Place Marketing – review of Paisley
Renfrewshire Council · 18 September 2024
Back to Leadership Board — 18 September 2024 and its agenda
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To: Leadership Board On: 18 September 2024 Report by: Chief Executive Heading: Place Marketing – review of Paisley 1. Summary 1.1 This report provides members with the findings of an independent evaluation of Paisley, the brand developed by Renfrewshire Council in response to Paisley: The Untold Story and launched in March 2018. The brand was a critical element of Paisley’s UK City of Culture bid and fulfilled a commitment, led by the council, to change perceptions of Paisley and significantly increase visitor numbers in the lead up to, during and after a UK City of Culture year. 1.2 The development of a town brand and publicity strategy were also deemed crucial tools to re-position Paisley more positively in the eyes of the media and to encourage visits to the town during the closure of its main cultural venues, helping to build new audiences and confidence in the town’s offer, ahead of venues reopening. 1.3 The brand was to be combined with a new council event (and event bidding) strategy, to encourage people to think differently about the town and to sample Paisley in different ways. Brand activity has been led by the council’s marketing and design team. 1.4 Since launch, and with a budget of £460,852 over the past six years, Paisley has generated more than 1.5 billion opportunities to see and hear (OTSH) positive things about Renfrewshire and delivered annual visitor campaigns across Scotland, supported by VisitScotland. 1.5 Paisley was part funded by Future Paisley until April 2024, enabling place marketing activity, visitor campaigns and visitor materials which have contributed to the programme’s step change – Radically change Paisley’s image and reputation in Scotland, the UK and Internationally. 1.6 As part of the final evaluation of Future Paisley and in response to Elected Member feedback regarding the positioning of Renfrewshire in future place marketing, an evaluation and separate independent review of brand activity and impact were undertaken.
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1.7 The evaluation of brand and campaign performance over a five-year period was completed and verified by the Centre of Culture Sport and Events as part of the evaluation of Future Paisley and was reported to the Future Paisley Partnership Board in December 2023. Additionally, an independent evaluation by Mypraxis LLP was commissioned in early 2024 to review the impact of the place marketing activity, provide the opportunity for Elected Member feedback and test stakeholder perceptions. This review provided evidence to consider more fully the impact of Paisley and its contribution to changing perceptions of the town and to what extent its original objectives have been achieved. The evaluation and review also considered the end of Future Paisley funding and the impact of this on campaign delivery. 1.8 The evaluation and independent review are included in Appendices 1 and 2. These have informed recommendations for how the Council might approach the marketing of Renfrewshire as a place to live, work and visit in future while supporting the Council Plan’s priority to position Renfrewshire as a destination of choice, through visitor and investor marketing and major events and building on cultural infrastructure investment. 2. Recommendations 2.1 Members are asked to agree that based on the evaluation and review findings, officers from marketing and communications will work with council colleagues and partners to explore six areas of activity and how this might be delivered in future: 1. To provide a Renfrewshire perspective, redevelop the Visit channel of Paisley.is to create visitpaisleyandrenfrewshire – a website to provide traditional visitor information on accommodation and attractions and information on getting to (and around) Renfrewshire. Marketing and Communications will lead work with Economy and Development to develop a plan for this transition. Due to the end of Future Paisley funding, management of the visitor site will require resource to be identified and future visitor campaigns will be required to be fully funded and resourced. 2. To provide specific focus on investor marketing, review and redesign the InvestRenfewshire website, managed by Economy and Development, to become the single online resource for information required by prospective investors and business relocators and the main call to action for inward investment marketing. Invest content currently contained within Paisley will be integrated with InvestRenfrewshire. The design of InvestRenfrewshire will align with the look and feel of Paisley. 3. Through Marketing and Communications, continue the drive to change perceptions of Paisley and support the culmination of a programme of significant regeneration and cultural investment, using Paisley as a campaigning tool within the council’s portfolio, to promote specific Paisley campaigns that have national profile. 4. Through Marketing and Communications and with place partners, establish a formal Renfrewshire marketing group which will have the remit to explore joint marketing opportunities and increase collaboration with place partners in Renfrewshire. This will create opportunities to identify funding for future campaigns and will provide access to new audience channels.
