What’s hot for 2012

Current outlook

At the Visitor Economy Forum I attended last month, forecasters were cautious about the business outlook for 2012.  STR Global indicated that the majority of UK hotels are being affected to some extent by slowdown in demand, with major chains reporting evidence of people downgrading their grade of accommodation , and others deciding not to make a trip at all.

On the positive side:

• London has seen a 12% increase in available accommodation for visitors, with almost no adverse effect on occupancy levels – indicating increasing demand and prices holding firm.
• Budget accommodation is more in demand than ever, and site shortage has resulted in the likes of Travelodge expanding into spaces above high footfall retail premises such as supermarkets, particularly in outer areas of the capital.
• Budget operators are scouring the most attractive protected landscapes and national parks in the English countryside for suitable premises to take over and expand into.
• A new Premier Inn has recently sprouted on the rooftop level of the new Westfield shopping centre at Stratford International
• Unconventional online lettings agencies are springing up to promote apartments and homestays with easy access to London; but quality could be an issue. Look out for user generated reviews to counter this risk.

Business Opportunities

• Keep an eye out for  pop up shops and retailers – or even consider starting one yourself.  Taste of London pop up restaurant festival will be in Regents Park June 21-24. Presale tickets available online now.
• London 2012 merchandise is now on sale at John Lewis, Next, Adidas, The Post Office and official shops at St Pancras, Heathrow and Stratford City. Get yourself, your staff and your business dressed up for the Olympic torch relay when it passes by. No one in the UK should be more than 10 miles from the route, according to the organsiers.
• Obviously attractive popular official 2012 merchandise, like posters and pin badges are already on sale and may sell out nearer the time – so buy them now.
• Shop now for Union Jack accessories, window dressing and get thinking on how to celebrate the games with customers and staff.
• Editorial teams in the media are already out there looking for stories about places and happenings in Britain in 2012. If you’ve got anything  new, unusual or eccentric coming up, or if you win an award for something in your business – this is the year to share it with the world – and issue a series of news releases.  Dont forget to post them onto your website.
• This is likely to be a year of innovative and opportunistic developments like no other.
• New businesses may find it hard to get established unless eye catching promotions or discounts are offered. Social media makes it possible for a small business to make a big noise though.
• Don’t forget it’s the Queen’s Golden Jubilee (with an extra long weekend holiday in June to boot).
• Yet more opportunities await those businessses able to capitalise on the bicentenary of the birth of the novelist Charles Dickens, who enjoys a global network of fans. He travelled all over the UK, with many hostelries  he patronised still in business as hotels and restaurants. Visitor attractions in many towns and cities where he lived worked or set his novels (Portsmouth, London, Rochester, Broadstairs, all spring instantly to mind) are in line for a welcome windfall as well.

Regional winners and losers

Again, according to STR Global

• Of all UK cities outside London, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and Leeds are all prospering most.
• Brighton and York are also likely to do well thanks to strong demand boosted by steady year round visitors attending meetings conferences and business events.
• Edinburgh willl continue to suffer from remedial repair works to crumbling tarmac along the controversial Princes Street tram route (laid along  in the very heart of the city in 2009); and although work was suspended over Christmas and New Year, word has spread on social media of unsightly hoardings and traffic disruption. I saw it myself in the autumn, and it’s likely to discourage or disappoint some visitors until it completes in July.

Leisure trends

Olive Insight, reporting further on their ongoing research for Visit Britain, both during and in the aftermath of the last recession, have found

• More people are now ( 61%) worried about the economic outlook in Britain than they were during the recession in June 2009 (when the figure was 40%).
• Earlier research showed that there was a tendency for consumers to ring fence their spending on holidays; but somewhat worryingly, this appears to no longer be the case.
• More people than ever are now looking to stretch their budget by taking advantage of deals and special offers.
• Businesses take note! Propositions offering service upgrades, added value, an inspiration you may not have thought of for yourself, or an opportunity to enjoy a bit of self indulgence, work best.

Will Brits still go abroad?

Here’s a  round up of current thinking:

• Demand for domestic holidays in 2012 is likely to strengthen because of the economic situation
• Our current near-recession makes our  offering more competitive as a destination to visit.
• Research from  TUI claims that outbound demand from Brits is holding up for traditional summer destinations such as mainland Spain and the Balearics, for those who want to get away from the fuss this summer.
• I suspect that other southern European Eurozone countries with economic issues, such as Greece, and even Italy, may not be so lucky in the current economic climate.
• In my neck of the woods in Kent, people are feeling cautious about leaving the country; mainly because they don’t want to miss out in this year of a lifetime.

Can we help you?
Virtual Viv is part of the team at Manifold Associates, working in the UK and travelling the world independently to inform you with incisive commentary in words and pictures about news that matters. We want to help businesses  maximise the benefits of the forthcoming exciting months.

Our recent projects have included researching and authenticating, on behalf of Visit Kent, locations still recognisable today, that have associations with Charles Dickens in advance of the bicentenary of his birth. We welcome freelance photo journalism assignments and writing commissions. Vivienne Boucher has recently been comissioned to write a feature article about The Kent of Dickens, which has been published in the January 2012 issue of BBC Countryfile magazine.

Maybe you’re a business looking to capitalise on the opportunities that 2012 might bring to you. If so, please get in touch.

 

Affordable Art: necessity or indulgence?

Earlier this month our family took time out from our busy schedule and made a trip to meet newly discovered Scottish relations, and stayed at the delightful private estate of Kinblethmont, in the Scottish county of Angus.
I discovered to my delight, that not only is this great Victorian house, set amid 2,000 acres near Arbroath, occasionally made available for country house parties and weddings, with self catering cottages available to accommodate more guests for holiday lets in the grounds; but it is also now home to a gallery of contemporary art.

 

Penny Ramsay spends a lot of her time at Kinblethmont researching and planning exhibitions of work by contemporary and local Scottish artists including David Cook and Susan Winton. Exhibitions are held in spring and autumn, four times a year. Prices for original work can range from the lower hundreds up to several thousand depending on the artist and the medium used. More information about art exhibitions at Kinblethmont.

Buying art during times of austerity
Visiting Kinblethmont set me thinking about contemporary art. When times are tough, can it really be true that people are still spending, on something that could be seen, by some, as pure indulgence?
Speaking to Penny, (who, with permission of the artists, kindly allowed me to preview the works pictured above, scheduled for forthcoming exhibitions), reminded me of the remark by William Morris to ‘have nothing in your home that you do not know to be useful and believe to be beautiful.’ It’s a favourite precept of mine.

