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ST. LOUIS — What is Downtown St. Louis to you?

Is it the Cardinals and the Arch? Lofts and restaurants? A place to work and leave at 5 p.m.?

Is it crime and panhandlers? Energy and street life? Is it just irrelevant?

That’s what the Partnership for Downtown St. Louis is asking these days as it prepares to launch a marketing campaign this fall, a new effort to sell the region’s revamped core to the many local residents who just don’t get there that often.

The partnership hired an advertising agency and a PR firm, and recently began collecting surveys on how people use downtown and what they like about the place. It’s all part of an effort to renew downtown’s "brand" in the region — even if the partnership would rather not use that term.

"We don’t want people to think we’re just going to come up with a catchy slogan," said Jim Cloar, the partnership’s president. "It’s less about that and more about how we communicate, especially with people in the region who may not have had much exposure to downtown St. Louis in a long time."

The "product" downtown offers has noticeably improved in recent years, Cloar says. There has been $4 billion in new investment this decade, a raft of new restaurants and stores, and, now, public spaces like Old Post Office Plaza and Citygarden.

Yet downtown had a hard time crafting a unique identity, Cloar said. And now, in the teeth of a grinding recession that has stalled several high-profile projects, getting the word out about the progress that has been made is even more important.

And building a distinct image is a challenge for downtown, with its jumble of office buildings and arenas, new condos and shops among stretches of sidewalk that are still too quiet. While there has been growth, it’s still maturing.

Any campaign must be careful not to overpromise, said Bob Lewis, president of Development Strategies, a St. Louis-based economic development consulting firm.

"You’ll get caught on it very quickly. You can’t brand just on aspirations," he said. "You have to be able to build on some strengths."

But, he notes, St. Louis has more strengths than it used to.

This sort of "civic branding" is gaining popularity among downtowns and other city neighborhoods cash advances. About 84 percent of central city districts surveyed by the International Downtown Association have launched some sort of branding effort.

And the timing is good, said Carol Colletta, president of CEOs for Cities, a Chicago-based urban advocacy group. After decades of losing people, jobs and relevance to suburban areas, cities nationwide have revived in recent years. But there are still a lot of people who moved out — or never lived there — and don’t have much reason to come back.

"It’s not that they’re hostile. They just don’t think about (downtown)," Colletta said. "It’s not in their orbit."

A downtown needs to make its case to those people, she said, like anyone else trying to sell a product. An image. Specific reasons. Events that are about more than "food, music and beer" — and offer some unique aspect of the city itself.

"Give me details. Make me jump," Colletta said. "You’re trying to get people to ‘buy’ downtown."

A good place to start is by building on the ways people already know downtown, Lewis said. People might not know of downtown restaurants or retailers. But they have probably been to Busch Stadium.

"St. Louisans are used to going to downtown. They’re not afraid to go to a ballgame," Lewis said. "Now, how do you get them to stay?"

The partnership hopes they can find the answer, and the best way to get the message to people who might go out, open a business or even move downtown.

It’s too soon to know exactly what form the campaign will take. The partnership will spend the summer collecting and analyzing surveys and determining the best ways to reach its "audience" — through traditional advertising, social networking, special events. They plan to launch their campaign in the fall.

Right now, the partnership has a $300,000 budget for the effort, though they’re trying to raise more to launch a sustained program over several years, not just a one-time burst.

There’s a lot going on downtown these days, Cloar said. And it’s time to let more people know that.

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