Creative ideas for a local business campaign in small towns
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The local passport (Gamification)
The concept would be the following: to turn local shopping into a “travel” type experience .
📗 Through a physical passport, an illustrated map is created with different routes (for example, a route of shops with eco products, or a route of shops with second-hand products, etc.).
✅ Each time a purchase is made in a store participating in the route, the passport is stamped.
🏆 When a route or the entire passport is completed, you can gift a product or service from among all the stores that are part of the routes.
🤳 There may also be a digital version of the route, and each time you buy something you can send a photo of the purchase and get the corresponding points.
Example of a local passport with stamps from establishments
The gymkhana ticket (Cross-Marketing)
The goal is for customers of one business to discover other businesses.
🎫 When you shop at one establishment, you receive a ticket that’s a discount or a 2-for-1 offer at another. The idea is to connect businesses that have nothing to do with each other, allowing customers of one to discover other establishments, and so on.
🏃 You can make the ticket expire 48 hours or a week after issuance, creating a sense of urgency.
💝 You eliminate the guilt of spending money because with your purchase you help local businesses (people who are neighbors or even distant relatives) and you are saving money because you have started the local shopping cycle.
🔎 It gives you the perfect excuse to enter establishments that you don’t usually go to.
Example of a ticket that invites you to visit another establishment
The local gift card
There are many times throughout the year when we need to give a gift and we don’t know what to give, and that’s when many people choose to give a gift card from large department stores or online retailers. The idea is to create a gift card that can only be spent at local businesses participating in the system.
💰 Gift cards can be sold in each establishment or in important locations in the town such as the town hall, tourist offices, etc.
💳 The cards can be of different amounts: €10, €20, €50 and €100.
🗣 Explain that the money spent in local businesses helps people in the community and that they also pay taxes (unlike some online businesses that use tax engineering to pay less tax).
Example of a €50 gift card to spend in local shops.
Earth packs
A single package can include various products and services from different establishments in the town.
✅ A small discount can be added, and if you buy the earth pack it will be a little cheaper.
💆♂️ The package may include a portion of local food (from suppliers within 25 km), artisanal products such as soaps or beeswax candles, and finally an experience such as a massage, haircut, or dinner at a restaurant.
✍️ Include for each product or service a short history of the establishment and other products you can find there.
🎵 You can add to the pack a playlist of music from local bands or movies or series where the town appears.
Example of packages that combine products and services for the population.
Local Treasure Map with QR Code
In several establishments, the customer must find an object that represents a famous building or person from the town. This object will have a QR code that, once scanned, will unlock a clue to find the next hidden object.
🔎 Once several or all of the QR codes have been unlocked, you are eligible for a prize or a discount.
🧩 You can make the object a part of a puzzle, and instead of scanning a QR code, you need to have all the puzzle pieces to claim the prize.
🗞 Clues can be added to the local magazine or through posters distributed around town. These small activations help create excitement and a desire to actively participate.
Example of a hidden object with its QR code
Summary and conclusions
We propose five creative and innovative strategies to revitalize and promote local businesses, moving away from traditional campaigns. The ideas focus on transforming shopping into a fun and collaborative experience through gamification (such as the “Local Passport” or QR code treasure hunts), cross-marketing (where one business offers discounts to another through a “Scavenger Hunt Ticket”), and the creation of exclusive products like local gift cards or packages of local products and experiences. The goal is to encourage the discovery of new businesses, strengthen the local economy, and promote sustainability.
✅ Collaboration is stronger than competition.
✅ Transforming the purchase into an experience.
✅ Retention of wealth in the community.
✅ Sustainability and local narrative.
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