Whilst I acknowledge that the purchase of a work of art by an individual or a business could be perceived as the ultimate item of discretionary spending, and something perhaps that people might say that you could easily do without; how much the poorer our homes would be without some original forms of decoration, inside or out, or both.

Art need not be expensive; and there’s no doubt in my mind that if a work of art manages to make us smile every time we set eyes on it, or brings a splash of colour into otherwise dull lives, (especially during what sounds like could be a hard winter), the expenditure can deliver real value, surely something well worth paying for, when times are hard, as they surely are.

Know what you like
The key thing as far as I’m concerned when buying original art, whether it’s featured on a simple hand-made greetings card, comes in the form of a limited edition print, or comes as an original work in its own right, irrespective of the medium, is to know what you like. It’s still free to visit many galleries, large and small, throughout Britain, and, after a while, you should soon be able to start to decide what you do and don’t like.

Don’t all rush; but you could make an immediate start this month in visiting galleries where the work exhibited is for sale. Who knows, you might get chatting to the artist, and you might, eventually, be tempted to buy something. This week sees the start of the Frieze International Art Fair in London’s Regents Park, which attracts big time international collectors; or you could try the lower key Affordable Art Fairs in Hampstead or Battersea. Both events offer paid for opportunities to look at the contemporary art scene in Britain  under one roof.

Personally speaking I prefer to visit individual galleries outside cities, or even restaurants or tourist offices where the work exhibited on the walls is for sale; because you can often find an oppportunity to get chatting with the proprietor or exhibiting artists, and they can get to know you, and what you like. Prices are keener, and there’s rarely any hard sell; because buying art is a matter of deciding what you like and it’s a process that can’t be rushed. It really is up to you to decide whether to make a purchase.

Help with making a purchase
A scheme called Own Art exists to make it easier for people to afford the purchase of original art and many contemporary galleries in England and Scotland already participate. More information.

More information about Kinblethmont

 

You can hop onto the Flybe service from London City Airport to Dundee, and from there you can hire a car to get to Kinblethmont. During your stay, if you are very lucky and ask extremely nicely, Penny may show you some of the other treasures of the estate, which include a great stone said to have magical powers and which is inscribed with ancient Pictish carvings; or the lovingly conserved jacket once worn by Bonnie Prince Charlie.

 

More information about the Kinblethmont estate.

My top 5 books on colour and design

If you’re considering buying or commissioning original creative work, here’s my choice from key movers and shakers about colour and good taste in interior and exterior design:
• Tricia Guild on Colour, Conran Octopus ISBN 1-85029-399-6
• Christopher Lloyd, Colour for adventurous gardeners BBC Books ISBN 978-0-56352-171-6
• Kevin McCloud, Choosing colours Quadrille Publishing ISBN 978-1-84400-440-9
• Vivian Russell, Planting schemes from Monet’s garden ISBN
• David Linley, Design and detail in the home ISBN 0-316-85480-8

Can we help you?
Virtual Viv is part of the team at Manifold Associates, working in the UK and travelling the world independently to inform you with incisive commentary in words and pictures about marketing things that matter. Among our recent projects we have researched and created a contemporary art and craft trail in Rochester and Chatham on behalf of Medway Council in Kent. Freelance photo journalism and writing commissions are welcomed.

Maybe you’re a business looking to capitalise on the opportunities that 2012 might bring to you. I’m a key part of a flexible and versatile freelance writing team, so if you’d like to discuss how I might be able to help you, please get in touch.

Summer snapshot of English countryside and coast 2011

I want to show you how well chosen pictures can help you communicate a really powertful message. They really can save you a thousand words.

My shot of the  river Medway, that appears above, shows it flowing through the gap, (now known as the Valley of Visions), that it has cut through the chalk of the Kent Downs, near Medway. See how Dickens’s words add to the power of the image when set alongside as a caption.

The words of the greatest writers can be used for marketing purposes, although you must still take care that the context of their use is entirely appropriate, and be prepared to seek permission from the author’s descendants. Naturally, it’s an advanatege when the text is out of copyright, as in the case of Dickens, because no royalty is payable; but acknowledgement of the source is still a pre-requisite. Great words can help you tell a story that makes a real impression on the mind, or teaches you something that will always be remembered.

I’m sharing some of the photos I’ve been taking while walking in the local countryside of Kent this summer. See how, when the words of one of our greatest writers about the places pictured are added, the images take on an entirely  new life and significance. It all supports my belief that the Dickens connection willl encourage tourism to the countryside of Kent as well as towns and cities in 2012, which will mark the bicentenary of his birth. Read more about Dickens 2012.

Dickens actually grew up in the nearby Medway town of Chatham, and chose to live out his final years at Gad’s Hill Place, overlooking the same part of the Medway valley, above the village of Cuxton, which is shown in the picture below. I’m starting to understand why.

Dickens knew Kent well, and loved it so deeply that he chose to honeymoon in the county, spent many holidays along its coastline, and  featured it in many of his best loved novels, including ‘ Great Expectations’ and ‘David Copperfield’.

 

What has really amazed me as I’ve shot these images of beautiful countryside, is how empty some parts of the landscape still are. They must be pretty much unchanged since Dickens came this way. He spent many holidays writing in Dover Folkestone and Broadstairs.

Here’s what he wrote about his coastal walks  in south east Kent when he was writing for his magazine Household Words in Folkestone in 1851

Our situation is delightful, our air is delicious, and our breezy hills and downs, carpeted with wild thyme, and decorated with millions of wild flowers, are, on the faith of a pedestrian, perfect.

Wild flowers above the white cliffs of Kent, where Dickens enjoyed 'going for a blow'

Britain is actually a pretty crowded island.  Southern England has an average population density of around 658 people per square kilometre (which is greater than the average for the Netherlands) and yet it’s still possible, indeed I’d even say easy, to get away from it all, if you know where to go and are prepared to walk – like Dickens did – even on summer weekends, as my pictures illustrate.

This magificent view looking west from the cliffs above South Foreland towards Dover harbour is likely to have been on the route of one of Dickens's 20 mile walks from Dover.

