A Neighborhood Where Everything Happens, Shown Where It Happens

The client is a business improvement district that works to keep its New York City neighborhood vibrant for businesses, residents, and visitors. It needed to keep the neighborhood top of mind, bring people into the area, and grow the audience it could reach directly.

That audience was never one group. Some people lived in the neighborhood, some traveled in to work there, and some came in for a day. The question was whether digital advertising could find each of them and bring them to the neighborhood. The district asked HEEDGROUP to run a pilot and prove it.

Everything happens here
People do not travel to a district. They go where something is happening. So we stopped talking about the district and built the campaign on one idea: everything happens here, in the heart of the neighborhood.

Real pictures from the neighborhood itself
We used real photography of what was happening on its streets. One-stop shopping happens here. Entertainment happens here. Lunch with mom on Mother's Day happens here. Each image was a reason to come.

The right "happens here" for the right person
Smart targeting made the idea work. What happens here is different for someone who lives nearby, someone who travels in to work, and someone coming in for the day, so we matched the promise to the audience across paid social and search, local influencers, and email.

An audience the district owns
As the campaign ran, we optimized the district's website for search. Traffic kept rising at a better ratio than ads served, which gave the district more visitors to add to its database and re-engage over time to drive to neighborhood events and happenings.

A pilot that led to a partnership
After the pilot, HEEDGROUP continued to design publications, digital and out-of-home campaigns, web, and collateral for the district, including its annual report.