Fresh out of college and stepping into a new town, Switch intern Jordan had no idea how quickly she would learn to love St. Louis. Now a full-time addition to the account team, she shares in this post how the 66 Reasons to Love St. Louis campaign has made her as familiar with The Lou as any native.

 

Think about your favorite city. It could be your hometown, college town or your go-to vacation spot. What do you love most about it? Where’s the best spot to grab a burger? Where do you kick off your Friday night? Which local shops deserve more hype? What are the best places you haven’t yet discovered?

It would likely take you weeks to determine a definitive list, and even then it may fall short.

Want an even tougher challenge? Try curating a list for a city you don’t yet know enough to even like, much less love, that will resonate with its citizens.

66 Reasons to Love St. Louis

This summer, Switch had the task of identifying 66 Reasons to Love St. Louis on behalf of partner agency Venables Bell & Partners and its client Phillips 66. This should be a piece of cake for an experiential agency born and bred in the STL, right? Busch Stadium. City Museum. Forest Park. There are endless reasons to love the Gateway to the West. But the 66 Reasons campaign aims to go deeper – giving everyone from native St. Louisians to recent transplants new reasons to love old favorites and new places to discover in St. Louis.

Levine Hat Company represents one of the 66 Reasons featured in the campaign.

Levine Hat Company represents one of the 66 Reasons featured in the campaign.

Speaking of transplants, my experience with this project was a little different from the other “Switchers” on the team. While they were swapping nostalgic tales of Ted Drewes and the Hi-Pointe, I was still learning the difference between Interstate 64 and Highway 40 (hint: there isn’t one). I joined Switch in June. Status: intern, origin: Oklahoma. As the girl who could count on one hand the things she knew about St. Louis, to say there was a learning curve is quite the understatement.

Girl Meets City

Switch was in the middle of preparing the campaign 66 Reasons to Love St. Louis, and I was put on the fast track to learning all about what people find special about the Gateway to the West. Specifically, my role involved daily ventures to the Reasons to capture each site with my trusty DSLR. What better way to learn about your new city than to gas up and go explore? GPS turned out to be the real MVP in this assignment, along with my co-intern – St. Louis native, Daisy. (Yes I was literally driving Miss Daisy!) We soon found that we were both discovering St. Louis; most of the list was new to me, but Daisy was also learning new things about her hometown.

gioias-deli

Gioia’s Deli is one of the 66 Reasons featured in the campaign.

That is truly the heart of the 66 Reasons to Love St. Louis program: Rediscovering the city you thought you knew. Sponsored by Phillips 66, the campaign is an inspiration to folks of all ages and origins to elevate the St. Louis community. Phillips 66 is even incentivizing participation with the chance to win 66 months of FREE gas! Awesome, I know!

Gas Up and Get Going!

To get involved, visit the website, 66reasonsstl.com, and comb through the 66 Reasons. Then check-in on social media at each location and use the hashtags, #STL66 #contest.

phillips66-reasons-to-love-stl

Between stops, don’t miss Phillips 66’s gift to the city, a fabulous mural designed and painted by local father-daughter duo Liza and Robert Fishbone. Housed on the KDHX building in Grand Center, the mural represents each of the 66 Reasons.