Scituate launches comprehensive marketing initiative to boost local economy and tourism
Economic Development Commission partners with McGrath PR and Ideaz Ablaze to develop unified community identity and attract visitors through data-driven strategy.
SCITUATE - The Scituate Economic Development Commission has launched a comprehensive marketing initiative aimed at boosting the town's economy by developing a unified community identity and attracting more visitors and businesses to the area.
The commission has partnered with McGrath PR and Ideaz Ablaze to conduct research and create a strategic marketing plan that will help local businesses thrive while positioning Scituate as a destination for cultural tourism and economic investment.
"We choose to take a pretty broad view of what it means to be the business community," said Berry Kurland, chair of the Economic Development Commission. "The business community for us is a series of stakeholders who are obviously the town's businesses, but also the town's boards, commissions, committees, and stakeholder organizations."
The initiative stems from findings in the commission's first annual State of Business Community survey, which revealed that local businesses struggle with marketing challenges and lack unified platforms for communication.
"What we heard from them was, hey, businesses are grappling with how to market," said Grace Gardner, an EDC member who led the development of the request for proposals. "We don't have a common platform anymore from which to communicate to the community or for the town to communicate to the community."
The project focuses on four strategic goals: unifying Scituate's community identity, building strong marketing and placemaking strategies, attracting both visitors and businesses, and supporting long-term economic development.
Michelle McGrath, founding president of McGrath PR, brings nine years of Scituate residency and extensive experience supporting local organizations including the Choral Arts Society on the South Shore and Casa Verde Latin Kitchen. Her partnership with Michele Pecoraro of Ideaz Ablaze combines local knowledge with 25 years of expertise in economic tourism and business development.
Pecoraro previously served as executive director of Plymouth 400, leading the internationally recognized commemoration of Plymouth Colony's 400th anniversary, and held leadership roles with Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce and Destination Plymouth.
The consultants are currently completing a discovery phase that includes stakeholder meetings, business surveys, and community input sessions. They plan to conduct visitor surveys on July 12 and during Heritage Days on Aug. 2 to gather data about who visits Scituate and what attracts them to the area.
"In order to measure Scituate's tourism readiness, we will need data," Pecoraro explained. "We have identified and created several tools that will help us gather data from you, the stakeholders, community leaders, townwide businesses, and most importantly, the visitor."
The research phase includes a tourism asset inventory that will catalog attractions, services, and amenities available to visitors. Community stakeholders will receive the inventory form by email on June 23 with a completion deadline of June 30.
The project also involves benchmarking Scituate against up to nine similar New England communities to identify successful strategies and opportunities for differentiation.
"We've brought in and talked to the state of Massachusetts tourism experts and the Massachusetts Cultural Council to choose as many as nine communities through New England, which we will be benchmarking," McGrath said.
Following the research phase, the consultants will develop brand messaging that reflects the town's culture, history, coastal character, and local business community. The final deliverable will include a practical branding and marketing toolkit with guidelines for visual branding, storytelling, digital marketing, and an accountability plan for implementation.
The initiative addresses concerns raised by local businesses about the lack of wayfinding in town and limited platforms for advertising events and services. Survey respondents indicated they don't know how to market effectively or identify their target customers.
"There isn't a lot of wayfinding in the town. These platforms don't exist, so it's hard for those coming into town to know where to go," Gardner noted.
The commission plans to share the resulting marketing tools as resources that various organizations and businesses can use while working with implementation partners such as the Chamber of Commerce and Scituate Visitor Center for broader marketing efforts.
"Our idea is essentially to implement this in two ways," Kurland explained. "We want to make sure that the elements of the strategy that people in town can use are shared resources, and then work with organizations that have the capability to implement marketing strategies."
The project emphasizes stakeholder involvement throughout the process, with community leaders expected to provide input on brand messaging concepts and participate in implementation discussions.
"We can only do this with Scituate's community and business involvement, stakeholder engagement, and visitor input," Pecoraro said. "Your role will be key to the success of what we end up with as a planned strategy."
The Economic Development Commission, established in 2014, consists of seven members appointed by the Select Board for three-year terms. The commission's mission focuses on positively impacting the business community and tax base while making recommendations for community and business growth.
Tourism represents a significant economic opportunity, with the industry contributing $10.9 trillion to the global economy in 2024 and supporting nearly 360 million jobs worldwide, according to World Bank data cited by the consultants.
The commission plans to continue its annual business survey to track progress and gather ongoing feedback from the local business community. Volunteers are needed for the visitor survey efforts, with sign-up opportunities available through the commission.
The marketing initiative represents a long-term strategy rather than a one-time campaign, with implementation designed to create sustainable economic growth and support for local businesses while maintaining Scituate's authentic community character.