Spreading the 'Shop Local' message through youth engagement

David.Power — Tue, 09 Dec 2014 00:50:02 +0000

The economic context

Mitchell Shire is a rapidly growing 'interface' local government area that sits in the central north of Melbourne along the Hume Freeway. As a result of continuing growth and a current population of 35,000 residents, Mitchell Shire has recently been added to Melbourne's Urban Growth Boundary. This growth has brought about both positive changes in the business community, as well as its share of challenges.

Economically, one of the biggest challenges that retailers face is escaped expenditure as a result of the close proximity to Melbourne and shopping developments in adjacent municipalities. For example, in the south of the Shire around the township of Kilmore, the average household spends $2,073 per month on retail items and services, with only 50% of this amount actually being spent in Kilmore. Compounding this problem, 90% of the retail businesses are independently owned and operated and local retail spending has declined over the last three years. The support of local traders is considered a priority for Council as retail is the community's third largest employer, employing over 1,100 people with a combined spending power of upwards of $42 million – a major boon to the local economy.

Mitchell Shire Council needed to find a way to retain as much of the spending power of the residents as possible and also tap in to the $64 million value-added revenue that the retail sector contributes to the local economy on an annual basis.

Considering that 8,287 residents leave Mitchell Shire each day for work, one of the challenges identified was to encourage this sizable proportion of the working population to travel home first to do their shopping and support their local traders, rather than doing it on the way home in other municipalities. There was also an imperative to tap into the youth population and the family market, as young people make up over a third of the local population and are crucial to shaping spending patterns and 'Shop Local' awareness from an early age. Council therefore identified the need to understand and utilise the role that children play in helping to shape and drive family spending habits.

The program

In 2014 Mitchell Shire Council developed a Shop Local campaign titled 'The Mitchell Crowd', which was designed to encourage community members to support local traders. This campaign is a new approach to the Shop Local message aimed at educating primary school children on the importance of shopping locally and supporting local jobs. The program was developed to support and enhance the existing grade five curriculum, and is oriented around persuasive and narrative learning.

Mitchell Shire's Youth Councillors teach the 60 minute lesson to the students with support from the primary school teacher. The aim is to teach young children about the value of shopping locally, the positive spin-off effects of doing so, and why it is important for the local economy. Delivery of the program is also supported by community traders, community groups and schools working in partnership.

The program was designed to be fun and engaging for the target audience of grade 5 school students. The lesson featured 5 cartoon characters: Handy, Foodie, Fashonista, Sporty and Hipster. These characters are the 'Mitchell Crowd', and each supports their local traders by getting their feet on the street and spending their pocket money in the local shops. They all believe that if they live locally, then they should shop locally and they want to spread the word.

Through a five minute video the students get an insight to what the Mitchell Crowd's typical shopping day is like and, as a result, how many in the local economy benefit from their shopping habits – for example in job creation.

During the lesson the grade five students pair up with a classmate and create their very own Shop Local poster and slogan, and explain what they have learned in an attempt to nurture their persuasive and narrative learning as part of the grade five curriculum.

A prize sponsored by our local traders is offered for the top three posters, and all of the posters across all 12 schools in the Shire will be displayed in the shop windows on the local streets.

At the end of the 60 minute lesson the grade five students are given a Mitchell Crowd 'goodie bag' that contains branded bumper stickers, bookmarks with the Mitchell Crowd characters, and a fridge magnet shopping list so each student can relate to a different character or personality that matches their spending tastes.



Local school children with their 'goodie bags'		Shop posters designed by the local school children (click to expand)

Since the program was launched in July, there has been an unprecedented level of interest from local traders and media. The program has successfully encouraged a broad range of retailers to think of innovative ways to build interest in their businesses, and new ways of targeting their local markets. It has also encouraged traders to work in partnership with Council to enhance the quality of public spaces in and around shop fronts.

When the campaign concludes at the end of the year, it is expected that there will be a shift in attitude both from a local consumer and trader perspective. It is aiming to instil community pride, see a reduced amount of escaped expenditure from Mitchell Shire, and to sustain participation in the program from traders.

The challenges

As this was a very new approach to a Shop Local campaign our first challenge was getting the schools involved. Many of the schools were happy to be involved once it was established that the campaign could be adapted to fit within the existing school curriculum. We discovered that this campaign was particularly compatible with the grade five curriculum, which focuses on persuasive and narrative learning, and we had the program approved by AusVELS which gave us access to the schools and allowed the program to become part of the curriculum.

The program had to be age appropriate and appeal to young children and relate to their personalities, but also strive to deliver a long-term outcome. As a small Council, one of the biggest challenges we faced was the limited budget and getting buy-in from local businesses and the community at the development stages of the project. Getting sponsorship initially was quite challenging, as some businesses were unsure about the program given that it had never been done before and were therefore tentative about investing from the outset. However, after the campaign was launched we were inundated with calls from local businesses wanting to get involved. We accepted their requests for sponsorship even though the campaign was fully developed, utilising this support to add to the campaign as it progressed.

Lessons for other councils

It's always good for councils to engage with the people of the future through community groups and youth services. Coming at a Shop Local campaign from a new angle allowed us to arouse interest in the campaign in new and innovative ways. By positioning it as an educational campaign it took the message of 'shopping local' away from the main street and into the classroom. This was important because before people make the decision to shop local, an adjustment in attitude needs to take place. By going through the schools it allowed the community to own the project and recognise the benefit to themselves and the local area.

David Power is the Coordinator of Economic Development, Marketing and Communications at Mitchell Shire Council. The Mitchell Crowd program was a finalist in the 2014 Economic Development Australia Awards and received a Silver award at the 2014 Melbourne Design Awards.

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Spreading the 'Shop Local' message through youth engagement