WHERE IS THE FREMANTLE MARKETING FOR RETAILERS?

Some retailers in the Fremantle CBD are complaining about the This is Fremantle and Visit Fremantle social media marketing, which they claim concentrates on the hospitality industry.

All traders in Fremantle pay the differential rate, that was introduced to finance the now defunct BID(Business Improvement District), so why are retailers largely ignored in the marketing of our city?

I believe the retailers have a fair point, because most of what I see on my computer and TV screens is about pubs and bars and eating and drinking. The 30-second prime time TV promo, shot at North Freo’s Mojo’s annoys the hell out of me, because it is so uninspiring. What is so uniquely Fremantle about a small group of people in a dark bar, where one of them quickly appears to be eating nuts?

One only has to walk down historic High Street to see that we have quite a few unique and quirky retailers and some of them are very photogenic, e.g. the Bill Campbell second-hand bookshop, Remedy, Bodkins Bootery, the Record Finder, the Paper Bird children’s bookshop, and some of the stunning handmade furniture at Port Jarrah.

Fremantle is not just an after 6pm nightlife activity and retailers have the right to expect that when they are forced to pay the differential rate, like all other traders, that they also get their fair share of the marketing budget to promote their daytime businesses.

The feedback I am getting from the Fremantle community is that many people are worried that we are heading toward another Northbridge entertainment centre, where we will get all the booze and drug related crime and antisocial behaviour that area of Perth is getting every weekend night. Fremantle Council should be extremely careful what they wish for when they talk about wanting to re-activate our city.

Where is the marketing promotion to attract families to our city? It only seems to happen during school holidays. The Lego campaigns have been very popular, so keep those going, but Freo should also be promoted as a family and shopping destination on weekends, and that might just include, horror, horror, promoting the great maritime museums, Roundhouse and Fremantle Prison.

Freo is much more that one big boozery.

Roel Loopers