The message: ‘Shop Santa Monica’
The success of the $100,000 “Shop Santa Monica” campaign now underway may rest on how well residents take up the call to promote Santa Monica hotels and businesses to their friends.
It isn’t just the main campaign that business leaders hope will do the job. The money, spread from mid- November through the end of the year also will highlight deals to which locals can turn on their friends and family.
The campaign, the first of its type here, will ask consumers to spend their hard-earned cash locally. Then comes the subtle part: getting locals to bring friends to town by turning them, in effect, into travel and booking agents. Some discounts, particularly at hotels, require local residency.
As part of the program, 400,000 letters will be sent out to local residents in two separate direct mail campaigns. They’ll be timed to “keep the buzz alive with local flyer distribution to schools, parking structures, retail outlets, the visitor center kiosk, police sub stations, libraries and gas stations.”
The key to the campaign’s success is the call for local residents to invite friends and family to shop and stay in Santa Monica. The bureau has added a special “locals only” icon to its Web site, www.santamoni-ca.com, which links residents, friends and family to up-to-date information on the program’s special promotions, open house events, hotel discounts and free shopping bus shuttle information. New links to each business district indicate which merchants and hotels are participating in the program.
The effort to boost occupancy at local hotels recognizes that $100,000 can hardly target visitors. Instead, it targets friends and family of Santa Monicans who may come here if there’s a deal to be had. The hotels have seen steep booking declines since Sept. 11 and an estimated $10.9 million loss in room revenues in the fourth quarter.
Called “I wish I had an extra bedroom,” 17 Santa Monica hotels are offering “deep discounts” and “package upgrades” for visiting friends and family. Residents can get the bargain rates for their friends by showing a valid California driver’s license as proof of Santa Monica residency when their guests check in. The “locals rate” is available through Feb. 19, 2002. The “deep discounts” include rates like $89 a night at Hotel Carmel (from $139-$169); $250 a night at the Hotel Oceana (from $360), and $150 a night at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel (from $329).
The citywide promotion to bolster Santa Monica’s economy is a response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks which has left many merchants uncertain about the future. Business leaders aren’t the only ones fearful that people are curbing their spending. City officials are too — which is why they are backing the marketing campaign.
“I generally believe in buying locally so monies stay circulating locally,” said Santa Monica Mayor Mike Feinstein. “You can remind people that by buying locally, it ensures people stay in business and stay employed.”
City officials are hoping the campaign softens the blow to the city budget. It’s facing a shortfall estimated at between $8-$17 million. Much of that is in lost sales tax revenue projections.
“The recession was already worse than expected and that started hurting the city,” Feinstein said, adding Sept. 11 only exacerbated a bleak situation. “The tourist dollar is a big hit for us.”
With the downturn in tourism and the holiday season here, the Santa Monica Convention & Visitors Bureau, the city of Santa Monica, the Big Blue Bus Company, the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce and local business improvement districts hoped to offset the slowdown by kicking off the marketing campaign dubbed “There’s no place like home for the holidays. Shop Santa Monica.”
Set to run through Dec. 31, the campaign has teamed up local merchants, attractions, restaurants, hotels and theaters to entice residents to spend their money in Santa Monica.
“We have a viable tourism market right in our backyard and now is the time to unite residents to support merchants, employees and our local community economically,” said Misti Kerns, executive director of the convention and visitors bureau.
Ten city partners are sponsoring advertising buys in local newspapers and outdoor media, including vehicle magnetic signs, street and lightpole banners and bus panels. The campaign message also can be seen on local television interviews and Website links, as well as 10,000 Santa Monica shopping bags being distributed throughout town.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 26, 2001. Read the original PDF.