PATIO DETAILS...LET'S SPREAD THE CHEER!

We're patio-hoppin' excited to celebrate over 300 patios, local businesses and business areas in 15 neighbourhoods across the City!  

Please see below for full campaign details, and ways to participate and spread the cheer!

OVERVIEW:

Running for the full summer patio season June 1st - Sept 1, 2021, the PATIO campaign is in partnership with 15 BIAs, Phillips Brewing & Malting Co, Vancity, Tourism Vancouver and the Vancouver Hotel Destination Association (VHDA) to promote “stay local, patio local”. 

To launch the PATIO campaign, we will promote a June contest encouraging patio patrons to vote on the BEST patio in several categories i.e. Best patio for family, Best patio for sunshine, Best Patio Server etc.  

Media coverage will focus on discovering the best of the best patios and supporting local, and will also feature the winners.   

Throughout the month of June, daily prizing to patrons will be supplied by Phillips Brewing & Malting Co.  

Throughout the 12-week campaign, weekly prizing will be hosted by the participating BIA neighbourhoods.

HOW CAN BUSINESSES PARTICIPATE?

If you are a restaurant with a temporary or permanent patio, then we will include you in the campaign. You will be listed in the MAP, and on our social media and in the contesting.

HOW TO PROMOTE THE CAMPAIGN?

We've put together a supply of marketing materials for you to use - including social media tools, posters and more.  You can access the materials here.  Please amplify the campaign with your own media posts and outreach.  Thank you! 

TIMELINE:

• Launch: June 1st 
• Patio voting and daily giveaways: June 1st to June 30th.  Daily prizes from Phillips Brewing & Malting Co.  Winners chosen daily. Best patios category winners will be announced in July. 
• Weekly giveaways: June 1st to mid-September.  Prize from BIAs and Phillips (different BIA each week.  Click here, 2nd tab for details).  Weekly winners chosen on Mondays (for week previous).
• Media: throughout the campaign, with online ads, articles and media posts beginning in June.  Primarily, articles will be published early to mid-June.
• Influencers visits: beginning in June and ongoing visits throughout summer. 
• Mayor and Councillors' visits to various neighbourhoods: June and July 
• "Best Patio" winners: winners will be announced in July.  Prizes (custom foam finger) given out to winning patios.

MEDIA FEATURES:

• Digital: Online ads, articles and posts with media partners including the Vancouver Sun and Province, Daily Hive, Vancouver is Awesome, VITA and Curiocity. 
• TV & Radio: Media partner Corus will promote the Best of Patios contest to build visitation, awareness and excitement. 
• Influencers: local influencers will visit patios all summer long and post as well as promote the voting and general message to get out and enjoy some patio dining.   
• Blogs: The StayVancouverHotels  blog will feature the PATIO campaign in June, and Tourism Vancouver will host coverage on their online platforms           

SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVITY:

We will encourage patrons to participate in the following (pun intended!):

• Follow @patiovancouver and tag their favourite patio, vote daily and fill out the survey.   
  • survey will be in the @patiovancouver bio along with static story highlights that can be pulled from and added to your stories.
• Post and tag photos on patios with hashtag #patiopics
• Vote daily for daily prize on @patiovancouver (with questions in stories and posts)
• Vote for weekly prize on link to survey (more in depth survey for weekly prize) 

If you're a participating neighbourhood, please tag your BIAs patios and if the opportunity is there:

• Tag the following sponsors: #LOVEVancouver (Tourism Vancouver); @vancitycu and @bankvancity (Vancity); @stayvancouverhotels; (Vancouver Hotel Destination Association); @phillipsbeer (Phillips Brewery & Malting Co); 
• Encourage people to post their #patiopics. 
• Tag @cityofvancouver - celebrating their temporary patios and plazas initiatives, and tag Mayor and Council members during any patio visits.

MAP:

• Digital map - a digital campaign-branded map which lists all plazas, temporary and permanent patios.  Listings will feature the address, website, and photo.  
• PDF map - note: changes may be made in future, pending patio updates. 

MARKETING & OTHER COMMUNICATIONS:

• Window Decals with a QR code to @patiovancouver
• Posters for local businesses / organizations to display 
• Sidewalk decals
• Tote Bags - Influencers and weekly winners will be provided with custom branded PATIO tote bags along with an additional branded PATIO item (summer-themed swag, eg. sunglasses, etc.)
• Branded foam fingers (similar to the ones at sports games) will be provided for winners of patios (businesses) - and we’re aiming to get social reach with this too by posting photos of the foam fingers at winners’ patios. 
• Website blog posts
• Email updates to BIA contact lists (local businesses, organizations, community contacts, etc.)

PATIO PARTNERS:

We will celebrate and highlight the following PATIO partners through campaign marketing, including the following social media posts:

• Vancity
  • posting dedicated Vancity “Thank you” images and tagging @vancitycu and @bankvancity.
• Phillips Brewing & Malting Co
  • posting photos of people on patios with Phillips products in hand and tagging @phillipsbeer. 
• Tourism Vancouver
  • tagging #LOVEVancouver in summer posts to cross-promote with Tourism Vancouver's "Love Vancouver" campaign.
• Vancouver Hotel Destination Association (VHDA)
  • promoting a “staycation” and offer with @stayvancouverhotels.  Sample posts here. 

PILOT PROJECT WITH VHDA: 

• Vancouver Hotel Destination Association (VHDA), known as StayVancouver, offers visa/promo cards to incentivize hotel guests to book.  StayVancouver is supported by Vancouver’s tourism council, incentivizing travellers to visit the city, stay with its hotels, and spend money locally to support the local tourism sector.
• In addition to our PATIO campaign, we are also collaborating with the Vancouver Hotel Destination Association to launch a pilot project for a small number of BIA patios to test with us.  Hotel guests will receive a $50 PATIO campaign VISA card as an incentive to enjoy local patio stays at participating restaurants.  
• Also, if the guest uses that $50 Patio VISA card between June 1 - July 31 only at one of our test patios, then the test patio will provide an additional $20 in gift certificate as a reward for visiting the patio and as an incentive for the guest to continue to enjoy the patio. The BIA will reimburse the test patio for the $20 gift card upon collection of the expired $50 PATIO card and the guest bill showing a minimum $70 spend.
• What is my role as a Restaurant w/ a patio?  If you are participating in this campaign, we ask that you keep track of how many $20 GC you provide to them. Participating restaurants must show proof.

SUMMARY OF KEY CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES:

• Voting and daily contests in June
• Weekly contests June to mid-September
• Influencer visits in June
• Mayor and Council visits in June and July
• Engaging on social with @patiovancouver, sponsors, patios / businesses, City of Vancouver (CoV) and Mayor and Council.
  • CoV engagement related to temporary patios, plaza and public space posts, and Mayor and Council visits.
• Distributing marketing material and posting on social media 

MORE INFO?

Please DM us @patiovancouver, or contact your local BIA representative if you would like more details about your area.  Cheers!