Shire Hall Dorchester - Justice in the Balance





 

© Copyright Roger Templeman Creative Commons Licence





 



Dorchester’s Shire Hall is a rare architectural gem and one of the best-preserved buildings of its kind, remaining almost unchanged since it first opened in 1796/7.

 

A centre of law, order and government for over 200 years - Shire Hall was a place where all sectors of society interacted. The trial of the Tolpuddle Martyrs  took place here in 1834 and changed the course of history and helped to shape the society in which we live today. Later, the writer Thomas Hardy served as a magistrate at the court, an experience which inspired some of his writing.

 

A project grant has been secured from the Heritage Lottery fund of £1.5 million that West Dorset District Council has match-funded. The aim of the project is to renovate and re-use the Shire Hall building and its Old Crown Court and cells as a heritage attraction and centre for learning that will encompass many aspects of law, politics, citizenship and history. In addition to creating a visitor attraction within the historic parts of the building, the refurbishment project will provide a new gallery for temporary exhibitions, a learning room, a shop and a café.

 

The marketing strategy and plan will place Shire Hall - Justice in the Balance Visitor Centre at the heart of Dorset’s tourist offer by building a coherent and cohesive offer that works with partner organisations, attractions potential partners and linkages (e.g. for trails). 

 

The strap line ‘Justice in the Balance’ will play a key role in differentiating the Centre within the overall tourist offer and in all marketing communications.

 

More at https://www.dorsetforyou.gov.uk/article/410232/About-the-Shire-Hall-Project

Museum Retail Therapy Visits

The series of retail workshops run by Museums Warwickshire earlier this year highlighted the desire for an informal network of those involved with museum shops. As a precursor a series of visits to West Midlands museum shops is being arranged. Details click here

Running Events and Publicising Your Shop

The Post title is a slight misnomer, as the download available at the end of this post is really about running events in a bookshop but it has lots of very useful marketing and publicity ideas applicable to shops in museums and other visitor attractions.

As the Introduction states, 'hosting events in store, whether they include an author or not, is a proven method of reaching your community effectively' (I'd say market!) 'and is an ideal way of making sure potential customers find out about you, and come back again and again.'

'Successful events are an ideal way to create and build links with all sorts of new markets, from schools for all age groups, book clubs, local businesses and community groups' and of course for museums and other attractions, the local visitor market. These links can lead to a number of further marketing opportunities.

'Once you’ve worked out which events work well for your store, you’ll find it easier to promote them and will get an even better turnout. And this in turn will lead to extra sales and turnover: something we are all looking for!'
So have a look at 'Books are My Bag' here and thank you to Midas PR for an excellent guide to setting up 'instore' or should it be 'inshop' (?) events.

Mobile messaging and the tourist industry



Hiker receiving a text

According to research commissioned by Text Local, one of the UK's leading mobile messaging companies, almost 1,000,000 mobile phone users across the UK want to hear from a travel company once a month.  

Opportunity: There are 4.74 million mobile users across the UK that would welcome communications from travel companies. By 2015, that number will increase to 5.2 million.

The number of opt-ins on a smartphone will increase from 2.7 million to 4 million over the same timeframe.

CRM key stats: Males account for 58.1%of opt-ins. In total. 1.71million opt-ins in the UK would want to hear from a travel company more than once a month. The demographic most likely to opt-in is the 35-44 year olds. 

Around the UK: The south of England (West Country, Meridian and London) will account for 1.59 million opt-ins. Of these opt-ins, 948,119 would want to hear from travel companies once a month or more.

 

Text Local say that the travel and tourism industry is seeing a huge increase in profitability through mobile messaging, due to its powerful viral capabilities. Ticket sales often come from friends and family who have been forwarded an SMS text. Sending e-tickets mobile vouchers and coupons via text – all with bar codes for data capture -  ‘is a perfect medium for this sector removing the need for expensive printing and postage.’

