SCOPE OF WORK

Toronto’s Entertainment District is one of North America’s most iconic neighbourhoods.

It is home to landmark destinations like the CN Tower, Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada, Canada’s Walk of Fame, Rogers Centre, Roy Thomson Hall, Princess of Wales Theatre, Royal Alexandra Theatre, TIFF Bell Lightbox, Canadian Broadcast Corporation and Bell Media.

If you live in the GTA or have ever visited Toronto, you’ve definitely hung out at this hotspot neighbourhood for culture, nightlife, food and tourism. 

In 2017, Matte PR began its collaboration with Toronto Entertainment District Business Improvement Area (TED BIA) to bring attention to both the well-known and well-hidden attractions of the downtown neighbourhood. Our PR firm’s work with TED BIA was centred on website and social media content production, including shooting photography and video. With a clear vision of the brand voice and tactically laid out concepts, TED BIA was reintroduced to Toronto with a fresh online presence featuring original content highlighting the area’s up-and-coming gems and hot spots.

Mozzarella in motion at General Assembly Pizza, located at Adelaide and Peter Street.

STRATEGY

Our PR agency worked to get people more engaged with, and aware of, the excitement that is the Toronto Entertainment District. We brought TED BIA’s IRL offerings to the world, digitally. By knowing TED BIA’s audience, we were able to create targeted content that highlighted local and under the radar local businesses, raising the profile of TED BIA as a destination for visitors and residents alike.

This was initiated with key research. To engage with the online audience, we took on learning about prominent local interests through investigating relevant hashtags and geo-based tags. We also curated a list of local businesses to profile and consistently looked to amplify more interesting voices and stories.

Blog posts focused on engaging with independent businesses and residents to showcase the emerging identity of the area. We used exciting blog writing to share stories about the local atmosphere, inspiring a sense of pride for the residents and intrigue for potential visitors.

Next, we looked to social media apps to further engage with potential visitors. Our strategy was rooted in understanding the needs of the BIA. We made the pivot to position the area as a place of storytelling and discovery.

For social media marketing, social media content and blog content, Matte PR produced a variety of image and video shoots to capture the excitement of the thriving businesses in the Entertainment District. We coordinated photography, videography and editing for on-site business and street portrait shoots to ensure that the visual content highlighted the buzzing atmosphere and excellent offerings available in the area.

Mary Young x Toronto Entertainment District, produced by Matte PR

The overarching goal of the collaboration was to unveil both the heritage and future of TED BIA and uncover ultra-local stories to tourists and Torontonians, providing an up-close and personal view of the area. Creating unique campaigns that compelled a virtual audience to visit was our main tactic in the realizing the strategy.

A photo from our portrait series capturing the faces of the Entertainment District.

RESULTS

From 2017 – 2020, Matte PR showcased a wide variety of local shops, restaurants, bars and residents — exposing the lesser-known identity of the tourist area. By delivering unique social media content we were able to see a significant increase in social engagement over the course of the collaboration, resulting in a 197% increase in impressions, 156.2% increase in profile visits and 73.93% increase in followers.

Cross-promotion via the TED BIA online network proved blog posts and video content creation were vital to the success of the social media posts. Our successful campaign resulted in establishing an online audience that was engaged with content about TED BIA’s local atmosphere.

Our efforts successfully highlighted the TED BIA’s offerings and positioned the area as a fresh, worthwhile place to visit in the city.