JBP's Amanda Thurston and Kathryn Williams at the Royal Bath & West Show 2010
Driving visitor numbers
The demise of The Royal Show in 2009 created an opportunity for the Bath & West to become the country’s leading agricultural show. JBP created and delivered an integrated campaign that helped the Bath & West achieve their desired increase in visitor numbers.
Activity
Positioning the show as more than just an agricultural show, JBP created a targeted programme of activity designed to generate exposure of the wide range of activities and features available at the show. The focus was predominantly on three specific target audience groups: 1) family, 2) food lovers and 3) the equine, canine and country set.
At the core of the campaign were two creative initiatives: the show’s first ever Ladies Day and ‘glutton for nourishment’ – a competition designed to appoint an official food taster for the show. Activity highlights included a bidding war between Vogue and Grazia to run an exclusive competition promoting Alice Temperley’s involvement in Ladies Day, brokering an exclusive deal with The Lady to sell a VIP package to its readers and capturing the imagination of the influential food blogger community which helped generate in excess of 100 quality applications for the food taster job.
Recognising that media coverage alone would not sell tickets, JBP also brokered strategic partnerships with 11 organisations or media groups. The most high profile partnership was with the Daily Telegraph. The advertising value alone of this deal was worth £40,000 without taking into consideration the audience reach and the ticket sales generated as a result. Other alliances include The Young Farmers Clubs and The Pony Club.
Social media also played a crucial role, helping the Bath & West reach out to a new audience. Facebook and Twitter presences were created and managed by JBP, resulting in a dedicated following of more than 1,000.
Results
- Media coverage reach of more than 12 million people
- Total PR value (of media coverage) in excess of £110,000
- New contacts and partnerships for Bath & West
- Return of investment (of media coverage) of 3:1