 

Attractions, tour operators and travel agents can then build up an ever growing database from customers opting-in to receive offers and information, 'there’s no better channel to get the message across than mobile.' And it can be used for research, sending web links etc

Creating Social Media Content - Using Windows Moviemaker

If you are small attraction (or even a large one) and looking to develop your presence on the web, a YouTube account in your attraction's name, gives you the opportunity to raise your profile. However you are then faced with what to post. You may well have hidden talents as an amateur moviemaker but we have all seen those dreadful films on YouTube with unsteady handheld cameras that do nothing to enhance anyone's reputation, let alone promote the virtues of a visit.

However, Windows Movie Maker, bundled with most Windows releases or available to download  provides even still photographers with the opportunity to animate some of all those photographs taken of the marvels of visiting your museum, heritage site, theme park, attraction or wildlife reserve. All you need is a bit of time, as Windows Movie Maker has the ability to automatically create a movie and match the music to the pictures. As it 'says on the box' on the Windows website:

Import and edit slide shows and videos
Quickly add photos and footage from your PC or camera into Movie Maker. Then fine tune your movie just the way you want it. You can move things around, speed it up or slow it down—it’s up to you.

Edit the soundtrack and add a theme
Enhance your movie with audio and a theme. Movie Maker adds transitions and effects automatically so your movie looks polished and professional.

Share your movie online
Once your movie is ready, share it online on Facebook, YouTube or other social networking and video sharing sites. Send a link to your movie in an email to family and friends so they won’t miss it.

 

You just need to be careful of copyrights for both photographs (and other media of course) and music and YouTube has guidance on this issue. YouTube has some copyright free music you can use. For an example of what can be done with old photographs and music by the Hollywood composer Erich Korngold see the short animation for the Pembroke Dock Sunderland Trust's 'Fleets to Flying Boats' heritage attraction here   

 

Get shooting and animating! And don't forget - post it on Facebook as well

 

Copyright Picture from the cover of  'The Making of Feature Films - A Guide' Ivan Butler - Pelican - 1971

Is this experiential marketing?



Howard Harrison and Tilly Morrissey, of South Pembrokeshire Hospital,

with the display panel and print of Haven Sunderland T9044.

PICTURE: Graham Roberts

 Here’s an interesting way for a visitor attraction to extend its ‘marketing reach’ and be seen to be involved in its local community – linking up with a local hospital and providing an interpretation panel. South Pembrokeshire Hospital’s Sunderland Ward, which is named after the famous flying boat, now has its own interpretation panel to mark special aviation connections.

Patient, Howard Harrison suggested the panel idea to the Pembroke Dock Sunderland Trust, which runs the Flying Boat Centre Workshop and the newly opened Fleets to Flying Boats Centre in the Royal Dockyard.

 

The panel, donated by the Trust, is now displayed alongside many evocative images and photographs of Sunderlands, which were based at Pembroke Dock for nearly 20 years. It includes several photographs of Sunderlands and a brief history of their special links with the town and Haven Waterway including Sunderland survivor T9044 which sank in the Haven in 1940.

Mr Harrison was on hand to formally present the new panel to Tilly Morrissey, the Resource Centre Manager, who said: “We are very grateful to Mr Harrison and to the Trust for this very special display. Mr Harrison has, along with Mr Tony Jones and other patients, donated many Sunderland items to the hospital. This panel sets the ‘Sunderland story’ in context with the ward. I am sure that patients and visitors alike will really enjoy looking at all of these items.”

Sunderland Interpretation Panel

Marketing independent historic houses

Invitation to View is a great opportunity for private houses and gardens wanting to open to the public. They have been opening houses and gardens to the public since 1998 and every year since has been a record for both houses open and visitors says their web site. In 2012, 58 private properties will open their doors to visitors in Eastern England (10 new) covering six counties with Hertfordshire and Northamptonshire joining the scheme for the first time. However, ItV has now broken out of the East to start the same scheme in the West Country, with 18 houses opening under the same organisation in Cornwall, Devon and Somerset. For more information see the Invitation to View web site

Getting them to spend more and stay longer

Improving visitor ratings of what there is to see, and especially of what there is to do, can lead to increased dwell time and increased secondary spend says Alan Love, Research Director, BDRC in the latest edition of Attractions Management. He’s posed the question  - ‘How can attraction operators encourage visitors to spend limited budgets at their attraction?’ And then provides some advice. Tweaking the offer can not only increase dwell times and increased secondary spend but can also lead to increased recommendation rates on say Trip Advisor, which may lead to increased volume, making marketing budgets stretch just that little bit further. Love bases his conclusions on some analysis he has done on the 30 metrics in the ALVA Quality Benchmark Survey.