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5. Through the Economy and Development service and with place partners, scope a new data ‘dashboard’ which will provide insight and intelligence across culture, tourism and leisure in Renfrewshire to supplement marketing information and provide data to help support business growth/product development as well as monitoring performance of the Tourism Action Plan. 6. Through the Events Service, undertake engagement on the council’s future events strategy to enable the development of a sustainable events programme that continues to contribute to Renfrewshire’s visitor offer. 3. Background 3.1 Launched in 2018, Paisley was created as a response to Paisley: The Untold Story which promised a town brand and publicity strategy for Paisley and was an action in Paisley’s bid to be UK City of Culture in 2021. It has played an important role in helping the council achieve its council plan objectives by positioning Renfrewshire as a destination of choice. 3.2 The brand was created with people in Paisley and Renfrewshire to help transform the image of the town and to share a new story, fuelled by new investment and cultural regeneration. It was an important tool to transform perceptions of Paisley by challenging outdated perceptions, changing the national media narrative and telling people compelling stories about the town to encourage them to visit and relocate. 3.3 The development of the brand involved 10 months of research, interviews with area stakeholders, including tourism businesses, VisitScotland and Glasgow International Airport, and the activation of a digital conversation ‘What’s our Story’ – a far-reaching engagement campaign. Conversations took place with communities and place leaders across Renfrewshire and drew on their expertise and experience. The brand campaign was driven locally by the Paisley Daily Express and by media across the UK to maximise awareness and coverage. Over a thousand people contributed ideas, stories, images, videos, music and poems and the campaign reached hundreds of thousands on social media. The research findings confirmed overwhelming support from key stakeholders, partners, and local people to lead with Paisley as the recognised brand, given its profile and location as a main transport hub. This approach was endorsed by VisitScotland, and permission was granted by the national agency to enable the Council to undertake visitor marketing. This signaled a partnership with VisitScotland which has lasted for 6 years. 3.4 www.paisley.is provides a comprehensive online resource with information on living, working and visiting Paisley and Renfrewshire. The website provides place inspiration and comprehensive information for visitors and local people such as itineraries, walking routes, blog posts, event listings, maps, historical information, family days out ideas and microadventures. It has received more than 2.6 million views to date. Social media has played an important role in reaching new audiences and encouraging them to find out more about Paisley and Renfrewshire. This was achieved by creating weekly content that resonates with a variety of local and external audiences, developing local advocates through Instagram, sharing news about major events and place developments, and using paid-for social media campaigns to support always-on place messaging. The marketing of the council’s major events has been an important driver of traffic to the website.
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3.5 While the original ambition was to develop place marketing more broadly, there was early emphasis on attracting visitors and maintaining visitor interest in Paisley and wider Renfrewshire during the closure of the town’s main attractions. VisitScotland audiences were adopted and matched to Renfrewshire’s visitor product and these propositions were used to plan annual campaign activity. Campaigns were delivered both regionally and nationally, showcasing the brand and hero photography on high- impact sites across central Scotland. Marketing materials were developed to enable Paisley and Renfrewshire’s offer to be promoted across Scotland for the first time. 3.6 A publicity strategy was developed and has driven PR partnerships, close working with international journalists and influencers and media familiarisation trips to local events and attractions. This approach has successfully generated more than 1.5 billion positive opportunities to see and hear (OTSH) about Paisley in the media, building on an annual OTSH figure of 15 million in 2015. The brand supports major events and has supported the Royal National Mòd, Paisley Food & Drink Festival and the award-winning Paisley Halloween Festival. 3.7 Several new visitor products were developed under the brand including the growth of events such as Paisley Halloween Festival and Paisley Food and Drink Festival, new cultural programming and a series of tours and trails that capitalised on Paisley’s built environment. Paisley has consistently promoted a different perspective of Paisley to an external audience and simultaneously raised the profile of the wider region in the eyes of local people, ensuring Renfrewshire residents are aware of the variety of attractions and activities on their doorstep. Brand campaigns in 2021-22, funded by VisitScotland targeted residents through the pandemic and helped to drive strong tourism recovery. The impact is evidenced through independent visitor research from the Moffat Centre’s Visitor Attraction Monitor, which reported an increase in visits to Paisley attractions of 237.6% in 2022, year-to-date compared to August 2021 and an increase in visits of 6.7% in August alone, compared with the previous year. STP hotel occupancy data highlighted an increase in hotel occupancy from 59% in July 21 to 91% in July 22 (further detail can be found on page 42 and 43 of Appendix 1). 3.8 High-level performance of Paisley activity has been reported through the Council Plan, the Marketing and Communications service plan and through the evaluation of Future Paisley. The key statistics provided below pulls together the key performance metrics of the activity since its launch in March 2018. This includes social media, PR and website activity across the six years from 2018 – 2024. Activity Cumulative 6-year total PR/Media coverage – Positive opportunities to see and hear 1.5bn (1,487,597,516) Social media reach and impressions 17.7m (17,718,378) Social media engagement 1.2m (1,221,291) Website – page views 2.6m (2,625,991) Website – Unique page views 2m (1,939,118) Website – users 1.4m (1,420,339) A detailed breakdown of marketing activity and performance information from each year can be found in Appendix 1.
