One North East
Press Ahead was awarded the contract by One North East to launch a campaign that ran during the spring and summer of 2009, promoting North East England as a great place to explore and visit.
Objectives
The objectives of this campaign were: to attract more domestic visitors into the region; to increase the visitor' average spend and length of stay; to maximise visitor movement across the region during their stay and to drive traffic to the region's tourism website: www.visitnortheastengland.com.
Approach
With Outdoor and Active as the theme and through appropriate target media, Press Ahead encouraged primary and secondary audiences to visit and explore North East England. The campaign was delivered as a comprehensive, multi-platform offer, designed to appeal to a national audience. The approach involved using a number of traditional and new media PR tools to ensure success in a short timescale, including: regular correspondence with editorial teams to establish planned features and explore the potential to contribute; development and sell in of feature ideas; development of outdoor itineraries linked to the sector for consumers and visiting journalists; proactive engagement with relevant social media platforms; effective use of creative photography to generate media coverage; sector specific promotions, competitions and offers; and PR that dovetailed with scheduled events in the region. Key to the campaign was the Adventure Generator an idea, proposed by Press Ahead, to develop an online wizard for consumers, which provided a number of PR opportunities and channels of communication with the media.
Results
For this short campaign, Press Ahead needed to deliver results quickly and include all four sub regions of the North East in activity and coverage, as well as developing a mechanic that would encourage people to find out more about the region online.
Press Ahead worked closely with national journalists and secured press visits to the region from a number of key titles. Media coverage appeared in national, trade and consumer publications, including the Sunday Telegraph, Guardian, News of the World, Express, Country Walking, My Weekly and Chat magazine. By providing the idea of the Adventure Generator, Press Ahead ensured that visitors to the region had an online tool to help them plan their visit to the region, adding a new dimension to One North East's marketing campaign.
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Real Help was a UK government initiative to provide support to businesses and people in this country as a result of the unprecedented economic climate. Uniquely in this region the RDA, One North East, co-ordinated the efforts of Business Link, the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) North East, the Government Office North East and Jobcentre Plus to ensure that communication campaigns were clear and easy to respond to.
Objectives
Working alongside lead communications agency Different, Press Ahead was asked to extend the 'media alliances' approach that it had pioneered in relation to the 'Passionate people. Passionate places' regional image marketing campaign. The objective was to create a fully integrated public information campaign on behalf of the partner organisations but under a single, simple brand, working in partnership with the key media groups in the region.
Approach
A series of meetings were arranged with senior editorial and commercial figures in the key regional media groups to explain the campaign objectives and play on their 'enlightened self interest' to provide a high impact schedule of editorial, advertising and other activity designed to ensure that the 'Real Help' message had a daily presence during the initial period of February to June 2009. Specifics included a series of press supplements, interactive web executions, radio infomercials, case study articles, sponsorship of key business and jobs platforms and other activity across Trinity Mirror, North East Press, Newsquest, CN Group, GMG Radio, Metro & TFM and a number of niche business publications.
Results
All of the agencies involved reported healthy contact rates and the return on investment on the media spend was excellent. For example, the first phase of activity during February and March generated £276k of coverage at rate card, at a return on investment of approximately 7:1 and delivered over 16.5 million opportunities to see or hear the messages.
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One North East is the regional development agency (RDA) covering North East England. It is one of nine RDAs in England that were established to transform the English regions through sustainable economic development. The organisation's vision is to help create a vibrant, self reliant, ambitious and outward looking region, promoting the benefits of living, working and doing business here.
Objectives
In 2005, following a major piece of research by MORI, One North East launched its high profile 'Passionate people. Passionate places' campaign to create a context for success for contemporary North East England. The purpose was to create an 'umbrella brand' that would reposition the region in the minds of business decision makers and tourists alike; ensuring that tactical marketing activity would be a 'warmer sell'. It was seen as vital, following the failure of previous such initiatives, to ensure that the region collectively understood what it was trying to achieve and became positive advocates of the messages. To achieve this, a public information campaign was required… but with a difference.
Approach
Working closely with the One North East PR team and communications agency Different Ltd, Press Ahead devised and project managed the media alliances programme which formed the major part of the in-region marketing of the campaign from 2005 to 2010. Press Ahead built on already strong relationships with the key regional media and engaged them at Managing Director, Editor and Commercial Director level to ensure their advocacy for the campaign and thus a positive channel of ongoing communication - in effect, playing on their 'enlightened self interest' in achieving a more prosperous local economy.
Activity scheduling and media planning was then managed in the context of being part of a wider added-value public information campaign. Activity included: strong editorial support; re-branding of station identities/programmes; bespoke publications; advertorials; sponsored programmes and newspaper/magazine sections; events and awards schemes; newspapers in education initiatives; promotions; website coverage and links; vehicle and building branding; brand toolkit inserts and more.
Results
Getting the people and businesses of the region behind the campaign was vital to the success of 'Passionate people. Passionate places' and Press Ahead was involved in over 1,000 large and small organisations "adopting" the brand. An independent tracking research study, conducted during the course of the campaign, showed that, as a result of 'Passionate people. Passionate places', an extra 160,000 people in the region were more likely to speak highly of North East England without prompting.
The results were exceptional and delivered value way beyond the allocated budget. For example, the 2006-07 press elements of the Regional Image Strategy marketing campaign delivered over 160 million impacts worth £1.64m for a budget of less than a tenth of that amount.
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