A Virtual Experience: Annapolis Town Center
The Annapolis Town Center has spent the past few months adapting to a new way of retail, dining, and community events. To support our client, the Symmetry team reworked the Town Center’s campaigns for the spring/summer of 2020. When Annapolitans experienced the impact of COVID-19, our focus moved from shopping and dining-in to supporting the local community. Together, we were successful in raising relief funds for local schools, healthcare workers, and musicians.
Tunes from the Town: Virtual Concert Series
The Annapolis Town Center and Symmetry Creative Agency partnered up to provide local musicians with the support and means to generate some form of income with Tunes from the Town: A Virtual Concert Series. From April 15 – May 2, viewers streamed performances from 18 local artists on the Town Center’s Facebook page. During the performance, the audience was encouraged to donate to the Annapolis Musicians Fund for Musicians (AMFM). AMFM supports musicians with emergency funds as they are unable to perform given state guidelines. The Annapolis Town Center and Symmetry also promised to match every donation, dollar for dollar, made by the end of April for up to a total of $5,000.
In order to promote the series, Symmetry’s team provided the musicians with creative assets to market their virtual shows. We also handled cross-posting to ATC’s Facebook page each night. Days before the conclusion of the campaign, we passed the initial objective of $10,000. As a result, we bumped up the final goal and ultimately e raised an impressive $21,428 for local musicians.
Our Heroes Wear Scrubs
The Annapolis Town Center collected 200 coloring page submissions from the community for a window mural honoring the brave work of local healthcare workers. The final artwork was unveiled during Nurses Week (May 6-12). For each page, a $10 donation was made by the Town Center to the Anne Arundel Medical Center’s Community Response Fund, resulting in a total donation of $2,000 raised.
The mural of unique artwork was on display beneath Target for the entire month of May, serving as a reminder of who the real heroes are. In order to execute this campaign, Symmetry’s Creative team designed a variety of coloring pages to be downloaded and customized. The communications team was then responsible for implementing a strong marketing campaign that involved weekly social posts, blog content, email marketing, and digital ads. This project gave local families an activity to work on while stuck at home and provided a monetary token of support for the ongoing health crisis.
Buy a Meal, Give a Meal
While many retailers were forced to close their doors, the Annapolis Town Center remained committed to making a difference for their tenants. As schools closed in the interest of public health, the Town Center implemented the Buy a Meal, Give a Meal campaign. These efforts aimed to support students who rely on school lunches for meal assistance. Under state guidelines, restaurants were allowed to remain open while pivoting to carry-out and delivery only. Town Center customers were encouraged to Buy A Meal (whether take-out, delivery or even a gift card) at one of the participating restaurants and then the Town Center would Give A Meal to students in need by donating a percentage of all restaurant sales to the Anne Arundel County Public Schools’ student lunch program. Symmetry’s creative team designed the graphics for all social posts, email marketing, and digital needs to promote the Town Center’s restaurants and encourage the community to get involved. A total of $3,000 was raised in support of local schools while also keeping their restaurants open.
What started as a challenging turn of events turned out to be the perfect opportunity to help our client step up and meet growing needs in the community. The Town Center’s commitment to adaptation made Symmetry’s role easier.