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3.9 The completion of the evaluation in 2023 highlighted some operational challenges facing ongoing delivery of Paisley activity, which would need to be addressed if activity was to continue: • Renfrewshire/Paisley – the perception from some stakeholders that the brand Paisley inherently excluded the wider offer available across Renfrewshire. • Limited resource – previous savings and the end of Future Paisley funding leading to a reduction in marketing activity. • Limited buy-in from local place partners to use and support the brand, viewing Paisley as a council brand. • The need to consider how to develop the brand to reach an investor/relocator audience, as well as visitors. • The requirement to align to the tourism action plan more closely. 4. Evaluation and Review 4.0 To build on the evaluation of marketing data and to provide additional insight and recommendations, an independent review of Paisley was conducted by Mypraxis LLP in March 2024. The scope of the commission included recommendations for brand development and a future model to help drive visitor marketing. The project scope also included an appraisal of Paisley, given the operating challenges set out above, testing the brand model with key stakeholders to establish if Paisley continued to resonate, the identification of gaps, strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement and a brand audit. 4.1 The project methodology included: • Research/preparation – a thorough review of all relevant research, KPI data and policies and other sources of statistical information to build a picture of what the branding work had achieved and what impact it has had on the visitor economy. • Consultation – This included 35 face-to-face interviews with Renfrewshire’s political, economic, educational, cultural and industry leaders to draw on their expertise and experience to understand the impact of Paisley and to help shape the future of the brand. All elected members were invited to complete an online questionnaire with 14 councillors taking part in the survey. In addition to this, 32 stakeholders and partners completed an online questionnaire to ensure appropriate representation locally, regionally and nationally. • Analysis – this included SWOT analysis, review of qualitative and quantitative research and assessment of the branding work to date. 4.2 Following the review, several conclusions and recommendations were drawn and presented to the council team, summarised below. This has informed future actions set out in this report: • The Paisley brand has unquestionably contributed significantly to the improved image and perception of Paisley/Renfrewshire. • Paisley most significant strength is as a campaigning brand.
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• The Paisley brand enjoys a good level of support for those based in Paisley but lacks support from some people in Renfrewshire who don’t live or work in the town. • The brand landscape in Renfrewshire might be confusing to the consumer with lots of organisations operating in the same space and with several sources of What’s On information, all differing in quality. Whilst this is the situation in all cities and regions, there is an opportunity to consolidate in future. • The Paisley website was developed to reach different audiences but has suffered from having to be ‘all things to all people’. The Paisley brand should not be diluted by doubling up as the inward investment brand for Renfrewshire. • The chance should be taken to better align between the new tourism strategy and the future development of visitor marketing. • The promotion of Paisley as a brand is not yet embedded into the fabric of Renfrewshire and has depended on bespoke marketing campaigns with modest budgets. Sustained investment would be needed to address this. • There could be significant benefits to move away from the council being seen as the main driver of visitor marketing, and to find new ways to collaborate with partners to promote Renfrewshire. • From marketing data to sales data, the emphasis needs now to change. There is solid evidence that Paisley has achieved significant reach, but economic development data now needs to be the focus. 4.3 The recommendations outlined in the Review are intended to be flexible and delivered over time, acknowledging the reduction in resource, and recognising the strong foundations already set. The intention is to progress place marketing from ambition and delivery to long-term performance. Appendix 2 provides the completed Review and its findings. 4.4 The evaluation and review of the brand recognises that most place brands require ten years to become established and to determine success or otherwise, Paisley has had just six years to demonstrate impact and is now at the end of its funding. The evaluation of activity and independent review provide compelling evidence that the original objective – to develop a town brand and publicity strategy to change negative perceptions of Paisley, has been delivered, but that this work should continue to realise sustainable image change. The way in which Paisley is reported on a national stage has been transformed through its cultural regeneration, events strategy and programming and the significant work undertaken to engage the media, individual journalists, influencers, and wider peers. The town is regularly positioned as ‘a place to watch’ for other towns and cities embarking on regeneration and this should be maintained. 4.5 A further brand objective was to build confidence in Paisley as a destination and help develop new audiences ahead of the reopening of new venues. There is evidence to show that Paisley visitor campaigns and event marketing have positioned Paisley positively and front of mind for visitors and as a result, the town has been able to maintain visitor numbers, despite several main attractions being closed. This has created a strong platform on which marketing and programming of new venues, including Paisley Museum, can take place, but to ensure the maximum benefit, commitment to continue to invest in those areas will be required.