Writers sometimes get stressed out and find themselves in need of a break. Dickens was no exception. Here he is again, writing to fellow author Wilkie Collins about taking a break from working on Little Dorritt in Folkestone in 1855:

‘You know my state of mind as well as I do. How I work, how I walk, how I shut myself up, how I roll down hills and climb up cliffs; how the new story is everywhere, heaving on the sea, flying with the clouds, blowing in the wind; how I settle to nothing’.

Dickens’s writing reaches across the years as only the greatest can. In another letter, written to his actor friend Macready the same year, Dickens wrote that he was constantly tempted  ‘to run out on the breezy downs here, tear up the hills, slide down the same and conduct myself in a frenzied manner, for the relief that only exercise gives me.’ I understand  the feeling: working hard makes me feel I need to take a trip to the gym myself to unwind.

In a letter to his wife dated May 1856, Dickens told her that he ‘did nothing at Dover (except for Household Words), and have not begun Little Dorrit no. 8 yet (his novels were written and published in instalments). But I took twenty- mile walks in the fresh air and perhaps in the long run did better than if I had been at work’. It could almost have been written yesterday.

Until next time…

Virtual Viv is part of the team at Manifold Associates, working in the UK and travelling the world independently to inform you with incisive commentary in words and pictures about things that matter in marketing.   Freelance assignments welcomed. Maybe you’re a business looking to capitalise on the opportunities that London 2012 or Dickens 2012 might bring to you. We’re flexible and versatile. If you’d like to discuss how we might be able to help you, please get in touch.

The long haul traveller’s wish list

Having recently returned from a trip to Australia, I feel I’ve greatly improved my understanding of actions that businesses can take to improve the service they provide to long distance travellers; and what sort of offerings attract these sorts of customers in the first place.

Having found myself on the client side of the fence for a change, I thought I’d take this opportunity to share some of the lessons I learned during the course of my recent solo travelling. It was quite an eye opener. With London 2012 only one year away, I believe it’s definitely something all businesses ought to start thinking about. After all websites, and online communications generally, know no boundaries, and global travel and trade is easier than ever before !

Seven simple steps to a friendlier world

1. Smile, it makes everything easier, and people always appreciate a few simple words of greeting. Show yourself or other people on your website
2. Encourage everyone to use their language skills with the aid of national flag lapel badges and symbols on websites.
3. Make good use of multi lingual or pictorial information  or symbols and/or menus. Sales benefit because people can order and purchase with confidence. You get your message across more effectively.
4. Everyone travelling alone should receive a special welcome.  In restaurants singles should automatically be offered a seat at a table they can share with others if they wish
5. Offering FREE wifi is a major attraction to people
6. Listening is a skill that should not be underestimated, or taken for granted
7. A tip can be appropriate for particularly good service, or a job well done. Otherwise take the time to write a glowing online testimonial about it.

A helping hand for the long haul traveller

Long haul air travel is defined as involving a non stop flight of six and a half hours or more.  If, like me, you’re travelling to a destination that involves flying for over 20 hours to get there; you simply can’t make an unplanned trip back home without great inconvenience and expense, so there’s a huge up front investment of time and money on the part of the traveller to get all the important details of the trip sorted out in advance. There’s more at stake; so I’d urge everyone serving travellers to play their part in helping to ensure that everyone takes home the happiest of memories.

Here are my 25 top tips for maximum enjoyment of long haul travel. If you’re marketing something likely to be of interest to long haul travellers, you might find something of interest here too!

1. Get a personal recommondation  for a really expert travel agent to help you sort out the logistics. Get details of the local representative in each destination. They can be your real friend in time of crisis.
2. Do as much pre research as you can to determine your preferred route, destination and acceptable standard of accommodation
3. Work at getting any upgrade you can qualify for
4. Join the loyalty programme of all airlines and hotel chains you patronise
5. Take out a comprehensive travel insurance policy, just in case the worst happens
6. Find out the procedure to follow in case you have to change or cancel a flight or hotel reservation
7. Look up all possible friends in the places you’re travelling to, and listen to their advice
8. Reconfirm every tour booking 48 hours or 2 working days in advance
9. Find out exactly what the weather will be like everywhere you’re visiting, so you take the right clothes
10. If you’re travelling to or from Australia or New Zealand, avoid jet lag after arrival by making a 2 night stopover in Asia or USA en route both ways.
11. Upgrade to premium economy (or higher) on the long haul flights if you can possibly afford it.
12. Avoid all one night stays as far as possible (except on escorted tours, where other people can worry and help with lost luggage)
13. Get a tough but colourful luggage tag, so your case stands out from the crowd
14. Avoid hotel restaurants except for breakfast; but get recommendations about places where you can enjoy the local vibe
15. Only accumulate or buy stuff you can take home; or pay extra to ship special large items you can’t live without. Find out about unaccompanied excess baggage shipping and how overseas visitors get a tax refund on large items. Here’s information about how overseas visitors can obtain tax refunds for items purchased in the UK. Here’s information about reclaiming tax on items purchased in Australia.
    
16. Try to buy souvenirs that are made locally. Read my posts about souvenirs and postcards.
17. Ask for recommendations about local experiences or interesting places to visit
18. Follow interesting sounding directional signs
19. Invest in some digital luggage scales to minimise the headache of keeping within the airline free baggage allowance. Try Balanzza.
20. Don’t take more than 3 pairs of shoes
21. Look out for restaurant special offers on chalk boards outside the premises
22. Sign up for alerts on restaurant offers with Facebook deals and Living Social
23. Get an international subscription to ‘Global Gossip’ or set up Skype on your smart phone
24. Dont buy preserves, food or drink to take home that falls foul of airline liquid restrictions.
25. Delete the  out of focus digital photos you’ve taken as you go along

Looking for more inside information about marketing?

Virtual Viv is part of the team at Manifold Associates, working in the UK and travelling the world independently to inform you with incisive commentary about things that matter in marketing.   Freelance assignments welcomed. We’re flexible and versatile. If you’d like to discuss how we might be able to help you, do get in touch. Until next time, resolve to get more adventurous.

Coping with disaster: perception vs reality

The recent inland flash floods that have hit the Australian state of Queensland during the 2010/11 cyclone seasonhave emphasised the scale of the inundation to have affected ‘an area larger than France and Germany combined’.

Even the first floods immediately after Christmas (pictured above) were bad enough to be described by Queensland state Treasurer Andrew Fraser as a “disaster of biblical proportions”.

