By Jeff McKinney
The Cincinnati Enquirer

How do you attract loyal fans, committed patrons or casual visitors after the newness of a multimillion-dollar baseball park or arts center reaping national and international acclaim wears off?

By forming new partnerships with community and corporate groups and by expanding your membership through teaming with hot Tristate attractions.

That was the consensus Friday as some of Cincinnati's top marketing gurus, including executives from the Cincinnati Reds and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center now being built. The group met as part of a roundtable sponsored by the Cincinnati chapter of the American Marketing Association.

Panel members discussed their new structures and fielded questions from about 100 of Cincinnati's marketing professionals, including those in management, business development and research.

The panel talked about how some of the Tristate's biggest tourist attractions - including the Reds, Contemporary Arts Center and Cincinnati Museum Center - keep visitors coming back when the economy is soft and operating budgets are small.

"The big question is: Once you open the doors, how do you keep yourself fresh and keep people coming back?" said Lisa Popyk, marketing director of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.

She said the center's marketing efforts are complicated because it's trying to serve both a local and national audience with a finite budget. Her solution: Be very strategic with marketing efforts, and don't be afraid to form partnerships with other groups.

She said the Freedom Center is working with media partners locally and nationally to get the word out. Popyk also suggested that partnerships with local groups, as well as companies, can boost exposure and attract new visitors.

"We want to make sure that when (visitors) come here, it's a positive experience - not when they get here, but also when they leave," she said.

Andi Ferguson, marketing director of the Contemporary Arts Center, said the center is working with Planet Feedback, a local technology company that compiles customer feedback data.

"What we're finding is that most of our audience plans to come back within six months," she said. "You'll also get feedback on people who don't plan on coming back, so it's useful."

And despite attracting 2.3 million fans this year, it could be tricky for the Cincinnati Reds to keep fans coming back after a dismal win-loss record.

Brad Blettner, director of corporate marketing for the Reds, said one of the team's biggest challenges is getting the casual fan to return. He also said the Reds are extremely focused on keeping season ticket holders.

"We have to know what they want because growing margins on new business is relatively thin," he said.

What four organizations plan to do

What four local attractions are doing to increase the number of visitors:

• Brad Blettner, Cincinnati Reds: Push the opening of a Reds store and 9,000-square-foot plaza.

• Lisa Popyk, National Underground Railroad Freedom Center: Work with local and national media outlets to attract people.

• Rodger Pile, Cincinnati Museum Center: Promote coming attractions better; show movie previews at the Omnimax.

• Andi Ferguson, Contemporary Arts Center: Keep creativity in planning. The CAC used a "Tupperware"-type home-selling concept to sell memberships.

E-mail jmckinney@enquirer.com.