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4.6 Given the success of the brand in achieving its main objectives, and to ensure a sustainable approach to visitor marketing and tourism development, pivoting to visitpaisleyandrenfrewshire could be a positive future step and will align to the council’s agreed tourism action plan and the establishment of a new tourism leadership group and a tourism industry network. Both will be investigated further by Economy and Development. Ongoing success will require new resource to be identified, diversification and improved partnerships, building on the strong foundations and campaigning delivered by Paisley, which remains an important lever for image change for the town. 4.7 The reopening of Paisley Museum presents an opportunity for collaboration and a marketing opportunity for the wider region and tourism partners. With that in mind, the intention would be to develop the actions outlined in the report, to align with that timeline. Implications of the Report 1. Financial – None 2. HR & Organisational Development – None 3. Community/Council Planning – Reshaping our place, our economy and our future – The Recommendations provided within the report set out options to deliver against the Council Plan and continue to position Renfrewshire is a great place to grow up, it's a place of opportunity for those that live and work here, and it's a brilliant place for a day out. 4. Legal – None 5. Property/Assets - None 6. Information Technology – None. The technical resource required to support visitpaisleyandrenfrewshire is already in place through a previous procurement exercise that was supported by ICT. 7. Equality & Human Rights – An EQIA is not required at this stage. 8. Health & Safety – None 9. Procurement – None 10. Risk – None 11. Privacy Impact – None 12. Climate Risk – Not applicable 13. Children’s Rights – Not applicable 14. Cosla Policy Position – Not applicable Author: Louisa Mahon, Head of Marketing and Communications louisa.mahon@renfrewshire.gov.uk
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Marketing Report � 2018–24
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Paisley
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Join us for a look-back at Paisley marketing activity undertaken as part of the evaluation of Future Paisley and supported by the Centre for Culture, Sport and Events. This report shows the journey we have been on to positively change Paisley’s image and reputation in Scotland, the UK and Internationally. � 1
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Paisley There is probably no more unjustly neglected town in these islands; there is nowhere of comparable size—77,000 people—that has such a rich architectural, industrial and social history and that once mattered so much to the world. � Ian Jack The Guardian 2015
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Launched in 2018, Paisley was created as a response to Paisley: The Untold Story which promised a town brand and publicity strategy for Paisley and was an action in Paisley’s bid to be UK City of Culture in 2021. It plays an important role in helping the council achieve its council plan objectives by positioning Renfrewshire as a destination of choice. The brand was created with people in Paisley and Renfrewshire, to help transform the image of the town and to share a new story, fuelled by new investment and cultural regeneration. We wanted to challenge outdated perceptions, change the national media narrative and tell people compelling stories about our place to encourage them to come and see us. Paisley sought to create a digital heartbeat for the area, drive place marketing, harness support from key partners, promote events, and reveal untold stories to both a regional and national audience. We’ve been sharing a new story through Paisley for more than six years. And we’ve done this in lots of different ways. Our website—www.paisley.is—has been a valuable source of visitor inspiration since its inception. Home to itineraries, walking routes, blog posts, event listings, maps, historical information, family days out ideas and microadventures, it has received more than 2.6 million views to date. We’ve nurtured successful social media channels by creating content that resonates with our audiences. We’ve got to know local advocates through Instagram, shared our major events news on Facebook and used paid-for social media ads to support our always-on destination messaging. We’ve activated campaigns both regionally and nationally, showcasing our brand and hero photography on trains, taxis and billboards. We’ve worked with PR partners, international journalists and influencers, facilitated familiarisation trips to our attractions and successfully generated more than 1.5bn positive opportunities to see and hear about Paisley and Renfrewshire in the media. We’ve been there at all of our major events. We’ve supported the Royal National Mòd, Paisley Food & Drink Festival and the award-winning Paisley Halloween Festival. And lastly, we’ve not done any of this alone. This work has been supported by national agencies and key stakeholders. Follow our journey over the years by watching our brand story. Summary � 3
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Paisley Each year we’ve captured the high-level performance of Paisley activity and reported progress through our service plan and through the evaluation of Future Paisley. We've pulled together the key performance metrics of the activity since its launch in March 2018. This includes social media, PR and website activity across the six years from 2018 – 2024. See page 45 for activity breakdowns per year.
