Author: Andrew Gall
It may be too early to proclaim an in toto downtown Seattle renaissance. But from attracting more residents than ever before to a renewed ambassador program to Amazon’s office return, one thing is clear: big things are happening—or, rather, happening again—in our city’s downtown core. And with our epically long summer days and some good momentum within our city, we’re confident that things are only going to continue to trend in the right direction.
As it relates to downtown, we already declared where we stand—that is, proudly— but since we wrote that last piece, we’ve put our agency money where our downtown pride is.
With CF—a downtown-centric independent business—turning 25 this year, it was the perfect time to amplify fellow small businesses in Seattle’s downtown core. Starting in April, we began promoting a huge rallying cry called “Stand Proud Downtown” focused on the promotion and amplification of local businesses through signage, social media, a microsite, and two prizes of $25,000 in free advertising services to help promote a thriving downtown Seattle for the long-term. Numerous local partners, including The Seattle Times, Seattle Met, and The Stranger, donated free media space to help further the amplification of the winning small businesses.
Thus far, the “damn proud to be downtown” sentiment has instilled a renewed sense of pride, hope and optimism across the city—as evidenced by the 97% positive sentiment on social media, with over 100 participating small businesses requesting our OPEN signs. To date, the campaign has garnered over 4.6MM impressions—all with a paid media spend of $0.
One of the most rewarding aspects of this initiative has been meeting with and getting to know the owners of the small businesses around town. The sweepstakes winners, Maiz and Gyros Place, respectively, are two independently owned restaurants within walking distance of the office. Even before winning our sweepstakes, the two were favorite lunch destinations for CF employees. Now, having a window into their operations as it relates to the downtown Seattle landscape is allowing us to truly use our advertising powers in a way that affects our city positively. As we continue to work with our sweepstakes winners, we look forward to sharing more in the coming months.
We’re continuing to amplify participating businesses on our social channels. If you’d like to participate, request your own sign here. We at CF are still, and always will be, standing proud downtown—and we look forward to being a part of the continued resurgence of our city center.