A campaign to promote Mill Avenue as an eclectic, urban environment could give downtown businesses a boost, but the impact of the advertising has yet to be seen.
The goal of the campaign, which began branding downtown as the Mill Avenue District two years ago, is to carve out a distinct identity for the area as an urban, edgy, creative and diverse place, said Kate Hastings, a Downtown Tempe Community spokeswoman.
"We do not have much in common with malls," Hastings said. "We're a little edgier, sometimes it's not as clean, but it's far more diverse and spontaneous for people who want to come here."
Still, the branding hasn't led to a direct increase in business sales quite yet because strong advertising efforts didn't start until this year, she added.
The promotions could show urbanites that the Mill Avenue District is a place where they would want to eat and shop and draw in more customers, she said.
The campaign might also help attract more eclectic and trendy businesses to the Mill Avenue District, Hastings said.
American Apparel, located near Sixth Street and Mill Avenue, is an example of the types of stores the DTC wants to bring here, she said.
Damon Scott, general manager of Zuma Grill, said he's hoping the campaign, along with the construction of Centerpoint Condominiums nearby, could help attract a constant stream of older, urban professional customers to his restaurant.
"They don't leave in the summer," Scott said. "They [also] generally have a little bit more money to spend."
As it stands, most of Zuma's customers are college students, he added.
But the new promotions could draw a variety of people to come downtown, said Chris Wagner, a manager at Corleone's Philly Steaks.
He said these customers would want to hang out in an urban environment that resembles his hometown of Philadelphia.
"I think [the campaign] will attract a more blue-collar customer," Wagner said. "They haven't seen anything like that before."
To promote the district, the DTC has spent $37,000 on targeted ads in a variety of publications, Hastings said.
An ad geared toward students published in The College Times features images of Sparky the Sun Devil, an ASU football game and students hanging out at a bar.
A new Web site and more advertisements are also in the works for December.
The promotions next month will target the hometowns of teams playing in the Insight Bowl, which takes place at Sun Devil Stadium near the end of the year, Hastings added.
The DTC will also soon begin a five-year campaign to attract the best businesses to the downtown area, said Pam Goronkin, the organization's president and executive director.
Goronkin, who became the new head of the DTC last month, said she could not disclose details of her plan until it got support from the DTC's board.
The Tempe Convention and Visitors Bureau launched a branding campaign of its own two years ago, said Toni Smith, a bureau spokeswoman.
The bureau redesigned its logos and promotional materials, which may have helped increase hotel occupancy rates and tax collections in Tempe, Smith said.
Hotel occupancy rates in the city increased from about 68 percent in September 2005 to 72 percent this year. Occupancy was about 64 percent in September 2004.
Reach the reporter at Grayson.Steinberg@asu.edu.
