MARKETING SCILLY:

As part of Blue Sail's 'Future of Tourism on Scilly' study, we ran a postcode analysis of current markets, identified market opportunities and developed a Marketing Plan.

We advised on target markets, positioning and marketing communications. We developed a Shared Story for Scilly, testing propositions in focus groups of non-visitors, and through an online survey. We put together a Storyboard to help tourism businesses, advising on vocabulary, tone of voice and image style.

Using this as guidance, we commissioned new photography and set up an online image library for Scilly's tourism partnership and businesses to use when promoting the islands.

YORK PR CAMPAIGN:

We supported VisitYork's winter short breaks promotion for 2010-2011 by delivering an eye-catching national PR campaign, resulting in great media relations and significant coverage.

With a tight budget and timescale, we achieved 22 press trips and coverage that reached over 11 million consumers. Our campaign has had long-term, sustained impact, with coverage of our "most Christmassy city" theme continuing for Christmas 2011.

A SHARED STORY FOR DINGLE:

Working with national tourism development agency Fáilte Ireland, and with local tourism and cultural businesses, we developed a proposition that encapsulated the very special nature of the Dingle Peninsula in South West Ireland.

This will be used to develop and promote the place by the tourist board and local businesses, making sure they sing with one voice.

Marketing Rural Warwickshire:

We delivered a marketing programme as part of an18-month RDPE project supporting the development of tourism in beautiful rural Warwickshire.

We produced a new brand and positioning, researched and identified target markets and key messages. We then delivered a campaign - a new website, a creative PR programme of releases and press visits (which identified new and quirky stories about the area), digital marketing (creating a database in the process), advertising and special features (we are particularly pleased about the work we did with BBC Countryfile magazine).

The productive relationships we developed with Warwickshire businesses, attractions and with the events and festivals sector, had a real, measurable impact.

EAST NORFOLK TOURISM MARKETING PROJECT:

North Norfolk District Council commissioned us to help develop the key tourism elements of the Coastal Pathfinder Programme. We worked with partners and local businesses in East Norfolk to identify growth market opportunities and undertook a cluster audit to understand the challenges and opportunities for this stretch of the Norfolk coast.

Our work needed to reflect the natural and distinctive qualities of the place and deliver practical and achievable recommendations that inspired businesses to invest and work together. We produced a destination Marketing Action Plan that is now being taken forward by the North Norfolk Tourism Forum and a Marketing Toolkit for businesses (see here).

TRANSMANCHE REGIONAL IDENTITY:

In summer 2010 we worked with the tourism agencies in Kent and the Nord Pas de Calais region to develop and communicate project values and a visual identify for the 'Transmanche Greets the World' initiative.

Our work involved a bi-lingual creative Think Tank for partners, a report identifying common themes and values, and a graphic design project - with our design agency partners Mark Design - to produce a versatile, flexible 'signature' for use by industry partners on both sides of the Channel.

Marketing York:

We were commissioned by York City Council and the York Economic Partnership to explore the opportunities to tell a new, refreshed story about historic and contemporary York. Working with key stakeholders we established commitment to aligning how York is marketed across its various audiences including visitors, students and inward investors.

We developed a new Shared Story™ and a vocabulary for describing and differentiating York in ways which reflects its amazing heritage but turns up the volume on York's business, research and academic attributes.

Marketing the Valley:

The Valley is a resort of 42 architect-designed houses opening in 2006 part of a wave of contemporary, high spec, high quality self-catering accommodation. Four years on we helped them to refresh how they describe the place and the experience on offer, advised on positioning and where their differentiation lay, developing a CRM strategy, use of social media and on customer profiling and research. Visit The Valley here.

Northern Ireland 2012:

Northern Ireland is working hard to establish itself as a visitor destination and is building a reputation for events. 2012 offers the opportunity for a step change with the opening of the Titanic visitor attraction, the completion of several key projects such as the Metropolitan Arts Centre, the Lyric Theatre and the Giant's Causeway Visitor Centre, anniversaries like the 50th anniversary of the Belfast Festival at Queen's and the Cultural Olympiad.

With our partners Festivals & Events International we delivered to Northern Ireland Tourist Board and Belfast City Council a feasibility study and draft business plan for a year of festivals and events - NI 2012 - where we focused on the market opportunities, the impact on the visitor economy and the production of a draft marketing strategy.

DEVELOPING A SENSE OF PLACE:

In summer 2010, the interim South Downs National Park Authority, with the EU-funded Collabor8 project, commissioned us to design and facilitate two Think Tanks for tourism and recreation businesses.

