Chamber campaign aimed at keeping local and area shoppers here at home

With its focus on attracting and keeping area shoppers in Shawnee, the local chamber is sponsoring the “Shop the Greater Shawnee Area Campaign.”
The Small Business Council of the chamber is coordinating this effort once again, and its launch will coincide with the statewide Tax Free Weekend, Aug. 7-9.
But merchants are being contacted now to participate.
A number of the chamber members and retailers in the area have participated in previous years, but others, who are chamber members, have refrained apparently because of some confusion and that it might be too costly for them to be involved.
That is why the chamber is making a concerted effort to better inform its members of the advantages of participating in the campaign.
While the cost for a business to participate is $250, plus a modest gift certificate from the business, there are several benefits.
 That cost includes being part of a full-page color advertisement which will run four times in The Shawnee News-Star and twice in the Countywide News/Shawnee Sun.
Those advertisements begin running the week the campaign is launched.
Marta Land of the House of Flowers said, “Participating in the ‘Shop the Greater Shawnee Area Campaign’ brought many new people into my shop as well as giving many of our established customers a reason to come in instead of calling in their order.
“I have found that getting people to go into a business is over half the battle. The campaign also gave us a great list of e-mail addresses which we now use to market our business over the Internet.
“It’s a great program, and if a person uses all the tools given, the results are long lasting.”
To participate in the chamber campaign, a merchant must be a chamber member. The grand-prize winner is selected from the semi-finalists and receives $1,000 in Chamberbucks which are redeemable only with participating businesses.
Among the concerns, apparently from some confusion, was what if the grand prize winner decides to redeem most or all of those Chamberbucks with one of the participating merchants?
Some smaller retailers and businesses have held back, thinking they are then stuck with the cost of the amount redeemed in their business.
The merchant is completely reimbursed by the chamber for the amount of Chamberbucks redeemed at the business. There is no additional expense to them.
At least two merchants, who are part of the Small Business Council, didn’t realize this previously.
Learning they will be reimbursed, both have indicated they will participate in this year’s campaign.
The focus of the month-long campaign is to encourage and entice local shopping. People should also remember that shopping locally increases the sales tax base for Shawnee, even though the campaign launches on the tax-free weekend.
Chamber staff said that participating merchants also are provided a database afterwards and it annually generates about 1,200 to 1,300 existing and potential customers with their physical and e-mail address to ramp up their marketing efforts.
The 2008 list consisted of 1,276 contacts.
To participate, call Geri Huston at the News-Star at 214-3970. She will coordinate with the merchants and the other media involved in the campaign.
This is how the campaign works:
• The chamber designs an entry form, with the merchant’s logo, which will run four times during the month of August in the Shawnee News-Star and twice in the County-wide/Sun, in a full-color, full-page layout.
• The entry form can be designed as a coupon, if the merchant chooses.
• The chamber provides the participating merchant with an entry box to keep in the place of business, plus signage and additional entry forms.
• At the end of the campaign, a semi-finalist will be selected from each business. The merchant provides a modest gift certificate from their business to their respective semi-finalist.
• The grand-prize winner is selected from the semi-finalists and receives $1,000 in Chamberbucks – redeemable only with participating businesses. The merchants return any of the Chamberbucks redeemed at their business back to the Chamber office for full face value.
The chamber points out these other benefits associated with the campaign:
•  Visible advertising.
• Consumer traffic to participating businesses will increase.
•  The $1,000 in Chamberbucks awarded to the grand-prize winner are generally redeemed at several of the participating merchants.
This is what participating merchants need to do:
• Display the entry box at a visible and prominent spot at the business.
• Bring the entry box to the Chamber on the specified day and time to draw the semi-finalist from the entry box.
• Attend a special, hour-long event Sept. 3 to congratulate the semi-finalist and participate with him or her in naming of the grand-prize winner.
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Gordona Rowell, executive director of the Shawnee Conventions and Visitor’s Bureau, said the deadline for supplying coupons, fliers and goodies for the International Finals Youth Rodeo packets is June 26.
She says items should be dropped at the Heart of Oklahoma Exposition Center office 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and that 1,100 bags will be prepared.
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If you have ideas or something of interest for this column, call 214-3922 or e-mail michael.mccormick@news-star.com. Include name and phone number for contact purposes.