Download - Great British High Streets – creating a buzz and reviving interest | Jasmin Tarique | October 2014
Great British High Street competition: Case study
Policy aimTo generate local growth through reviving interest, engagement and investment in high streets
Communications objectives• To change attitudes and behaviour to local high streets – from places you avoid to places you
want to spend time (measure: increased footfall, attitude surveys)• To generate pride and interest in local high streets (measure: at least 110 towns entering the
Great British High Street competition)• To stimulate investment in the high street (measure: reduction in vacancy rates, take-up of
events)
Audience insightAudience: consumers, retailers, local authorities and town teams, entrepreneurs, community organisers• In January 2013, 85% of people thought Britain’s high streets were in bad health
(YouGOV/Ch5)• Internet shopping and out-of-town stores main competitors (University of Southampton)• BUT the high street remains the number one destination for the combination of shops,
services and leisure compared to online and out-of-town• Local authorities and town teams could do much more to make use of planning reforms,
business rate reliefs, innovative empty premises schemes, improve open spaces, make parking easier, etc, as well as taking part in national initiatives with momentum like Love Your Local Market and Our Big Gig
18 June to 30 August
Great British High Street competition: Case study
Strategy/idea• To promote high streets as not just for retail but for an all-round social experience• To launch a national competition so people can get behind their high street and feel proud of it – encouraging
‘neighbours’ through local rivalry• To create an ongoing buzz about local high streets through:
• A national brand to highlight new initiatives and events• Using local partners (eg MPs and town teams) and partner channels • Encouraging local authorities to take up support packages, invest in their town centres and think innovatively• Providing template materials to use for promoting innovative events (and the competition)
• Link up partners to improve the high street offer and links to other schemes such as Love Your Local Market
Partners – Association of Town and City Managers (ATCM), High Street Forum (Boots, Costa, Post Office, etc), MPs
ImplementationApril–MayATCM, High Street Forum and DCLG finalise logo, microsite and social mediaJune Launch of brand, microsite, social media and competition
Ministerial media interviews, visits and letter to MPsJuly Ministerial online video, Audioboo interviewAugust Renewed push of competition – intense digital activity
Digital toolkit of ideas and attractive templatesMinisterial tour of townsLetter to MPs and town teams
September Judging of competition and announcement of shortlist
18 June to 30 August
Behaviour change – EAST• Easy: everything online is easy to access, use
and customise• Attractive: eye-catching visuals via brand, toolkit,
twitter feeds, infographics• Social: you cannot share a cup of coffee online –
campaign brings fun back to town centres, encourages support via social media inc sharing pics, local support ‘thing to do’
• Timely: macroeconomic indicators in favour, evidence of high street revival, focus during summer (outdoor weather, school holidays)
Evaluation
Media coverage (Parking and GB High Street)
New research
Word cloud
High Street communications intensive push
18 June to 30 August
41 broadcast pieces 60+ online articles 45 print articles
550Partners
approached
• New analysis by Experian reveals the emergence of the ‘one stop shopper’ who wants to shop and spend leisure time on the high street (18 June 2014)
• Shop vacancy rates in July are at their lowest level since June 2010 (below 14 per cent).
• A recent survey (Retail Prospects Index – Business Strategies/ Churston Head) showed shoppers favouring more city centre locations compared to large out-of-town centres
• Consumer confidence is the highest in 12 years (GfK survey 29 August 2014)
Great British High Street competition
• New high profile Minister• Audioboo clips• 2 week High Street tour• Digital toolkit for Town Teams • Letter to MPs, Town Teams, local newspapers• Online videos• Competitive digital strategy on Twitter • £1k Facebook promoted post • Publicise new £50K cash prize
Attractive infographics to encourage applications and continue momentum
18 June–30 August
5,500 mentions of the competition on social media and online news
Over 130 competition entries
9k page views - thegreatbritishhighstreet.co.uk
4.5k tweets using #GBHighSt reached 33m Twitter impressions, 364 tweets from @CommunitiesUK, No 10, Cabinet Office, @TheGBhighSt Facebook page 200 likes – 4x gov average
Posts reached 228,200 accounts
YouTube videos 495 views
Audioboos 295 plays
Great British High Street competition
Penny Mordaunt on tour
5–14 August
Minister Penny Mordaunt’s tour of high streets, fire stations, seaside towns and Enterprise Zones • Mentions of the tour reached 253,339
Twitter accounts• Tripline map 441 views• Storify story 166 views
35 Broadcast pieces, 8 print, 56 online articles
June–August
Entries to the competition (week 1 = 18 June)
Media/ digital boost
& toolkit
Great British High Street competition: Evaluation
Direct relationship between social media engagement and website visits to thegreatbritishhighstreet.co.uk
18 June to 30 August
550Partner
endorsements
Facebook promoted post 22 – 23 Aug• 162 likes, comments and shares• Engagement rate 1.1 (Gov average 0.22)• Cost per click 35p, click rate 1.12
• 6.5K unique visitors• 23% referrals from social media• 684 organisations tweeted• 32m twitter impressions• 12% of traffic to website from Twitter referrals
Great British High Street shortlist announcement
Media coverage so far...
3 October 2014
550Partner
endorsements
8 broadcast 10 print pieces 41 online articles
3.9 million Twitter impressions1,300 Tweets using #GBHighSt Press release was tweeted 417 times and reached 9m newsfeeds 128 tweets from @CommunitiesUK, RNN, @TheGBhighSt Most influential twitters include – Stephen Fry with 7m followers
Social Media activity
Hugely positive response on Twitter