We designed a series of creative sessions to identify and explore the special qualities of the South Downs, as part of a wider public engagement project which will help the NPA to define a ‘Sense of Place’ for the Park.

VISIT LONDON MARKETING CONSULTANCIES

In Summer 2010 we were commissioned by Visit London to provide specialist consultancy for borough officers and their partners with specific marketing challenges. We set up an application and selection process, choosing 8 projects from 17 applications.

Among the 8 recipients of our marketing advice were town centre partnerships, arts centres, cultural services, tourism officers and museums. Following surgeries and site visits, we produced practical action plans. The next stage will be at-a-glance case studies to share the learning across London.

MARKETING HAMPSHIRE'S SOUTH DOWNS

A group of businesses in East Hampshire - supported by the local authority, regional tourist board, and EU-funded Collabor8 project – commissioned Blue Sail to develop a positioning statement and marketing action plan for this beautiful corner of England's newest National Park and the surrounding countryside of East Hampshire - famously home to Jane Austen, and Gilbert White's House at Selborne.

MARKETING FOR LONDON'S CULTURAL SERVICES

Over several months, we developed and delivered a significant programme to help cultural service officers in the London Boroughs to develop their marketing skills. Participants came from museums, libraries, events teams, arts teams, venues and sports development.

We ran networking and skills workshops, single-topic training seminars on social media, proactive PR and identifying audiences, and we produced a series of ‘marketing for beginners’ guidance notes. The clients were Visit London and the London Cultural Improvement Programme, with funding from Capital Ambition.

Digital Marketing Strategy

Sister organisations NewcastleGateshead Initiative and Tourism Tyne & Wear commissioned us to produce a digital marketing strategy for them. They wanted to be much more effective in how they used technology for their consumer and member communications.

We undertook a digital analysis and gave a clear direction for them with practical steps on database development, CRM, BRM, staff training and delivery. And it was well received by our client Cath Hindle. 2010.

Marketing Planning for NewcastleGateshead and Tyne & Wear

NewcastleGateshead and Tourism Tyne & Wear asked for our help in marketing planning for the destinations within Tyne & Wear. Through a series of workshops with the marketing team and the local authorities we identified target markets, key messages and positioning for each destination.

We provided input and advice on the production of the marketing strategy, action plan and in the development of their families and city breaks campaign. 2009-2010.

Marketing Evaluation for Cumbria Tourism

The Lake District is one of England's strongest brands and has some great marketing associated with it. So we are delighted to continue our relationship with Cumbria Tourism over a number of years helping them evaluate their Growth Marketing Strategy which started to reposition the Lake District a couple of years ago.

We've also been evaluating other marketing activity including Adventure Capital, culture and sense of place. Using qualitative and quantatitive methods we not only evaluate impact but also recommend future direction. 2008-2010.

Festivals & Events in North East England

Commissioned by One North East we're working on a long term contract through to 2012 supporting the development of festivals and events in the North East. We are partnering Festival & Events International to run the North East England Festivals and Events Service.

The Service will attract new national and international cultural and sporting events to the region as well as providing advice and support on funding, planning and delivering existing events to help them grow. Our role is to help improve the marketing of festivals and events to attract new audiences. 2009-2012.

Advising Destination Marketers

Amanda and Lorna have written the destination marketing guidelines for the national Destination Managers' Toolkit - the updated version of the Destination Management Handbook, available free of charge to all members of the Tourism Management Institute, and to Tourism Insights subscribers. 2009.

kent destination branding strategy

Visit Kent asked us to help them develop a destination brand that would reposition Kent, increase awareness, shift perceptions and achieve 'cut through' in a crowded marketplace. Our challenge was to find a way of communicating a strong, emotional idea of Kent that would appeal to a range of target markets - one that was authentic and would chime with people's real experience of Kent. We also needed a 'shared story' that partners would be happy to adopt and use in their own marketing.

So we gathered market intelligence and had one-to-ones with some key people. But the real break-throughs happened at a series of stakeholder 'think tank' sessions we designed and facilitated. We ran these interactive creative sessions for the Visit Kent Board, for the county's senior decision makers and opinion formers, for Visit Kent's Investors (the top 80 businesses in the county), and for public and private sector marketers from across the county.

Our resulting branding strategy informed the creative brief and pitch, won by M&C Saatchi. Working with M&C Saatchi, we developed a Brand Toolkit for Visit Kent's industry partners to use.

baltic triangle marketing recommendations

The Baltic Triangle is a left-field, offbeat slice of the city centre close to Liverpool's Waterfront. With its huge brownfield development sites and empty warehouses, it has been identified as a major regeneration and development opportunity, and an important future employment area for the city. Today, the Baltic is a fascinating mix of light industry, creative workshops, cool venues and galleries. There has been significant work by the public agencies to provide the right environment for the Baltic's creative sector to flourish.