Last week, first Toowoomba,  the state capital of Brisbane, and many other communities in the centre and south east of the state have been hit by further major flooding events almost surpassing landmark 1974 floods.

The death toll has already reached 20; but many more are still missing, so the final toll is expected to rise futher.

Queensland Flood Disaster appeal

The Queensland Government has launched an appeal to help people affected by the central and south east Queensland floods. With many communities devastated and some families losing everything, everyone can help make a difference by donating to the official  Flood Relief Appeal

SCAMwatch is warning consumers to thoroughly check the legitimacy of charities when donating to help flood victims in  Queensland. I was impressed to find information about the SCAMwatch service in Australia, and its work to help prevent unscrupulous fraudsters from cashing in when they see an opportunity to rip people off, especially in such unfortunate circumstances. Other countries take note!

Bringing reality home

There are several aspects to the story of disaster that I want to explore; but firstly I have to declare a personal interest, because we have family in the area, so I’ve obtained permission to use some of their photos, and can quote from personal testimony. I’ll be travelling to Queensland myself later in the year, so although I’ll be able to see the reality for myself in due course, I’m talking now about my perceptions of the situation, as seen from afar.

Reading about the unfolding situation, first in increasingly worrying emails from relations, and then seeing the reality in their photos and watching newsreel videos in the media, has helped bring the full horror of natural disaster into our living rooms and onto computer screens far way, my own included.

As I worked on the draft of this post, I’ve found myself re- writing it almost daily over several  weeks as the story unfolded. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

As a family we’ve watched ghastly footage of people stranded on car and house roofs; and seen live action of cars, boats, furniture  and trees being tossed about and crushed in raging flood water like mere toys. We’ve  watched desperate and dramatic rescues, and heart rending interviews with people who’ve lost everything, and seen horrific sights; but at least are alive.

Not everyone has been so lucky. One can only imagine the reality and horror of actually being there and experiencing it in person. Only this morning we heard from some relations that ‘it’s been horrible’, that they were ‘intact’; but that ‘that is a lot more than can be said for lots of other poor people, and lots and lots of animals of all kinds, wild, commercial and domestic.’

Suffering in such circumstances extends far beyond human beings, something that this disaster has really brought home to me personally. What’s really impressed me and everyone I know is the amazing resiliance and stoicism shown by the people of Queensland in coping with their exceptional recent circumstances.

How news editors interpret disaster

While it’s the job of news editors to make sure the news stories they cover provide accurate and reliable information to accompany arresting images that make people sit up and take notice, it’s quite another matter when you consider what individuals and business people think about being the focus of high profile international media coverage that has an immediate impact on their life or livelihood.

It’s a commonly used device by the media to explain the scale of a disaster with the aid of an analogy,  illustrating the size by comparing it to an equivalent more familiar to the audience. In the case of Queensland flooding the BBC in the UK talked about  ‘an area the size of France and Germany combined’ being affected.

While this may be useful for the authorities to help people understand the scale, it can potentially be misleading because, certainly in the case of flooding,  the worst damage is rarely evenly spread over a landscape. In Queensland this was the case. So in disaster situations, authorities might take more care over selecting apparently convenient soundbites about broadscale damage. With hindsight exaggeration can prove to  be particularly unwise,  especially when effects are  localised, and many areas escape unscathed.

From aerial views I’ve seen, although the worst of the Queensland flooding in the south east of the state was confined to river valleys, an additional problem was that the flow resulting from extremely heavy rainfall brought additional hazards by carrying many objects not secured in advance down intervening slopes from higher ground in uncontrollable torrents, that took the quickest route downhill irrespective of what was in their path, and areas previously thought safe suffered significant damage. See aerial views of Brisbane at the height of the flooding contrasted with the same view before the floods struck.

I fear that the general impression that the majority of television viewers took away from recent news coverage in the UK though, is that the entire state of Queensland was similarly affected to the places shown on screen.  This is because the majority of people haven’t made a study of hydrology, and don’t have a detailed knowledge of the geography of places on the other side of the world from the UK, such Queensland, Australia.

The effects of natural disaster on tourism
There’s no denying that tourism in Queensland has taken a severe battering this year, and I’m sure that it will take a very long time indeed for the worst affected places, and people, to recover, especially in places like Rockhampton, Ipswich, and Grantham, as well as in Toowoomba and Brisbane.

However it’s pleasing to see the upbeat approach on the home page of the official Queensland tourism website, which acknowledges the flooding with links to up to date factual information , but doesn’t make a huge issue of it.

There’s a lot at stake for the Queensland tourism industry which is an important contributor to the state economy. Read more about the effects of 2010/11 flooding events on tourism in Queensland.

With many people planning holidays in Queensland looking at dates a long time in advance, it’s important to present a positive face to the outside world. I like the idea that, in a new initiative, there are now live webcams on the official Cairns tourism website, in the almost unaffected tropical north of the state. Just bear in mind the time difference when tuning in, as they don’t all work when it’s dark!

Even in adversity, it’s important to try and look on the brighter side of things. Now lots more people in the world have heard about Queensland, perhaps for the first time(even if for the wrong reasons), or at least have been reminded about it: their curiosity may have been piqued. There really is a window of opportunity available for proactive PRs, to start beavering away to change back any negative perceptions, and remind people about the usually more favourable weather that can be expected in ‘the sunshine state’ of Australia at other times of year.

One of my favourite media relations tips is to never be afraid to tell the truth; but also to keep in mind this quote from Oscar Wilde, about the importance being selective:
‘the pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple’

Disaster recovery for accommodation providers

I have no wish to re-invent the wheel. In a recent article on the Hospitality Trends website about recovery from floods, fire and earthquake, Ken Burgin provides a range of practical tips about disaster recovery and contingency planning.. I dont want to sound trite in the context of Queensland floods,  but it provides food for thought, perhaps!

Can we help you?
Are you a business or organisation involved in the visitor economy that needs PR ideas to raise your profile, or improve perceptions, and secure media coverage to reach new prospective visitors or guests?

Manifold Associates could help you come up with compelling ideas, words and images that will encourage the world to beat a path to your door (as soon as it’s practicable) , or search for your business on the world wide web. If you run a small business we can also teach you the skills you need to manage your own PR and media relations campaigns in a professional manner.

Visit our website for more information about what we have to offer, including what customers think about our services as a UK based marketing consultancy.

