the32789: Meeting a Need in the Winter Park Community

Content Image for the32789: Meeting a Need in the Winter Park Community
Cover Image for the32789: Meeting a Need in the Winter Park Community

By Kelly Lafferman

As a full-service marketing agency, we exist to help our clients “find and win” new customers every day (hence our name, get it?). On the surface, this is a straightforward mission that we take very seriously. But what does this really mean? For our clients, it means digging deep to help them grow their business, delight their consumer, reach new and existing audiences, and build their brand.

At Findsome & Winmore, we believe that great marketing is found through observation. This mantra keeps us curious and drives the way we think. And it is because of our passion for new and creative ideas that we observed a need in our own community.

Since the closing of the Winter Park / Maitland Observer last May, our team recognized an opportunity to keep citizens informed and aware of the latest happenings in and around the City of Winter Park. Without a dedicated source of hyperlocal news, we noticed that many people who live, work and visit our community were missing untold stories right in their own neighborhoods. To that end, we felt like there could be a feeling of disconnection.

We want to change that.

This week, we launched the32789. Named for Winter Park’s central business district ZIP code, the32789 is a digital-only, hyperlocal news platform dedicated to Winter Park. Our commitment is to provide objective, honest and transparent news about the beautiful city we know and love. This being said, it’s not lost on us that we are launching a news outlet amidst a crisis. While the idea for the32789 was born prior to the pandemic, the timing became more relevant than ever. Feeling connected to our neighbors and community is essential, especially during a time like this. Therefore, in an effort to fill both an immediate and long-term need in our community, we decided not to wait any longer.

What qualifies us for this undertaking? Good question. We have substantial skill overlap with today’s modern news organizations — writing, design, online publishing, idea generation and photography, to name a few — and we wanted to dedicate some agency capacity to the effort. We’ve also been noticing a national trend of local digital news outlets launching amidst the coronavirus pandemic, and as many local newspapers are scaling back or no longer publishing, these hyperlocal news and digital companies are finding success.

Additionally, with a deep, 25-year history in Winter Park, Findsome & Winmore is uniquely positioned to launch and operate a hyperlocal outlet like the32789. My friend, colleague and our CEO, Matt Certo founded this agency (formerly called Websolvers) out of his Rollins College dorm room in 1995, and has been genuinely involved in the community ever since.

So, what can you expect from the32789? We will provide truth, passionate storytelling, diversity of opinion, and eye-catching style and design. We will be a source of information, but above all, we will be a distinctive brand that is known for its dedication to the community of Winter Park.

Now that you know what the32789 is about, it is my hope that you will check us out on InstagramTwitter, and/or Facebook, sign up for our weekly newsletter, or submit a story idea to [email protected].