Love’s review shows that even in straitened times, battening down the hatches on investment might not be the right solution.  By improving the visitor experience through enhancing what there is to do or to see at the attraction can lead to improved ratings and increased spend. As we say to our Attract Marketing clients 'you have spent a fortune getting people here for heaven’s sake make sure they stay as long as possible so they use the café and spend in the shop!'

See more at Time is Money

Olympics Park Project for Attract

Olympics Park

Attract recently delivered a market assessment and business, marketing strategy and operating plan for a post Games project on the Olympics Park for Ecovert FM, UK industry leader in Total Facilities Management. The project included validation and assessment of the potential market, revenue and cost forecasts for catering, retail, access, licensing, operations, ticketing and cash handling.

Attract was assisted on this project by Richard Pawley (VTP Global), Mary Tebje (MTA Tourism Leisure), Jane Dean (Jane Dean Associates) and Lisa Hatswell (Lisa Hatswell Consultancy/Unique Venues of London) Andrew Potts (Wright Hassall), John Davies (Omniticket).

New award for Attract client

Canterbury for Culture Award

Attract client, the Canterbury Westgate Towers has won the inaugural Canterbury for Cultural Landscape Award, an award given to a cultural organisation, group or individual making a significant positive impact to Canterbury's environment, architecture or public space.

Interpretation initiatives include turning the Westgate Gaoler's diary into wallpaper which has been put in the gents - Charles Lambie, Westgate Towers' custodian and operator is now worried that visitors will stay seated on the Thomas Crapper toilets for too long reading the news from 1798!
The official opening is the end of July with the next few weeks spent finalizing the opening offer. However from July 1st accompanied tours and familiarization visits through the newly connected 1830 Gaol and café space are on offer.

It's believed that Westgate Towers is the first scheduled ancient monument to reopen under a public /private initiative under the current climate of public spending cuts.

Dunstan, the Westgate Towers' mascot

Museum & Heritage Show May 2011 - Design & Interpretation – That Won’t Cost the Earth

The Enchanted Palace

Presented by Dr Joanna Marschner, Senior Curator, Historic Royal Palaces

Following the death of Princess Margaret, the Queen bequeathed 30 rooms and 3 gardens to Historic Royal Palaces. This meant lots of the valuable paintings and other objects had to be stored away for safe-keeping during the restoration and building works, and only State Apartments remained open, but largely empty. But restoration meant there was an opportunity to install things like a lift and other modern facilities in the palace which had not been possible before (budget £12m).

Main assets were felt to be the local community, the workforce and the collections. Because of the nature of the ongoing work, a route around the museum would change over the period of the restoration, so they decided to work with that, and look for something that would make this unimportant.

Dr Marschner discovered a company based in Cornwall, Wildworks, who she worked with to create a magical transformation. From their website, here:

“Independent charity Historic Royal Palaces is undertaking a £12 million major project called 'Welcome to Kensington – a palace for everyone' to transform and re-present Kensington Palace by 2012.


While this work is being carried out, the charity has invited us to cast a WILDWORKS spell over the palace, creating a mysterious and atmospheric world for visitors to explore, and bringing the hidden stories of the historic royal residence dramatically to life.


In the sumptuous State Apartments, leading fashion designers Vivienne Westwood, William Tempest, Stephen Jones, Boudicca, Aminaka Wilmont and illustrator / set designer Echo Morgan, will each create spectacular installations in collaboration with WILDWORKS artists, taking inspiration from Kensington Palace and the princesses who once lived there - Mary, Anne, Caroline, Charlotte, Victoria, Margaret and Diana.”

