Q&A With Philip Lanzafame

Philip Lanzafame is Glendale’s Development Services director and was recently given the responsibility for creating a $150,000 “Buy Glendale” marketing campaign that the Redevelopment Agency hopes will turn around the fortunes of struggling small businesses throughout the city. But marketing an entire city’s retail offerings is no easy task, he says.

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ZAIN SHAUK: How do you market an entire city as a shopping destination?

PHILIP LANZAFAME: I think marketing a city is one thing. How do you market it as a shopping destination or an entertainment destination? I think it’s important in Glendale’s case to break it down into the different components that make up the uniqueness of Glendale. We certainly have the Americana at Brand and the Glendale Galleria. Those are kind of regional shopping centers.

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Q: So in this campaign, are you going to emphasize one place at a time?

A: I think that’s the way it’ll shake out. We’ll start to look at and we’ll start to market the venues as a destination. Each venue as a destination with its own unique character and ambience and goods and services and entertainment opportunities.

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Q: Are you concerned that you might leave one area out if you have a one-size-fits-all marketing effort?

A: Let’s say you do even a one-minute spot on television, how do you capture everything that Glendale has to offer in a one-minute spot? I think if you start to focus on individual venues you can talk about and you can describe the area better in one minute, but you can also pinpoint your marketing, you can target areas. For instance, Montrose, I know that they get a lot of shoppers from Santa Clarita, so it’s an opportunity then to market to a specific area.

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Q: Aren’t these different messages going to be confusing for consumers?

A: There’s a common thread through it, whether it’s a logo or kind of a catch phrase.

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Q: But why will people shop in Glendale instead of elsewhere? What is special about it?

A: Each area has its own unique character so that’s part of what attracts people. To have the tenant mix of boutiques and restaurants and eateries and things to do in a pleasant atmosphere like the Montrose Shopping Park, that’s something that you don’t find.

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Q: How are you going to market this stuff?