Rochester Downtown Alliance Insights Dashboard
Explore key financials, event performance, marketing effectiveness, and strategic budget planning from FY2024 for 2025—all in one interactive, data-driven view.
SPEND ANALYSIS
RDA - FY2024
Discretionary Budget Breakdown
Discretionary Budget by Category
Percentage Comparison
With Clean & Safe Included
Without Clean & Safe (Discretionary)
EVENT PERFORMANCE
Events Analysis
Analyzing financial performance, attendance, weather impact, and growth potential of hosted events.
Event Financial Performance
Per Attendee Metrics
Attendance & Profitability
Weather Impact Analysis
Weather Impact Analysis: Social ICE attendance is highly sensitive to temperature, showing a 41% difference between cold (8°F) and warm (30°F) days. Thursday's Downtown shows moderate sensitivity to temperature and precipitation, with rainy days seeing up to 45% attendance reduction.
Event Optimization Opportunities
Dogs Downtown Expansion
With a 301% ROI and high weather resilience, Dogs Downtown shows strong potential for expansion. Consider adding a second date or extending hours.
Social ICE Weather Plan
Social ICE performance varies by 41% based on temperature. Develop indoor backup components or weather insurance to mitigate this impact.
Thursdays Revenue Optimization
While profitable, Thursdays Downtown has potential to increase revenue per attendee. Consider premium vendor options or VIP experiences.
MARKETING OPTIMIZATION
Mayo Grant Traditional Marketing Allocation Optimizer
We can run What-If Analyses to consider effectiveness of marketing avenues given traditional marketing channels assuming we spent the entire amount on traditional marketing. Adjust the sliders below to optimize the $500,000 Mayo Grant.
Reasonable Extrapolations:
Visitor Attribution Sources
Key Insight
Mayo Clinic website referrals drive 38% of downtown visitors, making it the most valuable channel. Consider direct marketing-partnership with Mayo for enhanced visibility and or other avenues for promotion from them.
Visitor Segments by Spend
Key Insight
Medical visitors have the highest average spend ($165/visit) and represent the largest segment. Business travelers spend the most per person but represent the smallest segment.
Marketing Effectiveness Trends (2024)
Seasonal Patterns
Summer months (Jun-Aug) show highest visitor engagement and lowest cost per acquisition. Winter months show the opposite pattern with higher costs per visitor.
Efficiency Opportunity
Cost per acquisition varies by up to 51% throughout the year. Consider reallocating budget from less efficient months to more efficient ones.
Mayo Grant Impact
With Mayo grant funding, there's opportunity to maintain consistent marketing presence year-round while optimizing for seasonal efficiency patterns.
Strategic Recommendations
Mayo Clinic Partnership
Allocate 20-25% of Mayo grant to enhance presence on Mayo Clinic website and campus. Every 1,000 Mayo visitors drives approximately $165,000 in downtown spending.
Social Media Optimization
Highest efficiency channel ($1.45 cost per visitor) deserves increased allocation. Consider increasing to 25-30% of marketing budget.
Seasonal Marketing Strategy
Develop separate winter and summer marketing strategies with distinct messages and channel allocations to optimize for seasonal effectiveness.
Business Traveler Targeting
Create specific campaigns for business travelers who spend 2.3x more than local residents per visit. Target Mayo professional visitors specifically.
Mayo Grant Impact Summary
With optimal allocation of the $500,000 Mayo grant, RDA could achieve:
- • 180,000 - 220,000 additional downtown visitors annually
- • $18M - $24M in additional downtown spending
- • Improved visitor experience through better wayfinding during construction
- • Enhanced digital presence to reach Mayo Clinic visitors pre-arrival
- • Overall marketing ROI of 36:1 to 48:1 when measuring downtown economic impact.
- ——* The ROI range of 36:1 to 48:1 for the overall Mayo grant impact is higher than what would typically be expected from marketing investments, so this particular projection may be optimistic. Standard marketing ROI usually ranges from 5:1 to 10:1, though targeted digital marketing to high-value segments can achieve higher returns. In summary, these recommendations are grounded in our data but also incorporate reasonable industry standards to provide actionable insights.
BUDGET SCENARIOS
RDA Budget Scenario Analysis
Mayo Grant Allocation ($500,000). Assuming we do not spend all of it on traditional marketing then we can run potential scenarios to achieve a higher ROI.
Projected ROI by Category
Event Performance Optimization
Current Event Profitability
Optimized Event Profitability
Key Insights
- • Scaling high-ROI events like Dogs Downtown can significantly impact overall profitability
- • This model assumes economies of scale (expenses grow slower than revenue as events scale)
- • Social ICE needs a comprehensive strategy review as it currently operates at a loss, especially correlated with weather.
- • Mayo grant allocation to AR Experience shows the highest potential ROI based on case studies
STRATEGIC INITIATIVES SIMULATOR
Impact Simulator & ROAR
Comparing ROI and impact of potential downtown initiatives with the consideration of investment in a Rochester Augmented Reality—ROAR.
ROI Comparison (Year 1 vs. Year 3)
Additional Visitors Generated
ROAR: 5-Year Projection
3-Year Cost vs. Economic Impact
ROAR Adoption Scenarios
Key Strategic Insights
- • ROAR AR Experience shows the highest ROI and lowest total cost compared to alternatives
- • Expanded Events generates the highest visitor numbers but at 2.7x the cost of ROAR
- • Traditional Marketing has the lowest ROI with the highest total cost over 3 years
- • ROAR's ROI increases significantly in years 2+ as the initial investment is amortized
- • Business participation is a key driver of ROAR's success, with each 5% increase in participation boosting economic impact by ~$200K
Recommendation
Based on cost-benefit analysis, the ROAR AR Experience represents the strongest strategic investment of the Mayo grant funds. With a 3-year ROI of 680% and the lowest total cost, it offers the best combination of fiscal responsibility and economic impact. The initiative creates a permanent digital asset that appreciates in value over time, unlike traditional marketing which requires continuous reinvestment.
Confidentiality, Data Use, and Attribution
All data presented in this dashboard is provided by the Rochester Downtown Alliance (RDA) and is intended for internal planning, analysis, and strategic use only. Unauthorized reproduction, distribution, or public disclosure of this data or its visualizations is strictly prohibited without prior written consent from RDA. All analysis, visualizations, and dashboard development were conducted by Axe Abdimajid Ahmed of Axlete Consulting Group, www.axlete.com. For questions regarding data usage, permissions, or insights presented, please contact the Rochester Downtown Alliance directly or reach out to Axlete at info@axlete.com.