Virtual Sales Tour Could be City’s Next Marketing Strategy

When Temple Terrace was being developed in the 1920s, potential homeowners toured the heart of the community, visiting Club Morocco (now Sutton Hall at Florida College) and hitting balls at the golf course.

Now, the Temple Terrace City Council is considering recreating that “front door” to the city—with a 21st century twist.

Last week, the city’s marketing consultants, Margie Martin of Martin Communications and Tim Lancaster of Lancaster Design, introduced their ideas for the second phase of the city’s marketing campaign, including a virtual sales tour of the community.

“If I’m a USF professor—I’ve just been hired to come down here and live and teach at the university—and I live in Virginia, how do I experience ‘the Terrace’ without getting on a plane and flying down here?” Martin said. “… one of the ways that we’re suggesting is through a virtual guided tour.”

The tour would be accessible through electronic devices.

Those wishing to tour Temple Terrace from anywhere in the world could simply go online to take a planned development experience like a sales tour when visiting a traditional sales center, Martin and Lancaster said.

Or, visitors could use their mobile devices to take a self-guided, scripted tour of Temple Terrace in person. An app could give them an interactive map of Temple Terrace and take them to attractive locations, such as the Temple Terrace Family Recreation Complex, the golf course, the Hillsborough River, playgrounds and historic landmarks.

The in-person tour could also have a supporting brochure and “tour stop” signs at each location with QR codes to access more information.

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The idea for the virtual sales center came about after Martin and Lancaster talked with people who live both inside and outside the city.

“Temple Terrace is not an easy community to navigate, as we heard—that was one of the themes,” Martin said. “So, one way to help people navigate that is through a traditional map…but also through virtual mapping so that you don’t get lost. And we can send you to the right places where we want people to visit and make sure that they experience the Terrace and really visit these key stops.”

Other marketing ideas the pair presented to the council include:

• Working with prospective partners, such as the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI), Busch Gardens, the University of South Florida (USF), Florida College, the Greater Temple Terrace Chamber of Commerce, the Temple Terrace Golf & Country Club, and others

• Welcoming potential residents by displaying banners on street poles that could read: “Welcome Future Resident”

• Promoting the city more using social media

• Improving creative communication currently used by the city, like displaying the new logo and branding images on the city’s Facebook page (which has already been done) and redesigning The Temple Terrace Recreator, the Parks & Recreation Division’s catalog

• Developing a series of promotional postcards that harken back to Temple Terrace’s original 1920s marketing strategies

• Creating campaign ads that could be used for general promotion

“To implement all of them will require a substantial financial commitment from the city,” Michael Dunn, the city’s public information officer, told the council.

Council members asked Martin and Lancaster to work with City Manager Gerald Seeber to prioritize the most beneficial ideas, talk with the city’s potential partners, and come back to the council with options and costs.

Temple Terrace Mayor Frank Chillura commended Martin and Lancaster for their efforts.

“This is long overdue for the City of Temple Terrace,” he said. "Branding and image is everything. In order to move forward in today’s environment, we have to take that step in the right direction.”

“The people of Temple Terrace always go around and say, ‘Temple Terrace is the best kept secret.’ We don’t want it to be a secret anymore,” Chillura added later. “You want to tell everybody about all the great things in our city.”

See also:

• Council Approves Marketing Plan's 2nd Phase
• City Discusses Marketing Strategy Next Steps
• City Council Approves New Marketing Strategey
• City’s Marketing Efforts Seen Around Town
• Professional Actress Joins Residents to Promote City in New Video
• City’s Marketing Video Almost Complete
• City’s New Website Launched