he Morton Chamber of Commerce announced that Nestle USA’s national brand Libby’s Pumpkin will feature the Morton Pumpkin Festival on their national website, www.verybestbaking.com. “Their website gets over 8 Million hits each year,” said Jennifer Daly, Executive Director for the Morton Pumpkin Festival. “We were thrilled when their marketing director agreed to add our logo and link to their page along with some information about the festival. That is huge!” That announcement was a great kickoff to the marketing efforts underway for the festival, which is celebrating 45 years this September 14-17.
“Last year we added billboards and an insert in the Peoria Journal Star along with radio spots in Bloomington-Normal,” said Jennifer Daly, Executive Director for the Morton Chamber. “This year we are expanding our regional focus and also pursing an overnight market. We can’t wait to examine the results.”
Regional advertising for the festival this year will include radio, billboards, Facebook ads, an ad in the Peoria Park District Playbook, and a newspaper insert in the Peoria Journal Star. In addition, the official Pumpkin Festival Booklet will be distributed to every household in Morton and Washington through The Courier Newspaper. “We are really excited about the partnership with The Courier,” said Daly. “Getting the booklet to every household in Morton and Washington will really help us promote the festival to our most avid audience.”
Rack cards are also being printed for distribution to every hotel in a 30 mile radius of Morton. The cards will be featured at hotels during the week of festival. “We are adding a personal URL and a special coupon to these cards so we can see how many people were attracted to the festival because of the piece.”
Drawing a family to the festival for an overnight stay is a much more challenging feat, but one desired by local hotels. “We are working with the Peoria CVB on a fall package that features the festival and includes specials from our local hotels and Ackerman Farms,” said Daly. “The newspaper insert and Facebook ads will be distributed in the Chicago suburbs via the Sun Times News. The printed piece will also include a coupon and a personal URL for tracking purposes.”
In addition to the overnight package, an electronic piece will be sent to all of the individuals planning to attend the local band competition, which occurs during the Festival. “We are very thankful to the Band Boosters for their willingness to include an electronic piece about the festival to the band families,” said Daly. “These families are ideal targets for our overnight campaign since they are coming from a farther distance.”
The Morton Chamber is also doing some local marketing updates for the festival including new logos and signage for major festival venues and new festival banners for the downtown district. “It is a lot to juggle, but the marketing is critical if we want to continue to grow the festival and the positive economic impact it has on our local businesses,” said Daly.
For more information on the Morton Pumpkin Festival, go to www.mortonpumpkinfestival.org and www.facebook.com/mortonpumpkinfestival