This is officially our 35^th bi-weekly e-blast in 75 weeks, and we’re celebrating with a new look, feel and a continued commitment to noteworthy news for placemakers. While the jury is still out on whether we’re past peak COVID-19, entering our fifth wave, or just destined to live with an ever-mutating virus (like seasonal colds and flus); we felt the content formally considered “Cliffs Notes on Response and Recovery” was due for a makeover. As we reimagine Bright Brothers Strategy Group you can rest assured we’re still top-notch placemakers, UPMO industry leaders, and dedicated to a “people-first, data-driven” approach for downtowns, districts and DMOs. And just like you, we don’t need a big “welcome back” campaign to draw attention to things. We need to get gussied up, put on our party pants, throw on great-grandma’s precious pearls and get ready to hit the town. Its’ a new day, a new look and we’re keeping it real with you. Sit back, relax, enjoy your flight and let us know what you think of the “new Jan Brady”.

– Your Bright Brothers Team
David Romako / Josh Yeager /  Brandi Walsh

Hey, remember when we shared our Trends Report on “All Things Audio” last quarter? Audio has been a recurring theme lately in digital marketing, and we’re delighted to share an interview with one of the industry’s top brand marketers. Gabe Alonso heads up digital platforms and community for PepsiCo, and proposes that your brand needs to have a signature sound. From TikTok to podcasts and live audio to earworms – the audible element of your brand is just as important as how you look and feel. This guy is on the cutting edge of brand marketing, and we dig the beat he’s layin’ down!

Photo credit: John Tyson, Unsplash 

Everybody loves a success story, and the tiny town of Bellefontaine, OH is ground zero for one of the most innovative placemakers we’ve seen. Armed with degrees in music and business, local developer Jason Duff is revolutionizing and revitalizing small town districts across the Midwest. His florid formula injects capital into aging infrastructure, connects the dots with a people-first strategy and nurtures new businesses to blossom along the way. Duff’s signature solution inspired Small Nation, an organization that “…develops places, spaces and dreams for small towns and small town entrepreneurs across the country…” In Bellefontaine alone, Small Nation has bought and renovated more than 50 buildings with nearly $30 million in private investment. “This is what we do,” Duff says. “We buy and renovate historic buildings in small towns. Recruit tenants. Finance their business or become an equity partner. Help them brand, market, promote … and train for success.” And therein lies why we love him and his brilliant recipe. Duff assists throughout the entire entrepreneurial lifecycle from branding and color palettes to naming and nurturing fledgling businesses, to knocking down walls to create drive-up windows and paths to revenue in the process. We applaud Small Nations model. And that’s smart business for placemakers everywhere.

Photo credit: Small Nation

We all know that plants clean the air we breathe, and for many urban planners, architects and UPMO types, streetscape upgrades like planting beds and street poles are an afterthought. Here is a solution out of the UK that can be retrofitted to green your extant lighting infrastructure and enhance your district’s visual appeal with myriad upside. We’re keen on these green Living Pillars which mitigate air pollution, add foliage and color year-round, use smart solar tech to manage irrigation and reduce water waste, enhance biodiversity in urban settings and can be retrofitted onto your existing lamp posts. Newer models boast even more greenery and beauty, and both styles serve to support wayfinding and beautification of your district. Scotscape, the company behind Living Pillars also offers other green city solutions like Living Walls, Urban Micro Forests and other innovative solutions to environmental challenges facing cities like air quality, heat island effect, acoustics and climate events. And that’s one to grow on.

Photo credit: Scotscape 

Blighted by decades of neglect and the death of the sort of mom & pop shops that used to line every main street in the country, many downtowns and commercial districts have become desolate and dispersed. As the epicenters of commerce moved outward into sprawling strips of exurban big box retailers, and sales are supplanted by digital delivery powerhouses like Amazon et al., there has generally been a  “hands-up, what can we do?” approach by many local governments.

In looking at the future of community design, we enjoyed this high-level blueprint for two succinct ways that local governments can help small businesses that need affordable space. With more than $130 billion in support stemming from the American Rescue Plan, the time for local communities to act is now. According to this piece by Governing.com, “…, roughly 200,000 more businesses permanently closed in 2020 than in average years. Businesses owned by women and minorities have been particularly hard hit: At the end of 2020, 77 percent of Black-owned businesses rated their financial condition as “poor” or “fair,” versus 54 percent of white-owned businesses.” The author offers two distinct solutions for local governments to incentivize and gain control of the wheel to bring back small business to their communities and rebuild local wealth. And we’re here for it!

Photo credit: Joshua Olsen, Unsplash

Many a downtown and district has pegged its success on modern murals, fanciful artwork adoring streets, bike lanes or buildings, but community input and consistency are key. This article reminded us of an insightful tale of failure shared a few years ago at the IDA Annual Conference by Kevin Moran, former Executive Director of the Fairmount CDC in Philadelphia. Moran divulged details and unsuspecting insights about how a mural painted within his district’s footprint blew up into a community hot potato and was ultimately repainted. Included in his advice, was that community input is essential to the process. Naturally, Paul Orazietti, Executive Director at the Cloverdale BIA in Surrey, BC, Canada wants to see success in his BIA – but advises on a metered and systematic approach to murals, public art and placemaking that focus on community input and process to ensure smooth outcomes that ultimately support and enhance the community systematically.  “… there needs to be a discussion about what everyone in the community and the business owners want to see,” stated Orazietti. Cohesive themes, continuity and community engagement are the keyword takeaways we should all consider when approaching undertakings of this nature. Cheers to Paul for acting as a true steward of his community.   

Photo credit: Malin Jordan