LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS PARTNER ON CAMPAIGN TO SUPPORT SMALL BUSINESS RECOVERY

‘Lou Needs You’ supports businesses in downtown and adjacent areas through digital marketing

Louisville, Ky. (April 1, 2021) – Today, Greater Louisville Inc., Louisville Tourism, Louisville Downtown Partnership, and Louisville Forward announced the launch of a new campaign to support businesses in downtown Louisville and the surrounding neighborhoods. The organizations joined forces to support efforts to revitalize the city’s urban neighborhoods and launch ‘Lou Needs You’, a primarily digital and social marketing campaign.

Through the generous pro bono services of local award-winning advertising agency Scoppechio, ‘Lou Needs You’ was created to support local small businesses who have been most impacted by the pandemic-related economic downturn. The campaign will center around a webpage that compiles information on business hours, COVID-19 precautions, and special offers. It will also include social media features that will tell the unique and compelling stories of local businesses and entrepreneurs.

“We are excited to partner with community organizations who share our commitment to our city’s economic recovery,” said Sarah Davasher-Wisdom, President and CEO of Greater Louisville Inc. “As more people get vaccinated, this campaign will be critical to helping us get people back to patronizing our local restaurants, businesses, and attractions.”

The primary goal of the campaign is to drive people back downtown and to the adjacent areas like Nulu, Butchertown, Russell, Portland, Smoketown, Phoenix Hill, the Highlands, and California. This area is known as the “Business Corridor” and has traditionally been supported by the downtown workforce, large events, and tourism – all of which have shifted because of the pandemic.

“As we enter our new normal, it’s important businesses in the heart of our city come back stronger than before. These neighborhoods are home to some of our most unique businesses that are an important draw for tourists and residents alike,” said Karen Williams, President and CEO of Louisville Tourism.

“Having a strong urban core is also imperative to growing our regional economy and attracting new businesses and talent to our city. We want to raise awareness of the need for people to get out and ‘Shop. Eat. Support’. It just takes everyone doing a little to keep these businesses and services afloat,” said Rebecca Fleischaker, Co-Chief of Louisville Forward.

The campaign is a continuation of several other community campaigns that have rolled out over the past few months to specifically focus on downtown.

“I am proud to support ‘Lou Needs You’, which is a natural progression of our continued work to revitalize our city’s urban areas,” said Robbie Valentine, Senior Director of Sales at KFC Yum! Center. “We started our outreach with a grassroots approach with Downtown Lou Needs U, going business by business to gain deep insights into the struggle businesses have had. It’s great to see the work that GLI and their partners have done to expand that work into a campaign that will encourage people to go and support downtown and the surrounding areas.”

“Revitalizing downtown is a top priority for our organization and our Downtown Strong campaign represented the critical need for our community to band together and support businesses hit hard from the pandemic. Lou Needs You is a great extension to this campaign to ensure our city comes back stronger than we were before this pandemic,” said Rebecca Matheny, Executive Director of the Louisville Downtown Partnership.

The campaign is live now and will be regularly updated based on submissions from local businesses. Visit LouNeedsYou.com to access resources and download a promotional toolkit.