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Six-year performance at-a-glance Activity Cumulative 6-year total PR/Media coverage—positive opportunities to see and hear 1.5bn (1,487,597,516) Social media reach and impressions 17.7m (17,718,378) Social media engagement 1.2m (1,221,291) Website—page views 2.6m (2,625, 991) Website—unique page views 2m (1,939,118) Website—users 1.4m (1,420,339) � 5
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Paisley Paisley was launched in March 2018 to change perceptions of Paisley through storytelling and to position the town as the visitor gateway to wider Renfrewshire. It responded to a requirement for a marketing strategy for the town and to establish a new brand identity, deliver a ‘What’s On in Paisley’ function, build visitor events and encourage people to discover Renfrewshire. The brand was developed following 10 months of research, interviews with area stakeholders, including business leaders, Scottish Enterprise, VisitScotland and Glasgow International Airport, and the activation of a digital conversation ‘What’s our Story’—a far-reaching community engagement campaign. Conversations took place with communities and leaders across Renfrewshire and drew on their expertise and experience. The engagement was driven locally by the Paisley Daily Express and by media across the UK to maximise awareness and coverage. Over a thousand people contributed ideas, stories, images, videos, music and poems and the campaign reached hundreds of thousands on social media. The finalised brand Paisley was endorsed by VisitScotland, and permission was granted to enable the Council to undertake visitor marketing. This signalled a partnership with VisitScotland which has lasted more than six years. The research findings outlined overwhelming support from key stakeholders, partners, and local people for a Paisley brand, given its profile and location as a hub for Renfrewshire and the rest of Scotland. Background It is fantastic to see Paisley’s tourism transformation continue with the launch of this new brand and website. The town is home to popular attractions, such as Paisley Abbey, Paisley Museum, Coats Observatory and the Sma’ Shot Cottages; a rich and fascinating creative history and a packed programme of exciting events. The 2021 UK City of Culture bid was an important part of the journey to raise global awareness of Paisley’s internationally significant heritage. The new Paisley website continues this effort, sharing Paisley’s story with visitors old and new. Tourism is a vital part of the local economy, creating jobs and sustaining communities. � Malcolm Roughead, VisitScotland Chief Executive 2018 6 �
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Marketing and brand activity has been funded since 2018 through the Future Paisley programme, with the programme and funding coming to an end in April 2024. This activity has contributed to several strategic outcomes: � Paisley: The Untold Story (2014) � Renfrewshire’s Visitor Strategy 2017 to 2021 � Renfrewshire Council Plan (2017 to 2022) —Reshaping our place, our economy and our future. � Renfrewshire Council Plan (2022 to 2027) —Place: working together to enhance wellbeing across communities. � Future Paisley Step Change 1—Radically change Paisley’s image and reputation, and three Strategic Outcomes: 1. Increased civic pride 2. Paisley positioned as a destination of choice 3. More people visit Renfrewshire attractions and events Strategic alignment Development of Paisley was a response to Paisley: The Untold story and a critical element of Paisley’s UK City of Culture 2021 bid. It fulfilled a commitment, led by the Council, to change perceptions of Paisley and significantly increase visitor numbers in the lead up to and during a UK City of Culture year. It was deemed an important tool to re-position Paisley in the eyes of the media and to encourage visits to the town during the closure of its main cultural venues, building new audiences and confidence in the town’s offer ahead of venues reopening. The brand was to be combined with a new event (and event bidding) strategy, to encourage people to think differently about the town and to sample Paisley in different ways. Several new products were developed—major outdoor events such as Paisley Halloween Festival and Paisley Food & Drink Festival, new cultural programming and a series of tours and trails that capitalised on Paisley’s built environment. Paisley has consistently promoted a different perspective of Paisley and raised the profile of the wider region for visitors. Campaigns targeted local people during the pandemic and encouraged residents to take advantage of the attractions and activities on their doorstep. Why develop a brand for Paisley? � 7
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Paisley Paisley activity was funded by an assigned Council budget and Future Paisley funding. The total budget investment in Paisley since 2018 is £460,852. This includes £124,300 Future Paisley funding and a funding award of £56,000 from VisitScotland in 21/22. The planning, development and implementation of Paisley activity has been delivered by the Council’s in-house marketing and design team. This portfolio of work has been subsumed alongside corporate marketing and design activity, with temporary uplift to two existing, junior posts to enable increased focus on media engagement and digital content. Investment in Paisley In-house marketing and design team
