SOLEDAD, Calif. -- New information on the first national park on the Central Coast. Less than a month since the major upgrade, Pinnacles is is looking to market its achievement.
The City of Soledad is just miles from the Pinnacles National Park, and people coming from the West Coast have to go through the city in order to get there.
That's why the city threw down $15,000 to partner with a marketing firm to target potentially millions of people in the Bay Area.
The city signed a four-month contract with Ford & Bonilla, a relatively new Bay Area marketing firm.
There's a two-part deal here. The firm will brand the city by creating storylines, then pitching them to local, state and federal publications, like rock climbing magazines.
The second part is an aggressive social media strategy where the firm will reach out to people who have a passion for the outdoors, and for national parks.
Soledad Mayor Fred Ledesma said the city could use all the money it can get, considering it is the lowest per capita in sales tax in Monterey County.
"What they're going to do is basically target the people that would come to the national park, a lot of the rock climbers, mountain climbers up in the Bay Area, people that are part of the Sierra Club, some of the environmentalists that would want to come and visit the national park," he said.
The mayor acknowledges the city is tight on staff and money, but feels this is a wise investment for the city's future economy.
The marketing firm said, of course, four months isn't a whole lot of time, but it is enough time to lay down a solid foundation, so the city can take it from there.
