Te Puke Let's Keep It Local campaign hits the mark

Te Puke Economic Development Group's Let's Keep It Local campaign has been well received, says managing director Mark Boyle.

Te Puke Economic Development Group managing director Mark Boyle has received nothing but positive feedback for the Let's Keep It Local campaign.

The campaign was launched in May and encompasses outdoor signs, newspaper advertising, leaflet drops, point-of-sale material and social media.

The first phase of the campaign highlighted the breadth of the local economy.

''That was very well received and lots of people were seeing that. There has been some individual feedback from people in business who ... think it's making a difference.''

One of the campaign's features is regular Facebook posts showing business owners photographed with the kiwifruit slices outside the old railway station.

''They have got quite a following,'' says Boyle.

The social media component is now being expanded to include animated segments about ''keeping it local'' and telling the stories of some of the people in business in the area.

''There are about 20 different ones that are representative of people from the primary sector, manufacturing, retail, service. They are starting to appear and are going to be converted into newspaper ads.''

He says it is crucial to keep the campaign's momentum.

''I'm talking to the business community about a concerted effort to keep this going.

"There might be individual promotions that take place as part of that and that will be articulated in such a way that we will have continuity about storytelling.''

Boyle says the campaign has been well received and is making a difference.

''There's been nothing negative at all - and I've had dozens of complimentary notes and things saying it's great that you are trying to promote local and remind everyone of what we've got.

''The other real positive thing is other people, in their own way, are doing things. EPIC Te Puke have embraced it and are articulating it in their own way and that was the whole thinking behind it - people picking up on it and doing things.''

He says it might be some time before the impact of lockdown on some parts of the economy is known.

''People think life's got back to normal [under alert level 1] but the impact it has had on some parts of the economy is not known.

''The primary sector will just tick along and a lot of the service sector will tick along because they are all busy but maybe in some of the transactional stuff and the discretionary spend - retail is the best example - there are some unknowns there.

"We don't really know if people are going to be a bit cautions or not.''