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Investment in Paisley As work continued to engage national media and influencers to change the narrative about Paisley, we also turned our attention to encouraging more visitors to rediscover wider Renfrewshire. Our key aims were to: � Raise the profile of Paisley and Renfrewshire as a place to visit— showcasing attractions, things to do and places of outstanding beauty. � Position Paisley and Renfrewshire as a destination of choice for day-visitors —conveying the ease of visiting the region and the diversity of days out on offer. The launch of the area’s first ever visitor guide through www.paisley.is provides a one-stop-shop for visitor information and covers all of Renfrewshire. Positioning Paisley as a gateway to towns and villages across the region, we promote outdoor pursuits and leisure attractions, cultural and heritage attractions and events. All towns and villages are promoted, with trip inspiration, itineraries and recommendations from local people. Since 2018, there has been a consistent approach for visitor marketing which has focussed on four areas: � Brand activation—seasonal visitor campaigns, production of marketing materials and visitor guides, promotion of the council’s major events programme, development of audience segments, visitor propositions, brand management and insights for campaign planning. � Transforming perceptions of Paisley —high-impact media campaigns promoting Paisley and Renfrewshire in press, and broadcast media, and facilitating media familiarisation trips. � Management of digital channels— www.paisley.is and dedicated social channels, including content creation and paid-for social media. � Working with partners—VisitScotland, EventScotland and Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce. Visitor marketing Understanding our audiences and developing visitor propositions have been critical to the delivery of successful marketing campaigns. Primary target audiences were people who lived outwith Renfrewshire. VisitScotland audiences (Natural Advocates, Engaged Sightseers, Food Loving Culturalists and Adventure Seekers) and ones developed in-house (Family Favourites and Local Advocates) have been adopted and matched to Renfrewshire’s visitor product to allow the development of our visitor propositions. This was also underpinned by work to understand shifts in consumer behaviour following the pandemic. We have gained a much greater understanding of our audiences, what motivates them and the best way to target and inspire them to visit. Understanding our audiences � 9
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Paisley VisitScotland Audiences Engaged Sightseers Food Loving Culturalists Adventure Seekers Adventure seekers want an active holiday where they can enjoy both outdoor and cultural activities. They are typically under 35 years old and are the most likely to have children. They are thrill seekers and would participate in marathons and extreme races. They also enjoy walking and cultural activities. Destinations that are accessible are important to them. They are more likely than other groups to camp. Food loving culturalists are typically between 25-54 years old, in full time employment and are the most affluent of all the segments. Competition is fierce, so proximity to Glasgow is a key part of the proposition. They seek a relaxing holiday where they can enjoy good food and drink and cultural activities. They want an exclusive experience and will only stay in 4 to 5 star hotels, B&Bs. Engaged sightseers are generally over 55 years old, without kids at home. They are either retired or reaching retirement. They are above average holiday takers, are open to new places in the UK and like to seek out an authentic experience. They are open to trying new things, within acceptable limits. They like to stay in 3 to 4 star hotels, B&Bs and guest houses. Adventure sports. Walking, hill climbing or cycling. Historical places & castles. Film locations. Extreme sporting events. Food & drink experiences. Historical places & castles. Museums & galleries. Special exhibitions. Events & openings Touring & sightseeing. Historical places & monuments. Scenery nature & wildlife. Short walks— not ‘active’ sports. Parks & gardens. Museums & galleries. 1. Outdoor offer 2. Attractions for kids 3. Must-see events 1. Luxury hotels and spas 2. Fascinating history & culture 3. Must-see events 1. Landscape & scenery 2. History & culture 3. New things to discover On holiday they like... Who are they? Why Renfrewshire? 10 �
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Natural Advocates Curious Travellers Family Favourites Local Advocates Local advocates live in Renfrewshire, span across all age brackets, may be single or in a relationship or have children. They fall under one of two categories: 1. Residents who enjoy exploring their home town and willing to experience new adventures. 