How to End Homelessness, Post-It Placemaking,and Historical Marshmallows ☕

It’s a fresh year, a new start, and to quote George Lucas, “A New Hope”.  While a regime change looks likely in about two weeks, we’re all still faced with mounting issues of uncontrolled COVID outbreaks, a potential new hyper-infectious strain, little financial assistance coming from the federal government, and our residents, ratepayers and local businesses are truly struggling to survive. We all need to focus on the positive and keep moving the ball forward. While circumstances may seem bleak at the moment, good things are on the horizon! Now is the time to prioritize, enact and deploy programs aimed at recovery, resilience and for your organization. Don’t miss us on the International Downtown Association’s MarCom webinar on “Crafting Recovery Messaging” on Friday Jan. 15 at 11:15 Eastern (it’s FREE for members and only $40 for non-members). And, read on for illuminating examples, best practices in placemaking and some damned delicious winter potables in this, our 20th edition of Bright Brother’s Strategy Group’s bi-weekly bastion of goodness. Welcome to 2021, friends!

– Your Bright Brothers Team

You probably know that Bright Brothers Strategy Group is a data-driven people-first strategic consultancy. But what does this mean? For one client, Downtown Norfolk Council, this means we saved them a boatload of budget while also:

• Migrating a revered, local holiday parade from broadcast television to digital streaming with…
• A quarter of the city’s population watching online…
• Bolstering future event sponsorship, and…
• Increasing website traffic by 200%!

Want to know how Bright Brothers can use your data to make a big impact for your downtown or district?  Give us a shout!
 

We all need to do our part in supporting local businesses during COVID, and many downtowns and districts have gotten very inventive with how they do it. It’s not even so much a matter of listing locations that are open anymore – the public needs to be actively and repeatedly encouraged to spend! We absolutely love this outstanding creative campaign from Philadelphia’s Center City District that utilizes clever graphics and a quarter’s worth of giveaways for those who submit their takeout receipts to a dynamic list of eateries. Included are everything from restaurants and cafés to fast-casual eateries, as well as those offering socially-distanced outdoor dining. Driving the message home is consistent use of tangible tips that deserve repeating, like:

• Order directly from locations
• Tip generously
• Pick up yourself
• Pay cash

We all know we need to do this, and delivering the calls-to-action in a snappy, positive and upbeat way keeps the significance top-of-mind while bringing a much needed influx of cash to our fraught business owners and ratepayers. What is your district doing?  Need help?  Attend the IDA “Advancing Places” Webinar next Friday.

Photo credit: centercityphila.org

Every district we’ve worked with grapples with issues surrounding homelessness, and every client has asked about a “magic bullet” of what to do. The answer may be found in Bakersfield, California. Struggling with extreme poverty and homelessness long before the pandemic, the challenges seemed insurmountable, but last year the city celebrated a milestone of “functional zero” for chronic homelessness, meaning that long-lasting and recurring homelessness were essentially eliminated. Learn how Bakersfield is winning the fight with a people-first approach that your city could adopt.

 Photo credit: Unsplash, Matt Collamer 

Contrary to common belief, Lisa Kudrow didn’t invent Post-It Notes (and Al Gore didn’t invent the internet), but Tyler Watt’s, a 4th grade math teacher from Kentucky and his students did create magic in their tiny hometown of Whitesburg. Placemaking with Post-It Notes is nothing new, but the inventive and collaborative project brought millions of eyeballs and earned media to the miniature burg with an excellent example of creative placemaking – with Post-Its!  Why did he do it?  Watts was quoted as saying, “I wanted to do something that would make everybody smile and even laugh a little bit.”  It sure worked for us!

Again with the Philly foods, you ask?  There’s just so much goodness that comes out of the “City of Brotherly Love”, and we love to see it. And eat it, too! A must-stop shop is Old City’s famed Shane’s Confectionery. One of the nation’s oldest sources for sweet treats (since 1863) these pioneering chocolatiers continue to innovate and produce amazing, hand-crafted goodness – even during COVID. With the shop’s front entrance converted with a Dutch-door-cum-socially-distanced-sale-window now in place, visitors can snatch up some of our nation’s history to put in their cup. We’re entranced with these adorable Liberty Bell-shaped cocoa accompaniments that melt in your mug to reveal house-made marshmallows that pop to the top of your warm winter drink. This brilliantly branded candy promotes the city’s revered role in our nation’s independence, and perfectly encapsulates the kind of winter placemaking that we can get behind. What would your city’s cocoa kits look like?

Photo credit: shanecandies.com