Mower teams with community-wide coalition to “Put the ‘U’ Back in Syrac_use”

Syracuse, N.Y.—September 2, 2020— The Syracuse office of Mower, one of the nation’s largest independent marketing, advertising and public relations agencies, has donated its creative talents to spread the message that the region’s shops, museums and restaurants are open and ready to once again safely welcome customers. The eight-week campaign, “Put the ‘U’ back in Syrac_use” was announced at a press conference today led by the Downtown Committee of Syracuse, with Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh, Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon, Visit Syracuse and a diverse coalition of more than 50 local businesses all lending support.

Mower’s Syracuse team, with reinforcements from colleagues in Mower’s Buffalo and Rochester offices, contributed the campaign’s concept, creative and PR, including a chalk mural, unveiled today, that will be promoted as a selfie background on the side of a downtown Syracuse building. Mower also enlisted a scavenger hunt app called Scavify that challenges people to visit a variety of area businesses and iconic landmarks, completing specific tasks as they go, such as take a photo of the picture that hangs behind the bar at Kitty Hoyne’s Irish Pub, in order to gain points that qualify them for prizes donated by all 50 businesses. Additionally, Mower developed and distributed a “Reopening Business Toolkit” for participating businesses that includes posters, a window cling and sample social media posts for them to use to promote their participation in the campaign.

In addition to Mower’s pro bono work, various media companies in the Syracuse area have donated their services to the campaign, which also features a landing page, digital and print advertising, a TV spot, billboards and a social media campaign.

To date, as many as two-thirds of the county’s restaurants and retailers are back in business, with more to follow in the coming weeks. The public can visit the campaign website, www.ubackinsyracuse.com to learn more about Put the “U” Back in Syracuse and download the Scavify app to participate in the Scavenger Hunt.

Mower is a digitally integrated independent marketing, advertising and public relations agency with professionals in New York City, Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, N.C., Cincinnati, and Buffalo, Rochester, Albany and Syracuse, N.Y. Mower delivers strategic insights, digital solutions, smart creative and award-winning results to clients in a wide range of industries. It is the only full-service agency ranked in AdAge, B2B Marketing, PRWeek and Chief Marketer and is part of two global agency networks—thenetworkone and IPREX—as well as the 4A’s.