Bellevue prides itself on its original event ideas, attracting more attention to the city; however, one event boosted the city’s visibility without a doubt—Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour.
When Swift came to Cincinnati, Bellevue took advantage of being right across the river. Since the city already had a street named Taylor Avenue, it worked quickly to print pink signs, changing the street name temporarily to “Taylor Swift Avenue.” In the year-plus time since that first event, Bellevue has continued to brainstorm ways to keep eyes on their social media and foot traffic in their town.
The mastermind behind these ideas? Bellevue Marketing and Communications Director Melissa Morandi with the help of Bellevue Mayor Charlie Cleves.
“I like to say Charlie and I have our finger on the pulse of what’s going to be the next hot trend,” Morandi said. “So we really, take the time and we think about, what are we going to do next? We’re very intentional with the ideas that we choose.”
Prior to Swift’s stop in Cincinnati in the summer of 2023, Bellevue had an average of 30,000 Facebook hits in a month. During the week Swift visited the region, that number grew to 380,000 in just five days. Fast-forward to now: In the last 90 days, the city has received 771,800 impressions on its Facebook page.
“There’s nothing we could have ever done that would get that kind of notoriety,” Cleves said.
So, what’s working?
The original idea for Taylor Swift Avenue received the attention of eight television stations, including one from Lexington, which broadcast live during the sign dedication event. The city’s actions also received the attention of national media and were featured in Buzzfeed and Billboard articles.
Bellevue’s successful events don’t only include those pertaining to Taylor Swift. Another event that drew attention was the city’s summer bucket list event. Morandi came up with the idea by thinking about what was on her own summer bucket list to do with her kids.
The summer bucket list event included the distribution of colorful buckets containing lists and information on family-friendly activities throughout the city all summer long.
The city had 100 buckets, and after the event totaled that around 350 families had attended.
“The line was an hour long, and a lot of people left, but 350 families registered, and our 100 buckets went, ‘bam,’ they were gone,” Cleves said. “We had no clue there was going to be more than 400 kids there.”
Once again, a TV station had set up at the event and did live shows every half hour starting at 5 a.m.
The event also got the whole community involved. The city clerks had a designated day, and the police and fire departments had a day. Bellevue also mixed in some of its already regularly scheduled events, like the farmer’s markets, and then some of the things intertwined with local businesses.
The city also bought 144 pieces of chalk and sent each kid home with one with an activity list for the chalk. Cleves said you could drive around Bellevue and see the chalk all over the sidewalks in front of people’s homes.
Campbell County Assistant County Administrator Justin Otto said the success of Bellevue’s events has a ripple effect across the entire county.
“When people come to Bellevue for an event, they get a chance to see just how special the community is, leaving a lasting positive impression of Campbell County as a whole,” he said. “These events bring in visitors who might not have come otherwise, and they get to experience what makes Bellevue—and by extension, Campbell County—so unique and welcoming.”
Morandi and Cleves also took advantage of this year’s Olympics’ attention and combined that event with the summer bucket list.
The event was for kids 12 and under to participate in things like javelin, track and field, shot put, a cartwheel competition and more. Medals were awarded to the winners and Cleves built and painted the Olympic podium himself a month ahead of time.
Morandi said she and Cleves usually start brainstorming event ideas months in advance and pay special attention to popular events, such as the eclipse earlier this year and the release of movies like Wonka and Barbie.
“I like to say Charlie and I have our finger on the pulse of what’s going to be the next hot trend.”
Melissa Morandi
The city held its first eclipse and sips event. It partnered with local mixologist Molly Wellmann to create mocktails and with the Cincinnati Observatory for 400 pairs of eclipse glasses.
About six months prior to the release of the movie Wonka, which was in December 2023, Cleves thought to take advantage of the fact that Bellevue has its own chocolate factory, Schneider’s Sweet Shop. The city prepared 1,000 boxes of candy filled with an assortment of treats. Among the boxes were 10 golden tickets which would then be drawn for various prizes.
For the release of “Barbie” last summer, the city built a life-size Barbie box that rotated to different businesses on Fairfield Avenue to attract people to take photos with it.
“The creative energy that Melissa Morandi and Mayor Cleves bring to Bellevue’s events is a huge part of this success,” Otto said. “Their dedication and willingness to think outside the box inspire other cities in the county to take new approaches to community engagement. Events like the golden ticket promotion at Schneider’s Sweet Shop show how imaginative planning can capture attention and bring people together.”
The city’s most successful event, attendance-wise, was its fall fest that took place on Oct. 4. This year’s event was moved to Bellevue Beach Park for more space and was made more family-friendly.
The fall fest had a haunted playground, hayrides, smores booth and Halloween candy booth, all free for kids. They also had different animals, from a miniature bull to an Emu, and gave out free pony rides.
The event grew from 500 people the previous year to 2,000 this year.
“The whole event was full of families,” Morandi said. “It was like parents were drinking and eating and buying things, and the kids were running around, having a blast, doing all the free activities. So, that’s one of the events that Charlie and I really love because we get to give back to the community.”
Otto said success takes more than great ideas.
“It takes a city council willing to invest in events, dedicated community members who volunteer, and a city team that wholeheartedly ‘drinks the Kool-Aid’ to bring these ideas to life,” Otto said. “Bellevue’s events thrive because the entire community is committed to making them happen—from the top down and grassroots up.”
Morandi said she and Cleves try to do their homework to attract different audiences to their events.
One new recent event that drew in a whole new audience was Bellevue Boo in the View, held on Oct. 25. Bellevue historians Jim and Bev McPhail guided folks through a tour filled with ghost stories and urban legends around Bellevue. The event was free and attracted 300 people to the city.
All of these ideas wouldn’t have gained as much attraction had the city not promoted them on its social media. Morandi said she likes to create reels (short videos) or visuals that show what the city is giving away for things to expect at an event.
“People can really feel like they’re in the moment and like, ‘wow, I should check that out—I want one of those buckets, or I want one of those stuffed animals, or that’s interesting,’” Morandi said. “So, we just try to pique people’s interest by the different kind of out of the box, things that we do.”
The numbers for Bellevue’s Facebook views speak for themselves on how successful their events have been in getting attraction. To further solidify that, Cleves said he ran into a University of Cincinnati marketing professor who told him that he was using Bellevue as an example of a successful marketing story in his class.
“The best thing the city ever did was hire Melissa Morandi to do our marketing,” Cleves said.
