We’re very happy to announce that we have developed a marketing partnership with the Pearl District Business Association (PBDA). The PBDA represents over 200 merchants in the upscale downtown section of Portland, OR. As part of the relationship, PDBA merchants will be using the beta version of Forkfly 2.0 mobile social marketing platform. This will enable PBDA merchants to geo-target new and existing customers with a range of exclusive offers – such as discounts and loyalty perks. The PDBA partnership is important to Forkfly as we march towards our official 2.0 release because we will be getting real-time feedback from the merchants on a spectrum of key product upgrades such as offer effectiveness, account administration, redemption tracking and app usability. In addition, we’ll be working closely with PBDA merchants to gather input from their customers. I sat down with Joshua Ryan, Executive Director for the PBDA to discuss the partnership, the associations mission and other unique characteristics of the Pearl.

Before we get into the meat of the partnership, tell me about the  PDBA’s mission. Our mission is to make the Pearl District a prime  destination for both locals and tourists. The PDBA markets the Pearl  District and encourages people to shop, live play, visit, and engage the  Pearl.

What’s happening in the Pearl? You know the Pearl District is really  an international model of urban renewal. We are a district that just 15  years ago was considered a blighted part of the city. It was empty  warehouses and still had some dirt roads. And we’ve been able to create  an amazing live, work and play space for people – whether they are residents, business people or visitors. The things that are great about the Pearl – we’re the #1 walkable district in the state, its safe and it’s clean. The Pearl is also known for having brands that have outstanding customer service and really understand how to create a great guest experience – and that is what the Pearl brand is – it’s what our merchants are all about. That’s why people have businesses and create businesses in the Pearl. It’s really the gold standard for neighborhoods in the state and we’re really proud of that.

What types of marketing support does the PBDA provide its members? Well, we probably have two categories of programs – we manage a lot of sales events. We have over 200 members that break down into a variety of business categories: home furnishings, retail, food and beverage, banking and financial services. We help provide marketing events for each of those groups. And in addition to that, we manage virtually every festival that comes into the district including Art in the Pearl, Komen Race for the Cure and Bones n’ Brew.

How did you come to the decision to partner with Forkfly? We started with the basic premise that our members wanted to become more educated and fluid in their use of social media and mobile marketing. We looked at a lot of social media platforms and their management teams to get a feel for solutions that could have immediate marketing ROI for our members, while very much wanting to be in a collaborative relationship. We felt that Forkfly was a great fit for both of those needs. Feature-set wise, Forkfly 2.0 – the new interface, offer tracking – was impressive. We also like that because Forkfly is looking for a test market, that they would be genuinely vested in collectively making the program successful. So that translates into a win/win/win. Consumers get great on the fly deals, PDBA merchants get deep, hands-on experience with mobile-social marketing and Forkfly gets real-time feedback to improve their product.

Did the fact that Forkfly 1.0 had some traction in the Portland market play into the decision? Yes – that helped. We looked to our members for feedback because they are on the ground, they do this everyday and there were more Forkfly members initially than members of competitive providers. So the member’s voice was important to us – they had some familiarity with the product. They had engaged Forkfly in some way so the brand and concept wouldn’t be completely foreign to them.

So there’s going to be an official launch party on June 3 to celebrate the PBDA/Forkfly marketing partnership and you are involved in the planning. Can you tell us about that? June 3^rd is not only the launch party for the partnership, but we also have a Pearl District bar crawl in association with the Oregon Distillers Association. And so we’re going to collaborate on those two events. Many members who are participating in the bar crawl are also members of Forkfly. So you’ll be able to meet at Henry’s Tavern – party it up, get some information on the product and just engage with the Forkfly folks. But then you’ll be able to go throughout the district – to 30 or 40 restaurants that are on the bar crawl –  and get a cocktail. Some of the proceeds will benefit the Distillers Association and the good work they do. There’s a cool viral piece we’re developing as well to keep people engaged throughout the evening.

Any other topics related to the partnership that you wanted to comment on? I would just say that businesses that have experienced Forkfly 1.0 to date probably have kind of a perceived experience. Mobile marketing has really taken off in the last year and product feature expectations have risen. Having been given an early peak into Forkfly 2.0 I am excited for the potential. I would encourage businesses to investigate the product. I think merchants and consumers will really be excited about the new technology Forkfly is bringing to the table. Businesses in other markets are going to be excited as well.