2. Locals who have friends and family visiting and who are looking for something to do to entertain them. The majority in this group visit Renfrewshire to attend an event. They often go out as a family and enjoy the cinema, live music, eating out and pantomimes. Most are aged 25-44 years and all have children under 15. The decision makers or information gathers are mainly female (70%). Aspiring Homemakers and Family Basics in Mosaic profiling. Curious travellers are aged between 25-44 years old and in full time employment. They have a passion for travel and have cultural hobbies and interests. They also enjoy the outdoors by rambling and short walks. They are interested in Paisley due to its proximity to Glasgow and are likely to have visited similar cities. They will stay in a variety of accommodation including a mix of rural and city. The majority of natural advocates fall into the 35-54 age bracket, are in full time employment and either have children or grandchildren, and a dog. A trip to Scotland is the main holiday of the year for natural advocates unlike the other groups. They enjoy being cut off from the world in wide open spaces and avoid rigid itineraries. Spending time with friends and family. Photography. Architecture. Being outdoors in nature To visit children’s attractions. Free things to do. Go to the cinema. Attend Paisley Town Centre events—Paisley Halloween Festival, Doors Open Day, Sma’ Shot Day, Food and Drink (30% family programming) To pack a lot in. Get off the beaten track. Hiking, rambling or short walks. Try new things. History & culture. Authentic & unique experiances. Rural & remote locations. Scenery & landscapes. Walking, nature & wildlife. Historical monuments. Peace & quiet. Dog-friendly hotels, pubs etc 1. Event offer / day out for kids 2. Family friendly facilities (parking, toilets, affordable food & drink) 3. Free events 1. Unexplored city/town close to Glasgow 2. History & culture 3. Must-see events 1. Gateway to Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park, and the NC500 2. Outdoor offer 3. History & culture 1. Photographic landscapes /Instagram locations 2. Discovering new local places 3. Events: Food & Drink Festival, Doors Open Days and Paisley Halloween Festival � 11
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Paisley Campaign Planning —Visitor Propositions History and Heritage Easy Outdoor Walkable history is strong, but limited in Paisley—Paisley Museum/Secret Collection currently closed. Sma’ Shot Cottages, Threadmill Museum and Heritage Centre. There is a stronger offer outside Paisley, which overlaps strongly with Easy Outdoor. Proposition overview focusing on what is available, our assets and our partners across the area. Target audiences Notes Strength of offer Strong offer. RSPB Lochwinnoch, Castle Semple, Finlaystone, Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park, Gleniffer Braes, Clyde Walkway, Town Centre Trails (Architects/ Mural/Radicals/Music), Komoot Walks, Dog friendly pubs. � Natural Advocates � Engaged Sightseers � Local Advocates � Natural Advocates � Engaged Sightseers � Local Advocates History & Heritage—on pause until Paisley Museum reopens. Double outdoor offer 1a Easy Outdoors 1b Microadventures 12 �
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Luxury golf/spa/food Location Gateway Family Days Out Microadventures Spas: Bowfield, Gleddoch, Mar Hall. Food: Ingliston, award- winning cafés, Coach House, Elderslie Butchers, Café 77. Golf: Mar Hall, award-winning Gleddoch, plus local courses with great reputations. Close to a big city. Links are heavily reliant on industry relationship. This offer is directly about the location of Renfrewshire, rather than specific attractions. We paint a picture of our place and position it as a gateway location to nearby attractions (Loch Lomond & Trossachs, Glasgow City). Our events. Seasonal offerings like fruit and pumpkin picking. Parks, RSPB Lochwinnoch, Castle Semple, Finlaystone, Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park, Gleniffer Braes, Paisley First Town Centre Trails, family friendly walks. Accessible adventures. Barnhill Farm, Adventure Planet, Pandemonium, swimming. Everything from Easy Outdoor, plus; XSite Braehead adventures, national cycle networks, Paisley 10k, Pedal in the Park. Windy hill, dark skies, trail running. Accessible genuine wilderness. � Food Loving Culturalists � Local Advocates � Natural Advocates � Engaged Sightseers � Food Loving Culturalists � Local Advocates � Family Favourites � Local Advocates � Adventure Seekers � Local Advocates Double outdoor offer 1a Easy Outdoors 1b Microadventures Luxury offer A secondary theme that sits alongside all other propositions. Family offer � 13
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Paisley
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The introduction of Paisley enabled the development and launch of a new range of brand assets and marketing materials to promote the area. This includes the creation and production of consumer visitor guides, maps, itineraries, films and assets to support promotional activity and showcase Renfrewshire as a great place to visit. In addition to this, there has been ongoing development of the Paisley brand assets by the in-house design team including the creation of brand guidelines, production of a toolkit and commissioning of hero and location photography. This careful brand management has built a strong, recognisable brand identity through the consistent application of logo, typography, colour, photography and tone of voice across all touchpoints. We’ve tested the awareness of Paisley at visitor events since 2018. The table below shows awareness has steadily increased since launch. Creating a recognisable brand identity Event 2018 2019 2020 2022 2023 Paisley Food & Drink Festival 24% 66% 76% 70% Sma' Shot Day 28% 45% 55% 50% The Spree 49% 53% 66% 56% Paisley Halloween Festival 43% 72% 65% 67% 57% Paisley's Christmas 52% 55% 69% 56% Average 39% 58% 66% 65% 61% � Source: official event evaluation commissions (various suppliers) 2018–2023. The last year of The Spree was 2022. Limitations to budget restricted ongoing investment in permanent Paisley signage locally. A future area of development would be to test the awareness of the brand with local people specifically. This would require significant investment but would provide insight into how effectively the brand has resonated with local people. � 15
