Each week, shoppers may upload photos of a receipt for a local item or service to social media to be entered in a draw to win back up to $500 towards their purchase, Quinn said.
“Be it your daily coffee run, winter tire install, a child’s sports fees or groceries, this reward and encouragement for supporting local contribute to that mindfulness of where we shop,” she said. “As 2020 creeps its way back to winter and consumers start to think about the holiday season, the ideals of giving and sharing will emerge.”
With each weekly entry, Quinn said both the shopper and the business they purchased from will be entered to win a grand prize package.
For the shopper, the sweepstakes prize will include $5,000 worth of local business gift certificates, products and services, Quinn said, while the prize for one licensed and independently-owned Airdrie business is a $10,000 local marketing package.
The draw for the grand prize will take place Nov. 28 on Shop Small Saturday – a date that encourages local shopping. Shop Small Saturday is sandwiched between Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
According to Quinn, Airdrie Economic Development has budgeted $50,000 for the campaign, which has been reallocated from the 2020 Economic Development budget from projects deferred due to COVID-19. The budget will fund the campaign's prizes, marketing, business support and project management.
Scott Strasser, AirdrieToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @scottstrasser19