They discovered that the room warders were a wonderful resource, mostly desperate (46 out of 50 staff) to talk to visitors. Two or three professional actors worked with the front of house team, along with range of artists and designers on the project. FOH team (no w called Expert Explainers) were involved from the beginning, given voice coaching, acting training and all the palace community were involved in making things, and telling stories. Audio guides are now not used, as staff are highly motivated and involved, and have blossomed as lots of hidden talents emerged.

This approach has broken all targets, with significant audiences of 24-34 yrs, those families with young children, and other groups who never normally visit – ie has reached out to more audiences than before. Have been open in the evening for first time, getting 700 people (this year on 3 Fridays in May, June, July and Peter the Wild Boy’s Ball in August).

Response from visitors has been polarized with 83% saying they really like it, 7% really didn’t like it, and 10% thinking it was ok. From 2012 she said it won’t be exactly the same, but they won’t revert to how it was before – will try to find out more.

The ‘Greeters’ have a policy of telling visitors that it will be different from anything they’ve seen before and give them the opportunity to not pay and come in to be disappointed. If a visitor has come to see a particular work of art eg a painting, they can be informed when it is due to be restored in the palace.

Researching, Developing and Marketing Tourism Products

Speakers from Attract can offer the following content for conferences workshops, seminars and academic courses - all tailored to fit the audience

 

1. Tourism - Destination Marketing

 Marketing is one of the core functions of a destination manager. The module provides advice on adopting a strategic approach from the outset i.e. defining the product, market planning and targeting, identifying the right media and implementing campaigns.

 

• A strategic approach to Destination Marketing
• The product or what to take to market, including branding
• Who to target
• Routes to market – or how to reach the visitor
• Marketing to business tourism organisations
• Selecting the media mix
• Case study

 2. Visitor attractions

This module looks at what constitutes an attraction, examines the general principles of developing an attraction, the focus of different kinds of attraction and in particular looks at attractions in the cultural and heritage tourism sector

 

• Defining Cultural and Heritage tourism
• Basic concepts - setting the scene
• Feasibility studies and business planning
• Audience Development Planning
• Interpretation - developing themes and storylines
• Access for all - physical and intellectual
• Operational issues in visitor attractions
• Case study - based on a visit to a local attraction and a workshop

3. Using market research techniques to help make the right decisions

This module looks at gathering and using data on which to make the right strategic decisions and how to use market research to monitor and evaluate performance.

 

• Key elements of a successful research project
• Developing the objectives of the research project
• Primary and secondary research - differences and when to use
• Quantitative and qualitative research – differences and when to use
• Other techniques’ e.g. online, desk research, diaries, workshops, csultation
• Ad hoc and on-going/continuous research
• Evaluation of marketing activity
• Planning and developing a brief
• Case study

 

Somewhere worth leaving home for





Tourism is a key sector of the economy and for private and public sector operators, developers and investors it offers both opportunities and challenges.

New developments require careful market research and considered strategic planning. The viability of new leisure and tourism projects must be rigorously tested and there has to be a detailed appreciation of market conditions and of the planning and development contexts for all development. The constant theme that characterises the sector is the need to attract customers, maximise repeat visits and purchases and maintain or improve competitive positions.

Unfortunately, strategic planning for visitor attractions often has rather disjointed beginnings and issues of “secondary” importance, such as access, buildings, design and detailed planning frequently dominate discussion. However, the fundamental questions to be addressed are: “How will this visitor attraction work as a consumer proposition?” and “How can it be branded for success?”

Creating a visitor attraction that is sufficiently strong, differentiated and marketable is, in the long term, even more important than the key “front-end” questions of funding, investors and capital needs. It is not investors and public funding authorities who sustain a profitable operation but consumers. The return on investment depends ultimately not on buildings, but on individuals, seeking a visitor attraction experience.