Signs of the times: good practice that avoids pitfalls

Why signage in public places can be an issue

Signage can be difficult to get right, irrespective of which industry you’re in. If I was to pick out common factors from those that I consider to be the most successful practitioners, I believe that the best examples offer a combination of clarity, visibility, consistency and common sense. So where do you find them, and what are the signage pitfalls in public places that must be avoided at all costs?

Why is signage important? The reasons are various, but the key points are that without the aid of physical signage, people can potentially get lost, be put to considerable inconvenience, or even get themselves into a potentially unsafe or vulnerable situation from a security point of view. No-one  wants that to happen to anyone at business premises, and that’s why it’s so important for businesses of all sizes to get right.

Who can demonstrate good practice?

In my initial ignorance about the subject, I didn’t fully appreciate that informational signage and way finding was such a big business, or that as a country we’re among the world leaders in this fiield. Then I visited the Liverpool waterfront last year, and saw the results of the wayfinding and signage project completed there in and around Albert Dock by Holmes-Wood, who describe themselves as ‘one of Britain’s leading companies working in direction, information and identity design’. Yes, that’s right, there are specialist signage consultancies out there, that can help you spend millions on ensuring that your signage is tailored to meet your precise business needs, and looks good as well.

However, even the smallest business can learn from good practice undertaken, not only in places where new signage was necessary as a result of major re-branding and urban regeneration projects, as in the case of Liverpool; but also from the signage displayed in other high traffic public places such as airports, shopping malls, and on the motorway network. The directional signage and branding developed initially for the  UK motorway network, and then the entire national road network of Britain by Jock Kinneir and Margaret Calvert between 1957 and 1967, is now a recognised design classic, that has become a model for motorway and road signage internationally. It’s a mark of its success, that it’s still in use today.

Clarity is vital when it comnes to signage. Wherever possible it makes sense to make use of internationally recognised systems of symbolism, such as those used for hazardous chemicals, and health and safety signs. It becomes vital that warning signs can be understood at a glance, even when people don’t speak the  language, and can’t read written text. That’s why international signage conventions have developed, such as the use of the lower case letter ‘ i ‘ which is used as visual shorthand to designate tourist information centres worldwide.

Mistakes to avoid

On occasion signage can be percieved as patronising, irrelevant, or worse, can be seen as treating grown adults like naughty children. From time to time I come across such signs. Where signs are used inappropriately they have the potential to provoke a negative reaction, disappointment, confusion, fear or even annoyance, all emotions that are not good for business from a marketing point of view.

In general signs should be used only to communicate simple unambiguous messages that are relevant to everyone who sees them. Unless there is danger, or a possible threat to life or limb, any complicated scenarios, applicable to the minority of the people passing by, is probably best communicated by a different method, and ideally during the course of personal communication.

When things get complicated..

In hotels, where there is a plethora of information that needs to be communicated, and people have an expectation that they’ll receive guidance appropriate to their individual needs, it can be particularly challenging to ensure that guests receive all the information and reassurance they might need, at the same time as being politely encouraged to act on it. In this instance it’s sensible practice to offer an information folder in all guest rooms, and to serve up the answers to frequently asked questions in advance of guest arrival on websites; but that’s not usually enough.

Signs can act as a catch all to help businesses communicate information; but they should not always be relied on or used alone. Some instructions, for example about responsible energy use,  can cause resentment or negative attitude on the part of the paying customer.

With businesses increasingly looking to give their business a ‘green edge’ and promote responsible tourism, it can be hard to find the right tone of voice, and form of words to encourage responsible attitudes to such issues as noise, energy use and contentious areas such as daily replacement of towels and bedding, with signage alone.

Tried and tested strategies

However you look at it, signs have a tendency to lecture because you can’t ignore them. One alternative approach is to draw people’s attention to where they can find information available (but not try to compel them to take notice); and you can invite people to be responsible about their energy usage for rational reasons, rather than posting signage that seems to demand compliance. A self catering opearator I know leaves a copy of the paperback book ‘One Planet Living’ in her cottages, and offers copies for sale to those who express interest. She’s found that this works well.

Offering a reward for compliant behaviour is a further strategy that can be adopted to persuade people to change their habits or encourage reponsible behaviour. I’ve come across hotels that reward guests who leave their car in the car park all day when they go out, with free tea and cakes when they return. Another goes out of her way to explain how to reach local attractions by public transport.  There’s no doubt though, that it can be a challenge to get people to do things the way you want. One thing is for sure, although signage can help, I certainly don’t think it will ever be the only answer.

What do you think? Marketing is about everything that helps a business to identify and satisfy customer needs profitably.  Contact Manifold Associates if you’re a business having difficulty in identifying the most appropriate form of  words and images to explain your business philosophy in your marketing communications. We also help businesses through the process of rationalising and communicating the reasons for people to do business with them; and deliver training on marketing your green credentials.

Until next time…

Looking to push the boat out? Take advantage of crazy offers and publicity stunts

Is there a point to crazy offers?

Tourism businesses sometimes need to take a risk and get innovative with their promotional ideas if they want to attract the more adventurous prospective customers. Here’s a selection of hotel offers at the more extreme end of the spectrum that take some beating.

While I don’t think that hoteliers expect many bookings from their crazier promotions; there’s no doubt that it gets them talked about, both online, and in the media generally! After all, the first stage in influencing a prospective customer favourably on behalf of a busness, is to create awareness that the business exists in the first place. Publicity stunts are designed to  attract media attention, and are frequently associated with photo or video opportunities, so perhaps they’re not quite such a crazy idea after all!

Publicity stunts that deserve attention

Air Portugal found it worked for them when they executed a well planned flash mob event at Lisbon Airport Christmas 2009 which helped put a smile of the face of their customers, and other weary air passengers. Look at their faces. Naturally, the event was filmed for posterity and the professionally edited results were posted onto You Tube, the video sharing web site. Meanwhile, in Belgium, flash mobs have been out ambushing rail passengers at Brussels and Antwerp train stations. Note how these events have also been posted onto You Tube too.  On You Tube visitors to the site rate the films they watch, and forward the best on to their friends, talk about them on Twitter,  insert links to them on their Facebook page, or recommend them on sites such as Digg.com. That’s how social media works. It’s what used to be called ‘word of mouth marketing’ – it just works a bit quicker and with much bigger numbers.

