Uptown Jackson wins award for Outstanding Marketing

Bob Schooley and Tyler Wolfsberger with Uptown Jackson Revitalization Organization receive the Outstanding Marketing Award from Dr. Steven Hoffman, president of the MMSC Board of Directors.

With a major transportation construction project planned in its historic district, Uptown Jackson knew it would need a strategy to address the changes and communicate information quickly to the community.

The busiest intersection in the district was going to be replaced with a roundabout, which meant traffic disruptions, detours and limited access for local businesses. In response, Uptown Jackson, a new Missouri Main Street Affiliate Grant community, organized a marketing campaign to keep customers coming uptown and promote the fact that the changes happening in uptown Jackson would benefit the district.

The campaign tag line, “You can still visit Uptown Jackson in a ‘round-a-bout-way’” easily conveyed to the community at large that even through the construction, Uptown Jackson was open and ready to welcome visitors.

As an incentive for people to keep visiting uptown in the midst of the disruption, Uptown Jackson created a Roundabout Rewards card. The card is a free punch-type card that customers use in the various uptown businesses to receive discounts or special offers. At the end of the campaign, one lucky person will win a $500 shopping spree giveaway.

The marketing campaign also continues to utilize billboards along main routes to Jackson, as well as social media and newsletter updates. A recent Facebook post showing a time-lapse of the construction site received over 7,000 views and over 2,000 clicks, likes and comments. All of the campaign activities have increased Uptown Jackson’s website traffic by 300% and district businesses have seen an influx of new

customers. Uptown Jackson plans to use the momentum received by the campaign to continue to bring new customers and volunteers to the district.

For more information contact Uptown Jackson’s Promotions Committee Chair Tyler Wolfsberger at tyler.wolfsberger@gmail.com.