A visitor attraction can be defined as “somewhere worth leaving home for”, and this is as relevant to a single museum or cathedral as it is to a tourist area or town. People make visitor attractions – the people who conceive them, the people who develop them, the people who manage them, but above all the people who visit.

In a successful attraction, the product on offer is the experience itself. Committing time to that experience must be rewarding for the individual; spending money on that experience must be worthwhile. In the experience economy, visitor attractions must constantly "reinvent" themselves to encourage repeat visits and survive. This economy of experience is about quality, service and choice – it is not about size. The successful product is about expectations, experiences and memories for individual consumers.

Ultimately, it is people that make visitor attractions successful, not buildings and infrastructure. Visitor attraction developers, owners and managers must always hold the consumer proposition and the visitor attraction brand firmly in mind when undertaking strategic planning.

Networking for Visitor Attractions - Group on LinkedIn

Visitor attractions have many common themes. problems and opportunities whether they are large or small, museums, theme parks, castles or heritage centres. The Visitor Attractions Group is a group for operators and suppliers of goods and services to share ideas, experiences and advice - joining as a LinkedIn member lets you share in discussions, networking and job opportunities.

Adam & Joe Henson at Cotswold Farm Park

Adam & Joe Henson at Cotswold Farm Park, a photo by Attract Marketing on Flickr.

We have just set up a flickr group for Adam Henson's Cotswold Farm Park and also loaded pictures onto Attract's own flickr site. Yet another simple and cost effective way to provide inbound links and raise profile. All you need is some good photographs and a bit of time. The Cotswold Farm Park was set up by Joe Henson a pioneer of rare breed conservation, on Bemborough Farm, Guiting Power, near Kineton, Gloucestershire in 1971. The CFP is now a leading rare breeds tourist attraction attracting many visitors young and old and is now run by his son Adam Henson of BBC Countryfile  fame and his business partner Duncan Andrews.

Recent projects by Attract Marketing

Feasibility Study and Business Plan for the Pembroke Dock Sunderland Trust
Development Plan and Business Plan for the Charles Dickens House Museum Broadstairs for Thanet District Council

Feasibility Study and marketing/business plan for New College Nottingham (Adams Enterprises) for developing weekend breaks with leisure, arts and crafts themes and thus creating new revenue streams. Now trading as artspaceworkshops offering contemporary creative workshops 'in a relaxed social setting'

Competitor analysis and market research on the events and weddings market for the owner of 19th century mansion in Derbyshire

"How do visitors find out about you?"

Things are changing for promoting visitor attractions and tourism businesses. Is it advertising, recommendation, word of mouth, leaflets, social networking, signs, Twitter, TV, radio etc? To find out more join the professionals networking site LinkedIn and see the discussion in the Visitor Attractions Group at http://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=1945560&trk=anet_ug_hm

Using blogs for marketing and site optimisation

Last year Nick Booker of Attract Marketing provided marketing advice and support for three privately owned historic houses including The West Wing Abbey Manor at Evesham, Worcestershire. The West Wing does stylish country house bed and breakfast and as part of the effort to increase bookings built a blog that is effectively an additional web site at http://westwingabbeymanor.blogspot.com/. Nick has been tweaking the content over the last few months and the site also has in bound links from Flickr and Youtube - it's featured on both sites - as well as other relevant sites . Put 'bed breakfast Evesham' into Google now and its on the first page. In fact it beats West Wing's own site at http://www.abbey-manor.co.uk that's handled by another organisation.

It goes to show that low cost routes to market work - the next step is to get the owners of West Wing to use Twitter and start Twittering.

using Google Adwords to attract more visitors

If you are contemplating using Google Adwords have a look at http://www.ultramarketing.co.uk/using-google-adwords-effectively-advice-from-experts-on-linkedin/ before you do so. At the Ultra Marketing web site there are comments gathered from the many experts on LinkedIn on how and how not to use Google Adwords effectively. The moral is - make sure your web site is fully optimised and WG3 compliant before you do so. It's easy to rack up spend on Adwords without any gathering any effective contribution to the bottom line. But have a read - there's some good stuff there.