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56 downtown Augusta businesses launch marketing campaign to lure patrons, curb reputation for crime [The Augusta Chronicle, Ga.](Augusta Chronicle (GA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Sept. 16--With new measures in place to curb street violence and illegal vendors, downtown Augusta businesses have again pooled their resources to launch a grassroots movement aimed at reclaiming the entertainment district as a safe, fun and thriving area. The most prominent aspect of the new, six-month "We are Downtown Augusta" campaign is a 20-foot tall billboard on John C. Calhoun Expressway, the last one visitors see before entering the city center from the west. The four-word phrase dominates the light blue sign, and smaller storefront banners have been made to highlight the 56 businesses involved in the project. Contributing partners pay $10 a month for the advertising and are listed in smaller red lettering around the campaign's slogan, which is set in bold letters in front of a 1950s photograph of downtown Augusta. "The campaign just kind of evolved into a friendly effort among downtown businesses who felt it was on us to show the community all that the district has to offer," said organizer Coco Rubio, who owns two Broad Street music venues, Sky City and The Soul Bar. "People don't realize how many small businesses we have downtown, and when they actually see many of them all on one poster, they're pleasantly surprised." Rubio said the new campaign was designed as an spinoff to "Respect Downtown," an anti-crime initiative started in July 2012 after six people were injured in a shooting at the corner of Broad and Ninth streets during the district's monthly First Friday celebration. The effort generated increased enforcement on illegal street vendors, greater emphasis on city curfews and created a community patrol to police downtown, especially in areas where live entertainment and family-friendly functions are known to take place, such as Augusta Common. What the effort lacked, Rubio said, was an affordable way to lure visitors to a redeveloped downtown struggling to overcome an image of gun violence, gang activity and empty buildings. After traveling to Asheville, N.C., for the Fourth of July this summer, Rubio said he passed the brainchild of downtown Augusta's newest business venture and rescue mission: a billboard advertising various shops and galleries in the western North Carolina city's downtown art district. Rubio received immediate interest from downtown businesses and said he then contacted Stuart Rayburn, the owner of Billboard Guru, and Andrew Lawandus, an Atlanta graphic design artist, to make the vision a reality. Rayburn, who owns 18 billboards citywide, agreed to provide the sign at a discounted price, not charge rent for one month and subsidize production by 33 percent. Lawandus, a Savannah College of Art and Design graduate who had an internship in Augusta and designed the Respect Downtown poster, said he would draw the campaign's logo. "Ultimately, I think it's a public relations move to help people understand that downtown has viable businesses who are happy to be there and serve in a safe place where visitors can entertain themselves and their families," Rayburn said. He said the billboard went up under the radar of most city leaders in late August, just in time for the start of school. Augusta Mayor Deke Copenhaver and Economic Development Director Walter Sprouse were unaware of the campaign, which will run until February, when downtown businesses will re-evaluate to determine if they want to expand the business listing, add billboards or even make T-shirts, Rubio said. Both Copenhaver and Sprouse said they loved the idea, and Rubio said a "We are Downtown Augusta" Web site and Facebook page will go live in the near future. Margaret Woodard, the director of Augusta's Downtown Development Authority, said her organization contributed $75 to $100 to the campaign and would continue to support it in the future. She said the challenge would be finding a way to measure the campaign's success through sales. "I think it is wonderful that downtown merchants are supporting each other to promote their district," Woodard said. "It's great to see that type of collaboration being made to build community relationships." ___ (c)2014 The Augusta Chronicle (Augusta, Ga.) Visit The Augusta Chronicle (Augusta, Ga.) at chronicle.augusta.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |