England marketing campaign welcomed
Destination management consultant Ken Male hails the arrival of a domestic marketing campaign, but warns that brand building for England will take time.
“After years of pleading from the tourism industry the Government finally accepted the need for marketing England to the domestic market. This role was established with the amalgamation of the British Tourist Authority and the English Tourism Council to form VisitBritain.
“This happened in April and a spring campaign was hurriedly put together with support from commercial partners especially the Regional Development Agencies. Part two is now underway with a campaign started this month, led by TV advertising, promoting autumn breaks in England to the residents of the U.K.
“The Treasury measures the success of the activity by the participation of the private sector but there are times when the brand awareness work will need to be a national cost, improving the overall image, without immediately providing a call to action for booking.
“Having been away from the market for so long let us hope that the Treasury will be patient and look at the bigger picture needing to build the brand from which the private operators will benefit. They will then show their support by separate but associated advertising.
“This is a clear area when it is important not to be the one who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.
“Brand building takes time and money and the benefits will come to all the stakeholders in the industry even if some are a little slow in coming to the party.
“The full marketing strategy will be published in October following consultation with ministers this month. There are bound to be areas of discussion on prioritisation of the markets but at least there is, at last, a marketing activity at the national level.”
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