Truepix.TV [5], a national video production company based in Dickson, Tennessee, created an engaging “Shop Local” video [6] featuring many of the city's downtown businesses, including Reading Rock Books [7].

The video begins with a brief illustrated sequence that underscores that "small town communities thrive on local business." The first scene in Dickson is in the studio of WDKN, where an announcer introduces the video's soundtrack, "Hello Dickson," by Laura May and Adam Jones. The video then cuts to the downtown area, where a customer walks into the House Blend Coffeehouse and Café and makes a purchase. The coffee shop employee behind the cash wrap then takes the money to make a purchase at Reading Rock Books; the bookseller goes and makes a purchase at Ronnie Rockets, a boutique; and so on, until the same bill makes its way throughout many downtown businesses, and ends up back where it started – at the House Blend coffee shop.

Laura Hill, co-owner of Reading Rock Books, posted the video on her store's website [7], and expects to receive more customer feedback after sending it out in an e-mail.

“I think it’s really good at showing exactly how the system works and why it's important to shop local,” said Hill. “A lot of people don’t realize that it’s not just that one local business they’re supporting, but all of them. So this really drives that home. Any illustration of that is helpful, I think.”

Truepix.TV, the national video production company that organized and funded the creation of the video, wanted to work with the Dickson Chamber of Commerce -- which has its own “Be Local” campaign -- to create a commercial.

“We wanted to come in and do something for the community,” said Luke Williams, director of creative design for Truepix.TV. “We wanted to show them we were here, and we wanted to work with some of the local businesses.”

The video gained a lot of attention within days of its release from the media, including the Dickson Herald, the city's local newspaper, who re-posted it on their website. Williams said the video had 400 views after just the first day.  Since a lot of the downtown area has been under construction, the video was also a good way to let people know that the businesses are still open. Visit Downtown Dickson [8], a website that is also maintained by Truepix.TV, has been logging the process of the construction.

Hill thinks the video was effective in promoting the city's downtown area, where many of the featured businesses are in close proximity to each other.

“We really did walk from store to store,” she said. “Most of the shops are in walking distance, which is part of the charm of the downtown.”