Canad Unveils Marketing Plan
Inns of Canada could begin promoting Grand Cities to Canadians in April with a five-year, $1.05 million campaign under plans presented to city councilors last week.
Funding comes from the city, while marketing expertise comes from Manitoba's largest hotel chain, Canada.
In the short term, the campaign aims to generate additional sales for businesses in the region, including a hotel in Canada and a water park complex at Alarus Centre. In the long term, he said, the company wants to increase "product awareness" for the Manitoba community.
Board Chairman Hal Gershman said he supports the Canadian dollar business because the company's ability to serve Grand Forks is "of great concern" to Canadians.
Marketing campaigns take several factors into consideration.
First, more and more families are looking to take two to three days off during their vacations, Lorne Perrin, Canada's chief marketing officer, told the board on Monday. Grand Forks is only 2.5 hours from the more populous city of Winnipeg.
Second, most Manitobans know Grand Forks for shopping, Perrin says, and are curious about new stores in town.
Third, the plan assumes that women make decisions related to shopping and vacation destinations, so they are the primary target of marketing campaigns. Business people who regularly travel to Grand Forks are second, while sports and community groups who travel here to events are at the top.
Most of the money should be devoted to television and radio advertising, a small percentage to newspapers, magazines and direct mail. Canada will conduct a survey to see if the campaign is successful. Typically, few Canadians have crossed Grand Forks in favor of Fargo, so a measure of the campaign's effectiveness may be a more positive attitude toward stopping here in the first place.
April Kickoff is the first phase of the campaign, which aims to capture summer traffic. This roughly coincides with the opening date of Grand Forks Resort in Canada. A second phase will begin in the fall to capture fall and winter traffic.
No further news.
In other news, the council members also discussed.
-- Changes to loud noise rule that UND students don't like. Some council members agreed that the $250 fine for the first offense was too high and supported changing it to a warning. A second offense carries a $750 fine, although council members, after hearing complaints that this was excessive, are considering it should be lower. The penalty is greater than a second drunken driving offense.
-- Allow bowling fans to bring beer onto the field. Jim Flynn, owner of Red Ray Lens, said Grand Forks is the only city in the state where drinking and bowling are not allowed. The proposed ordinance change comes at the request of Councilman Kurt Kreun.
Tran Town Hall reported. Call (701) 780-1248 or ttran@gfherald.com or visit the blog at www.areavoices.com/gfhcitybeat.
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