To bring the independently owned, small business scene front and center in Pasadena, CA, the Old Pasadena Management District has run several cooperative ad campaigns focusing on small business owners rather than on their products and services. Old Pasadena has roughly 300 shops and restaurants downtown, and about 75 percent of them are independents, but as more nationals moved in, perceptions were changing.
“The bulk of who we are is very much indy,” says Steve Mulheim, president and CEO of the Old Pasadena Management District. “The ads help preserve our reputation as having largely indy retail content.”
The inaugural campaign included ads highlighting a dozen small business owners at a time, as well as more detailed ads focusing on just three small business owners.
Putting a “face” on a business resonates with potential customers, Mulheim says. “Store owners said they had so many people coming in and saying, ‘We saw your ad in such and such magazine and I think that’s so cool, why you named the store what you did,’ for example. They came in with that personal connection.”
The full article appeared in our print edition. To always get the full story, read Downtown Idea Exchange.