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Considering downtown or main street revitalization
as a marketing endeavor provides a perspective on
the value of managing business districts from a well
established discipline.
Marketing is traditionally considered as being
made up of four “P’s;” Product, Price, Placement,
and Promotion. Too often, people think of marketing
as synonymous with promotion. In business districts
they may find the promotion element challenged as a
result of not giving sufficient attention to the
other three P’s, not recognizing the inseparable
linkage between the four elements.
Product. The business district is the product
and needs to be managed as such. A product is
developed by considering the needs and wants of the
desired customers and then managing the product to
provide for those needs and wants. In a managed
district, people are a combination of customers,
stakeholders, and the product. Many people may be
all three as they fulfill their concurrent roles as
property owners, business owners, volunteers helping
with the management of the district, and the people
serving the consumer.
Price. If we extend the understanding of price
to include the concept of return on investment of
resources, including monetary, energy, expectations,
and emotion, we can better understand the customer
experience and the price of a business district. It
is not just the cost of parking and the costs of
goods and services. It is also how easy it is to
interact with the business district and the quality
of the experience, The quality of the experience
entails the experience of both the inanimate place
and the people; people who provide the place and
people who are consumers. Price becomes the
expenditure of money as well as the extent to which
the experience either exceeds or misses
expectations.
Placement. Is a combination of location,
location, location, and ease of access. Few business
districts have the luxury of choosing where they
will locate, because they already exist where they
are. Consequently, the ease of access, which
includes a well-considered route communicated
clearly in literature, wayfaring signs, and parking,
become critical.
Promotion. Having worked on the first three
elements, promotion can now be congruent with a
business district that provides a desirable product,
at a price people are willing to pay, and placed in
a way that encourages patronizing the district.
The four elements of marketing are inextricably
linked. To result in a successful business
enterprise, marketing must be continually managed.
From the perspective of a business district as a
marketing undertaking, management of the district is
essential.
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