Rosie Red Deer Downtown Business Association 111

+ Rosie Red Deer Downtown Business Association 111 A, 4818 50 Ave, Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, T 4 N 4 A 3

+ Concept Increase awareness for downtown business – specifically retail and entertainment Increase awareness around, and promote events in, downtown Red Deer Utilize low cost forms of communication – Social media Connect with consumers on a personal level through a fictional personality

+ Please Meet Miss Rosie Red n Rosie is a very tech savvy, vibrant 28 year old from Red Deer n She lives, works and plays in the bustling downtown Red Deer n Her social calendar is packed with events and appearances n Not that she ever gets a lot of work done as she is often caught shopping during business hours and posting her finds on facebook and twitter

+Channels • • • Rosie has become the recognizable face and voice of Downtown Red Deer. Rosie connects through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube and Wordpress She often does radio advertising and television, although she is a little shy in front of cameras Rosie Red in a local television interview

+ Connect Join Rosie’s community! • • • Instagram: @downtownrosie Facebook: www. facebook. com/down townrosie? ref=ts&fref=ts Twitter: @downtownrosie

+ Impact • Rosie has allowed us to connect with businesses and consumers in an informal way • This spring, an actual character voice was developed for Rosie which is used in all of her radio commercial campaigns • Rosie’s budget is $1000. 00 a year to design and recreate her cutout that then goes to the stores and events (She has to keep up with today’s fashions and trends)

+ Impact Continued • Through Rosie’s presence in businesses, people following her have learned about new stores and events and have become regular patrons of places they didn’t even know about • This has lead to a measured increase in people visiting the downtown that otherwise might not have

+ Sustainability • • Rosie posing with the Mayor of Red Deer Apart from her shopping habits Rosie is very sustainable as she is constantly reinventing herself each year and as new channels come available for her to utilize Her annual budget is low and she is added into existing marketing budgets for traditional media

+ Sustainability Continued • • One team member is responsible for ensuring Rosie is out at events and in the public eye They also look after her social media, as well as the other Red Deer Association accounts

+Execution n Inspired by the concept of having a downtown mascot, Rosie was born n It was decided that she was trendy, fun, relaxed and tech savvy n An open house and press conference welcomed her to the team n DBA members and advocates helped push Rosie into the social media scene n Businesses invited her to stop by and she attended many existing and new events Rosie has become a regular at Food Truck Fridays!

+ Outcome n Rosie has achieved the desired outcome of having a recognisable voice and mascot for Downtown Red Deer n She is a cost effective way to provide communication n She engages with the greater community to increase traffic to our downtown area n Businesses connect with the Red Deer Association through Rosie when we attend their events and businesses

+ Thank-you We at the Red Deer Downtown Business Association would like to thank you for considering Rosie Red as a candidate in the running for the Marketing and Communication award!