Marketing an underdog
London City Council keeps
insisting on a zero per cent tax
increase, but first they have to stop
spending money on avoidable
expenditures.
At least that's what many Londoners think of when they hear that the city has approved an additional $100,000 on the existing $600,000 promotional campaign called Welcome the World to London. The added money is marketing "Canada's London" as the slogan. All of this is in preparation for the World Figure Skating Championship taking place in the Forest City from March 11 to 17 at Budweiser Gardens.
The $100,000 will be matched by city-funded agencies.
According to Ken Hardy, marketing professor at the Richard Ivey School of Business, this really isn't all that much money. "These are really small dollar (amounts) compared to most kinds of advertising campaigns."
In fact, with less than a month and a half until the championships, Hardy said this is more than enough time to reap the full benefits of the investment.
"People need to hear something three or four, maybe five or six times before it really sinks in."
The campaign will include indoor, outdoor and online advertisements. This decision was made after a discussion that had many city councillors on the fence. Initially the council vote was 8-7 against the proposal to spend an additional $100,000 of taxpayers' money.
It surprisingly only took a single letter within the "Canada's London" logo to sway the vote 11- 4 in favour in the spending. Once it was decided that a maple leaf would no longer replace the second "o" in London, it seemed to be smooth sailing from there.
City councillor Dale Henderson was swayed by the modest logo change and the decision for cityfunded agencies to match the $100,000. But that wasn't all.
"We as council have to agree, we have to get together, we have to promote the city, and we need to get together on some issues and make sure that we do things together so it isn't always an 8-7 vote," said Henderson. "It looked like there was going to be a majority so I might as well help out and make sure that this is a unity thing for the city."
While controversy about where city money should be invested still rumbles in the streets, the money invested will inevitably draw a return investment.
"Promotional money is always subject to questioning because it goes into the air," said Hardy. "Families of skaters or skaters themselves visiting restaurants, going out to see some sights. There will be a return, first of all immediately in terms of hard dollars, but also in terms of fond memories and of a city that promoted itself professionally and well."
The championships will also attract visitors coming to watch the events, contributing to the local economy even more.
As long as the City uses the money in a way that reaches the target audience, it should have no problem making the money back and even making a profit, according to Hardy.
He suggested doing "a whole bunch of videos of major attractions such as Budweiser Gardens, restaurants, hotels, all the venues and activates that would really make London memorable."
At least that's what many Londoners think of when they hear that the city has approved an additional $100,000 on the existing $600,000 promotional campaign called Welcome the World to London. The added money is marketing "Canada's London" as the slogan. All of this is in preparation for the World Figure Skating Championship taking place in the Forest City from March 11 to 17 at Budweiser Gardens.
The $100,000 will be matched by city-funded agencies.
According to Ken Hardy, marketing professor at the Richard Ivey School of Business, this really isn't all that much money. "These are really small dollar (amounts) compared to most kinds of advertising campaigns."
In fact, with less than a month and a half until the championships, Hardy said this is more than enough time to reap the full benefits of the investment.
"People need to hear something three or four, maybe five or six times before it really sinks in."
The campaign will include indoor, outdoor and online advertisements. This decision was made after a discussion that had many city councillors on the fence. Initially the council vote was 8-7 against the proposal to spend an additional $100,000 of taxpayers' money.
It surprisingly only took a single letter within the "Canada's London" logo to sway the vote 11- 4 in favour in the spending. Once it was decided that a maple leaf would no longer replace the second "o" in London, it seemed to be smooth sailing from there.
City councillor Dale Henderson was swayed by the modest logo change and the decision for cityfunded agencies to match the $100,000. But that wasn't all.
"We as council have to agree, we have to get together, we have to promote the city, and we need to get together on some issues and make sure that we do things together so it isn't always an 8-7 vote," said Henderson. "It looked like there was going to be a majority so I might as well help out and make sure that this is a unity thing for the city."
While controversy about where city money should be invested still rumbles in the streets, the money invested will inevitably draw a return investment.
"Promotional money is always subject to questioning because it goes into the air," said Hardy. "Families of skaters or skaters themselves visiting restaurants, going out to see some sights. There will be a return, first of all immediately in terms of hard dollars, but also in terms of fond memories and of a city that promoted itself professionally and well."
The championships will also attract visitors coming to watch the events, contributing to the local economy even more.
As long as the City uses the money in a way that reaches the target audience, it should have no problem making the money back and even making a profit, according to Hardy.
He suggested doing "a whole bunch of videos of major attractions such as Budweiser Gardens, restaurants, hotels, all the venues and activates that would really make London memorable."