Just look at the number of views! As you can see from these examples, it’s not a bad idea if you’ve got a creative streak, to produce a video that illustrates your customers, or staff, or both, really enjoying themselves, even if they do need a bit of support from professional or enthusuiastic amateur actors, musicians or dancers. If the results are truly original and entertaining the results can spread online just like a virus; and that’s why such films are called viral videos.

Do you need help?

Are you a business or organisation involved in the visitor economy that needs help to boost awareness and is looking to secure more media coverage to reach prospective visitors or guests? Manifold Associates could help you come up with compelling ideas to encourage the world to beat a path to your door, or search for your business on the world wide web. We can also introduce you to our network of professonals, who make a living creating promotional video, if you don’t feel up to taking a DIY approach.

Visit our website for more information about what we have to offer, including what customers think about our services as marketing consultants.

Should everyone be able to find ‘Secret Britain’?

Are you among those who caught the latest BBC television series Secret Britain, which has attracted rave reviews? Personally, as a tourism industry insider, I found the first episode of the series all rather frustrating, although I admit that the landscapes were visually stunning. It’s hardly surprising that’s the case, such is the astonishing variety of scenery to be found when travelling in the British Isles.

In the first of four one hour long episodes of ‘Secret Britain’, presenters Matt Baker and Julia Bradbury presented fairly vague information showcasing various ‘secret’ sites in southern England, from Cornwall to Kent, a region of Britain I know well. What I found particularly frustrating was that the sites given so much high profile airtime were nearly all either inaccessible or pratically impossible for the ordinary viewer, or potential visitor inspired by a programme such as this, to visit; but perhaps that was the point. They wanted to ensure they were kept secret.

Secret locations revealed

The presenters understandably admitted that locations shown where frangrant orchids and fly orchids were seen growing somewhere on the South Downs, could not be identified for security reasons. Unfortunately the fact that the South Downs was recently declared a National Park, and that that there are plenty of practically unknown places within it where visitors are welcomed, yet relatively few venture, was not even mentioned. For example, within the Park in deepest West Sussex, you can still walk up the old Roman Road, Stane Steet, and visit well preserved Roman mosaics at relatively unknown (because it’s privately owned) Bignor Roman villa, or explore the wonderful Weald and Downland Museum at Singleton, near Chichester. Not far away, on the shores of Chichester Harbour you can visit the ancient Saxon Church of Bosham, which was illustrated on the Bayeux Tapestry. That’s just a little sample of some of the secret (or at least little known beyond the local area) places to visit in Southern England that deserve and would appreciate more attention, yet don’t get it.

Surely it would make sense for a series such as this to include more locations like the ones I’ve suggested, and to give some indication of their location so that people can get there?  The programme spent a long time rambling about on the Greenways of Dorset, without identifying a single village along the route of Hell Lane, denying the interested viewer, or walking enthusiast, any hope of finding it. Likewise, Matt Baker was filmed in in a seagoing kayak visiting inaccessible caves and beaches, as well as shooting the dangerous looking passage between the mainland and Seven Souls Rock on  Pentire Head near Padstow, experiences that the casual visitor to north Cornwall probably has little chance of duplicating in safety without the accompaniment of people with local kayaking expertise.

I found myself wondering if the programme makers been forced to sign a confidentiality agreement with the couple who took the camera crew to a rocky valley near Tintagel, where they had celebrated a picnic after their wedding? It certainly seemed possible, so scanty was the information divulged about its location.

Frustration mounted further as it soon became obvious that visiting Iron Age hill forts on Ministry of Defence land on Salisbury Plain, surrounded all the while by danger signs warning of unexploded ordnance, and tank manoevres, was equally unlikelyto be accessible to the general public.  Perhaps that too was trying to score a point about keeping the locations secret?

However, it wasn’t the case, as Charleston Farmhouse, near Lewes in East Sussex, once home to Virginia Woolf and The Bloomsbury set, was also featured. It’s a site you can quickly locate by Googling. As were the well known honeypots of Tintagel Castle and Mevagissey in Cornwall. Footage of Dungeness might have  inspired more visitors too. You can also find information about what to see, and how to get there, fairly easily online. I felt that, in general, the programme makers could have found some unappreciated locations with interesting stories attached that were far more deserving of their attention, such as the Royal Military Canal on Romney Marsh, shown above, where you can go for long walks in a landscape with fascinating history and wildlife.  Here there is plenty of capacity for more visitors to venture. I could go on.

For the benefit of any truly inquisitive programme makers out there, I’d like to give you a pointer about just one out of many places I know about in my own area, which deserve to be more widely known.  Cobham Hall is an Elizabethan mansion near Gravesend in Kent, which now operates as an independent girls school. My jaw dropped when I saw the exquisite interiors on a recent visit, including original hand painted antique Chinese wallpaper in a staggeringly well preserved state in one room (it turns out to have been so well stuck on that it has proved impossible to strip it off to sell).

Visitors, a few of whom manage to find their way all the way from the Antipodes, are also regaled with the romantic story of the origins of  the sport of English cricket’s ‘Ashes’. The original urn that is fought over as a trophy for the winners of the bi-annual series of test matches between England and Australia, may now be kept at Lords Cricket Ground in London; but Cobham Hall was its original home. So, if you want to know the full story, and most especially if you have Australian connections, you really should try and visit. Details of opening dates.

What chance for the promotion of Secret Britain?

Annoyingly, last week’s speech by Prime Minister David Cameron on the subject of tourism in Britain received practically no media coverage. It was drowned out by threat of strike action at Heathrow  over the bank holiday weekend (now called off). It’s not at all amusing that negative stories always seem to manage to crowd out good news during the media’s annual August ‘silly season’. Unfortunately they often do!

Significantly it looks like the Coalition Government is planning to try and give the industry more priority, with a white paper and launch of a new national tourism strategy. It still seems doubtful in view of the comprehensive spending review, whether this will actually lead to more funding for the industry, and offer scope for launching PR or marketing initiatives to promote lesser known but deserving attractions, including more like those I’ve highlighted. Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see details of the new strategy and white paper. There could be a lot of interest in secret Britain in the run up to 2012; but I fear that the scarcity of investment to fund its marketing could yet keep a lot of it under wraps.

I think it’s already a good sign though, that Tourism South East have today taken the decision to delay their AGM and conference until November, citing that  ‘this will enable us to deliver a more informed agenda on the future of tourism in the south east.’