Liverpool Vision commissioned us to advise on target markets and positioning for the Baltic Triangle, in order to support the area's development and help attract further investment. We worked with the Baltic Triangle Stakeholder Group - a mix of public and private sector people who work, do business, and own land and property in the area - to identify market opportunities, critical success factors, product development priorities, target markets, routes to market, a shared story and next steps.

The Group is now taking forward our recommendations.

North East Marketing Framework

Continuing our relationship with One NorthEast, we were commissioned to review and revise the Marketing Framework which guides the marketing activity of One NorthEast and the 4 Area Tourism Partnerships in the region. The project involved primary research among visitors and potential visitors to identify perceptions, attractors and opinions about North East England and its destinations.

Sharing this research with the region's marketers in a series of workshops we developed a new approach to targeted marketing of the North East focusing on its strongest destinations but still within the overall North East branding which has been successfully communicated through the Passionate People Passionate Places campaign.

liverpool ropewalks

Blue Sail developed a marketing strategy and action plan for Liverpool's fascinating Ropewalks area, for the City Council, Liverpool Vision and the Ropewalks' key partners. We worked with the area's independent and creative businesses to really get to the heart of what makes this 'urban village' so special, and how that story can be told further afield.

We ran a creative Think Tank for over 30 public and private sector stakeholders, analysed the market, identified key target segments and developed a vision and positioning statement. Our work included a detailed action plan with clear next steps for the Ropewalks' Stakeholder Group to take forward.

NORTH EAST SEGMENTATION STUDY

One NorthEast commissioned a major market research study to find out more about who is and isn't visiting the North East for leisure tourism.

Blue Sail were asked to advise on the implications of the research findings for the region's UK leisure marketing. We worked closely with the researchers and key stakeholders, then made practical recommendations on key segments, what would attract them and how to reach them.

MARKETING PLANNING FOR VISITENGLAND

VisitEngland uses Ark Leisure segmentation to target their marketing. Blue Sail were asked to run two workshops with VisitEngland's marketing, digital and PR teams to deepen understanding of the priority segments.

The first workshop focused on creative ways of getting under the skin of the segments to make them real and explore the destinations and products each would be interested in. The second workshop a month later (with the benefit of work in-between) moved into using that knowledge to plan new integrated marketing campaigns which also took into account the impact of the economic downturn. The campaigns were launched by VisitEngland in Spring 2008.

Emerging Markets for England’s North Country

In early 2007, England’s North Country and its three partner regional development agencies wanted to know the story behind the hype around new markets.  Where should it be invest the funding which had been allocated for some pilot work in a new, emerging market. 

We undertook a rigorous appraisal of the opportunity, looking beyond the data into the motivations and perceptions, in a dozen new markets to recommend the one which was most worth investing in for the North of England. 

Natural Tourism in England’s Northwest

Following recommendations in our previous work on Marketing the Natural Environment for Northwest Development Agency and English Nature, a new Natural Tourism Project was set up with a dedicated product development manager.  

We were asked to go back to help develop a work programme for the project and run a series of workshops across the region bringing together tourism and environmental interests in an ambitious programme of new product development.

Visit London Marketing Training Workshop

We've worked on three projects for Visit London as part of their work to develop marketing capacity across London, funded by London Councils.

We've designed and run two Marketing Training Workshops, developed a series of best practice case studies, and written a series of 'How to Guides' - all for Visit London's local contacts and their colleagues in the borough councils and related organisations.

Marketing Strategy Review for England’s North Country

England’s North Country (ENC) is the consortium which promotes Northern England in international markets. With increasing independent promotion by consortium partners and new products, markets and channels emerging, ENC asked Blue Sail to review the strategic approach to marketing Northern England.

Working closely with ENC’s board we developed and appraised various strategic options. We identified two clear roles for ENC – one around targeted marketing delivery and the other around strategic co-ordination of the international marketing effort of all the partners. The new strategy was approved by ENC’s board in spring 2008.

We were delighted that ENC asked us to plan and run the first International Marketing Summit for ENC and its partners which took place in autumn 2008.

Branding and Marketing the West Midlands

Structural change in how tourism was supported in the West Midlands led to Advantage West Midlands (AWM) commissioning Blue Sail to examine how best to brand and market the West Midlands.  Our brief changed as the project developed when it became clear that branding and marketing had wider implications than simply communicating to visitors.