by David Chapman
Staff Writer
Getting “butts in the seats” has never been a huge problem for officials trying to sell out the annual Georgia-Florida game. For local businesses trying to capitalize on the masses, though, many have a different way of getting their name out there.
Over the years, the Landing has been considered one of the hotter spots for fans to congregate, but getting the word on planned events and rules at the Landing doesn’t come through traditional media.
“It’s about public relations, getting e-mails out and working with both schools to keep them informed,” said Rachel Nudge, Landing public relations director. “We don’t spend much money in actually advertising.”
Nudge said she spends much of the time relating information to officials from both schools, who then filter the information to students.
Normally, Nudge said around 5,000 fliers are printed each month which detail the Landing’s events and entertainment calendar, but for October that number goes up to 10,000.
Additionally, the fliers are hand-delivered to area hotels where fans are staying and some reach both the University of Florida and University of Georgia campuses.
“We also coordinate efforts with(the City’s Office of) Special Events Department, our Web site and social networking Web sites like MySpace,” said Nudge. “We don’t really put dollars in things like newspaper advertising anymore.”
Local businesses aren’t using traditional marketing avenues to get their name out to students in Gainesville, Fla. or Athens, Ga., either.
“Over the years from time to time we’ll get advertising from businesses in Jacksonville, mainly from tourism groups,” said Jeff Wilson, publisher of the Athens-Herald Tribune.
“I think many of the folks who go down there have gone for years and have already established the places they go, though.”
Tribune editor Jason Winders said he hadn’t seen any, either, but saw such methods’ merits.
“You’d think people who come down there and might not know about the area would benefit from Jacksonville businesses advertising here,” said Winders.
Advertising staff at both The Independent Florida Alligator and The Red and Black, UF and UGA’s school newspapers, respectively, have said businesses in Jacksonville have not advertised with them this year.
Some local businesses in the vicinity of the stadium have taken a grassroots effort in advertising instead of spending dollars on marketing.
“We’ve been here for a few years now,” said Marco Munroy, one of the owners of Burrito Gallery at 21 E. Adams St. “We’ve just had to be patient and people have come during the weekend mainly through word-of-mouth.”
In 2004, Burrito Gallery’s first year, Munroy said some money was spent on advertising but didn’t prove fruitful enough for the costs. Instead, he said, many times it’s customers bringing out-of-town guests that boost sales.
“It’s a big (Florida) Gator town,” said Munroy. “A lot of times, we have people who live here and eat here already bring their visiting friends during game weekend.”
Like the owners of Burrito Gallery, another Downtown business owner’s marketing spending didn’t yield the results he hoped for during another recent football game – so it was back to the basics.
“We took out some special ads for last year’s Florida State-Alabama game but it ended up being cost prohibitive,” said Mark Hemphill, owner of Mark’s at 315 E. Bay St. and Dive Bar at 331 E. Bay St.. “For the most part, we have our normal local ads on TV and in publications.”
He said the bars’ locations on Bay Street are ideal due to their location between Jacksonville Municipal Stadium and the Landing. The area is filled heavily with pedestrian traffic during game weekend.
Though neither Mark’s nor Dive Bar is a sports bar, said Hemphill, both establishments will have banners up to create a football festive atmosphere to attract those passer-byers. Other than an increased staff and expected patrons, it will be “business as usual.”
Area hotels also see an increase in fliers, pamphlets and business materials around this time.
“A lot of entertainment information is brought to our concierge desk,” said Danita Hurst, business and sales manager at the Hyatt.
With several hundred thousand people expected to hit the streets for the game, the opportunity for extra business is there – it’s just a matter of corralling it in.
“It’s definitely going to be a hectic – but busy – week for everyone,” said Nudge. “But I know we’re (the Landing, local businesses) looking forward to it.”
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