Do you need help?

Are you  a business or organisation that needs help to boost accommodation or admission sales, or secure more media coverage to  improve awareness amongst visitors? Or are you a TV production company looking for an enthusiastic specialist researcher with insider knowledge about lesser known or unusual visitor attractions? Manifold Associates could help you by coming up with compelling ideas to bring the world beating a path to your door, or viewers to a screen near you. For further examples of how the presentation of interesting stories behind tourist icons can engage, inform and educate visitors as well as inspiring visits, read my February post ‘Surprising stories behind tourist icons’.

Visit our website for more information about what we have to offer, including what customers think about our services.

Ahoy there! Summer fun afloat in Maidstone (and southern England)

Cowes Week

According to the British Marine Federation only 2.73% of the UK population own some sort of boat, which makes it a somewhat minority interest. However, half the country’s population live within five miles of a canal or river, 11 million people regularly visit  inland waterways every year, and there are more than 32,000 registered boats on the water. Even if you’re a’ landlubber’ this is the best week of the entire summer for the casual visitor to get (albeit temporarily) interested in boating,  and heading for the waterfront  somewhere, whether it’s the coast, or a navigable river.

This week is Cowes Week on the Isle of Wight, just off the south coast of England in Hampshire. More information about Cowes Week. The Isle of Wight is one of my favourite places, although I have to admit I prefer to go there out of season when it’s less busy. Cowes Week is the highlight of peak season. More information about visiting the Isle of Wight.

Maidstone River Festival

In Britain you’re never very far from a river or the coast, and this year for the first time I decided to take the opportunity to visit this year’s Maidstone River Festival, to find out if this annual nautical carnival has anything to offer the casual visitor, as opposed to the convinced ‘yachtie’ type who owns their own boat.  Although it’s on an inland river, and on a much smaller scale than Cowes, as a landlubber myself, I still found it good fun. The serious yachties moor up days in advance, and die hard fans who sail  up the Medway to Maidstone in their own boats, decorate them in line with an annual theme – which this year was the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the WW2 Dunkirk evacuation (masterminded from Dover Castle in Kent, by Vice Admiral Bertram Ramsay, a  distant family relation).

I’d been tipped off that the highlight of the entire Maidstone River Festival weekend is always the Saturday afternoon raft race, and that’s what drew me to visit. I watched as teams of amateurs in fancy dress first contest a competition for best turned out raft, and then race on their home made craft, against the current, upstream from Whatmans Park to old Maidstone bridge, next to the county town’s law courts.  Having completed the race, which was won this year by Maidstone Canoe Club in ‘HMS Thrust’, competitors take turns to try and sink each others craft with flour bombs and jets of water, as they turn and drift back downstream to the start, to the evident delight and amusement of spectators lining the banks, and looking down from the bridges spanning the course (the best vantage point for taking photos).

The event co-incides with a funfair at Lockmeadow; and all along the town centre towpath, and in the car park near All Saints Church, are stalls selling fast food, raffle tickets and other trinkets, and stages with live musical entertainment. It was a lovely sunny day, and I also made another interesting discovery a new waterside restaurant, ‘The Barge,’ moored up adjacent to The Archbishops Palace, which looked like a nice place for riverside dining with a bit more style, inside and out. I plan to give it a try before the summer’s out, although it says on the website that it’s open year round!

There are a couple of other nautical diversions on offer in summer in Maidstone that are likely to be of particular interest to the casual visitor. These include one hour cruises downriver from central Maidstone to Kent Life heritage farm and museum of rural life, on the paddle steamer Allington Belle, which also operates two hour summer evening cruises from the Malta Inn Beefeater and adjacent Premier Inn at Sandling on Wednesdays and Friday evenings at 7.30 pm (booking essential). Motor cruiser Kentish Lady is a family business also operating trips to Kent Life, and they also offer 3 hour trips up the Medway to Teston Lock and back. I’ve walked along the towpath in this area, and can recommend the rural scenery you’ll encounter. For dates and times check the website.

More summer fun afloat in Dorset
Back on the south coast, if you’re looking for something a bit different, the summer barbecue cruise on Saturday nights at 7pm from Tuckton Bridge on the lower reaches of the rivers Stour and Avon in Christchurch, is an interesting propostion on a warm evening, with a one hour trip on the river followed by a barbecue and New Forest Ice cream. More information or phone for details on 01202 429119. A riverside table at the Captains Club Hotel on the river Stour might be a safer (but more expensive) bet if the weather looks a bit iffy.  For those game enough for a more nautical adventure, how about a boat trip out across Christchurch Harbour for a ‘Safari supper’ at the Beach House Cafe on Hengistbury Head. The next one is scheduled for August 13th, but you can also get out to this idyllic location the long way round, via the land train that operates from the main car park at Hengistbury Head, as well as by ferry from Mudeford Quay. Whenever the weather is fine, they put flags up to show from a distance that they’re open.

Expect the weather to play an important part in the success of such ventures as these. Experience suggests that there’s often a last minute flood of bookings in fine weather; but advance booking is vital to be sure of a place whenever such trips do go ahead. My advice is always to enquire well in advance, and, if you’re ever in a position to make recommendations about boat trips, include a caveat about watching the weather forecast, as safety is always paramount, and trips can get cancelled at short notice.

Looking for inspiration or help with marketing ?

If you seek nautical adventure, boat sales or hire for yourself or your customers in your local area, the definitive guides to navigable inland waterways in Britain, including the ‘River Thames and southern waterways’ edition, are published by Collins/Nicholson and available online from retailers such as Amazon.

If you’re a tourism business looking for new marketing ideas, Virtual Viv could help you. We can inspire you by sharing case studies, and can teach you basic DIY marketing skills. Contact us for more information.

Until next time…

A snapshot of English summer – on the beach

The coast of England, and many of its towns, popularly known as ‘seaside resorts’ are undergoing something of a renaissance; and I saw more evidence for myself on a vist to Dorset earlier this week.

Background briefing
I bet you didn’t know that Scarborough in Yorkshire was established as the first English seaside resort as early as 1626, when a Mrs Elizabeth Farrow discovered a stream of acidic water running from one of the cliffs south of the town, giving birth to Scarborough Spa, which soon began attracting many visitors to take the waters there. In addition  medical experts including Richard Russell  in 1750 cottoned on to the idea of recommending the health benefits of bathing in Brighton salt water.

Ironically  the health benefits of bathing in salt and mineral rich water in places like Thermae Bath Spa (which I wrote about in September last year) is once again being recognised today -  illustrated by the successful marketing, and efficacy of  natural salt and mineral products sourced from places like the Dead Sea, years after consumers began to sneer at luridly coloured bath salts and bath cubes (remember them!) marketed in  1960s and 70s Britain, and poor sales plummeted the concept into temporary oblivion.

People were only able to travel long distances from urban and industrial concentrations of population to English seaside resorts in large numbers following the arrival of the railways, (which first came to Scarborough in 1845); although a few other easily accessible southern coastal towns such as Bognor Regis, Margate, and Brighton and other more northerly centres such as Morecambe and Skegness had begun to develop an initially local following amongst gentry and royalty. Only the wealthy could afford the expense of travelto the coast by stage coach or carriage, and later, paddle steamer, to escape the stifling and stinking summers suffered in great conurbations like Manchester and London, during the industrial revolution.

Bournemouth, where I found myself last week, is 200 years old this year. The heyday of English seaside resorts, when people came in their droves to enjoy the beaches, amusements and nightlife, ran roughly from the coming of the railway in the mid Victorian era, to the advent of package holidays in the 1970s. Then even the most well established and up market English resorts, including places like Bournemouth, and Torquay in Devon, began to notice the family market for long summer holiday breaks suffering a noticeable decline. The   visitor economy of coastal towns was forced to become more reliant on income from day visitors and people travelling on short breaks  by car as well as train, as the masses increasingly started jetting off to roast on the beach under virtually guaranteed Mediterranean sun.

From the early 1970s, holiday packages at affordable prices were provided by operators such as Thomson, Horizon and Clarksons, and the market for them literally took off, to the detriment of English seaside resorts. It soon necessitated the most seriously affected local authorities in English resorts trying to identify ways and means of regenerating themselves and appealing to new markets. The consequence was a process of re-invention which continues to this day.

The inside track on the rejuvenation of Bournemouth

I saw first hand what happened in Bournemouth in the 1970s, as I was living there as a student at the time. Undoubtedly it was one of the luckier English coastal towns, being blessed with a superb location, on a sweeping bay of golden sand sheltered by low cliffs, punctuated by narrow pathways called ‘chines’. These features allow direct pedestrian access to the beach from the town, which is dotted attractively with pine trees and public gardens.

It also helps that the coast around here enjoys spectacular views, with the protective chalk downlands of Purbeck along the western horizon, the Isle of Wight to the south east, and the New Forest National Park on its eastern fringe, which come together to make Bournemouth a great touring base.

The problem has always been that in England it can rain, even in summer. In the 1970s people who’d grown up used to wet weeks in the English west country, wanted a summer holiday with uninterrupted sunshine, something that seems to have far less importance nowadays. In fact what we now appreciate is that occasional rain has the benefit of keeping the surrounding English countryside relatively green in summer, compared to Mediterranean countries!

For a while, in 1970s Bournemouth, as in other coastal towns, misfits, substance abusers and social outcasts started to move in to vacant accommodation in the more run down area around the Lansdowne and Boscombe. In Bournemouth it was initially the success of English language schools, such as Anglo Continental in Wimborne Road; and later the new University campus at Wallisdown, that helped to turn things around, bringing in large numbers of  students, many coming initially to learn the language; and incidentally taking advantage of the inexpensive accommodation on offer (then). Many enjoyed their time in the town so much that they stayed on after their studies to work in the area, adding to the cosmopolitan atmosphere, and helping to secure Bournemouth’s  future success.

The Bournemouth International Centre then opened in 1984 to replace the ageing  Winter Gardens on the West Cliff, and The Pavilion (which has now been restored) in the centre of town, as a conference venue. This helped bring in more year-round business, and prevented the defection of valuable regular business from political party conferences and other organised groups, as well as providing a new venue for concerts by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, contemporary musicians and other events and productions.

It’s undoubtedly helped that Bournemouth has had a lot of great PR for high profile seafront housing development, especially in Branksome and the Sandbanks Peninsula; but also for the regenerated Boscombe area and its controversial surf beach, which I wrote about in November last year. Although coverage received by this latter project has been more mixed, from the evidence of my recent visits I still think it’s likely to be destined for long term success, assuming that the surf reef’s remaining teething problems can be successfully ironed out. The town has also helped put itself on the map with regular open air continental markets held in The central Square, and The Bournemouth Balloon, a tethered installation which ascends to a height of over 150 metres, and allows spectacular views up to 20 miles distant from its base in the Lower Gardens.

Similar spectacular coastal view experiences are also available at Portsmouth’s Spinnaker Tower at Gunwharf Quays and Brighton is planning a new tower, i360 at West Pier.

Summer 2010 highlights

If you’re looking to hire a surf pod at Boscombe surf beach or a beach hut on your visit to Bournemouth this summer you can book online subject to availability on the Visit Bournemouth website.

You’ll also find some great beachfront cafes strung out along Bournemouth Bay. When I visited the excellent Bistro on the Beach at Southbourne for lunch on a cloudy Wednesday last week, there were no window tables left by 12.45, so if you want one make sure you get there early! They also open for breakfast and for dinner on Fridays and Saturdays, and a new takeaway kiosk has opened for the first time there this year. There’s another well located beachfront cafe at Branksome, and the exclusive Cafe Shore at Sandbanks looks great, but I haven’t actually tried either personally, as yet.

If you want an adrenaline rush and a ‘guaranteed bad hair day’ during your visit, it’s on offer on high speed powerboat trips around Bournemouth Bay and further afield, at Adventure cruises of Christchurch, based at nearby Mudeford Quay. Bournemouth Air Festival, an annual event in August offers a more exciting land based spectacle.

I understand that day trips to Bournemouth, and Weymouth, location of the sailing events for the London 2012 games, by steam train from London are available on limited dates this summer. More information. I have no experience of this operator, so my mention of this service cannot constitute a recommendation.

If you like what I write
If you’re part of an organisation looking to outsource PR or marketing services, or want help with your digital content strategy, my company Manifold Associates could provide the solution you’re looking for.  We’re happy to work with existing suppliers in a collaborative environment, and can work with your team to identify and brief new types of specialist service providers you might need, such as professional photographers. Contact us for more information.

Until next time…