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…As soon as we pulled up in the car, the kids were saying wow, this is amazing… We’ve really enjoyed it all, took so many pictures, the kids have had a great time. � Family Favourites at Paisley Halloween Festival
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The creation of marketing materials enabled Paisley and Renfrewshire’s visitor offer to be showcased on a national scale for the first time. Brochures and leaflets were distributed in leisure and visitor attractions across Scotland. Paisley and Renfrewshire were back on the map with a presence in the Glasgow VisitScotland i-centres and advertising features in visitor focused publications such as This is Glasgow and Landmark Press hotel bedroom books. Local distribution focused on event promotion and our collection of trails. Seasonal visitor campaigns have been planned and delivered by the Council’s in-house marketing and design team. You can see an outline of the campaigns implemented in our year-on-year overview from page 45. Putting Paisley and Renfrewshire on the map Annual seasonal visitor campaigns � 17
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Summer campaign School’s out. Picnic packed. Let’s go. Spotlight on Marketing objectives Strategy Audiences A Renfrewshire-wide visitor campaign, funded by Future Paisley, was launched in June 2022 to promote Renfrewshire’s outdoor attractions through the summer. The consumer campaign was developed in-house to highlight must-visit places and hidden gems in Renfrewshire, linked to refreshed web content. Partners and industry also received a toolkit on how to get involved and support the campaign. � Raise awareness of product propositions across Renfrewshire � Easy Outdoor � Microadventure � Family Days Out � Increase web visits to Paisley � Encourage engagement on our social media channels � Encourage support with industry and partners Activate a campaign focused on Family Days Out, Easy Outdoor and Microadventures, to coincide with summer holidays and better weather June to September. � Natural advocates � Engaged sightseers � Adventure seekers � Local advocates � Family favourites Target geographical areas � 1-2 hour geotarget—digital activity � 30–45 mins—out-of-home (surrounding Renfrewshire and rail network) Timing � w/c 27 June—30 September 2022 Campaign development in-house � Audience and visitor offer development � Development of campaign creative and campaign lines � Photography commission and production � Marketing planning and implementation Screen off. Adventure on. Let’s go. Thanks for visiting Castle Semple Country Park today. See where your next day out might take you at 18 �
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Outdoor � Glasgow Airport 48 sheet, 18–31 July � Outdoor Transvision screens at Glasgow Central, 23 June–27 Sept � Glasgow Subway Underground carriage cards, 18 July–14 August � Scotrail passenger panels, 25 July–21 August � Glasgow Subway 18 July–14 August � Inlink screens, Glasgow Argle St, Gordon St, Every Tuesday from 28 June–27 Sept Print � Best of Scotland, 17 July & 18 Sept � Scots Mag, August & Sept � The List, June � Renfrewshire Chamber Magazine � Mill Magazine Digital � The List, July � What’s On Network, July & August � Google PPC, July to September � InVibes & Native ads, 4 July–21 Aug � Glasgow Live Native article, 4 July–30 Sept � YouTube, July / August / September Radio � Clyde 1, 4–17 July � Content refresh on www.paisley.is � Proposition landing pages created: � Easy Outdoor � Family Days Out � Microadventures � New pages promoted via organic/ paid social & Google pay-per-click (PPC) advertising � Creation of blogs � Refresh of content on What's On � User-generated content � Refresh of Walking Trail around Paisley and Renfrewshire � Poster campaign around Renfrewshire and Glasgow � VisitScotland � Destination funding (£56K)— Paisley Calling campaign activated in December until end of September to promote Paisley Town Centre and the Paisley Calling film. � Endorsed by VisitScotland team and shared with industry team � Local media and community � Paisley.org—sponsored posts � Mill Magazine partnership special edition / sponsored content / feature development � Facebook community groups � Digital toolkit on www.paisley.is and sent to stakeholders, partners, industry and elected members Campaign evaluation was informed by the Moffat Centre’s Visitor Attraction Monitor (August 2022) which showed an increase in visits to Renfrewshire attractions of 1.8% compared to August 2021, with a Scotpulse survey commission reporting 46% of adults in West/Central of Scotland stating they are likely to visit Renfrewshire in the coming year, with families with children and 35–44-year-olds most likely to visit. Editorial calendar developed to promote new pages on www.paisley.is � Paid-for social ads in addition to organic content – specifically promoting the key propositions and targeting our visitor audiences � 'Be a tourist in your own town' —call out for things to do / places to visit/ explore on social media —highlighting Renfrewshire- wide activities—owned and local community groups � Visit Scotland promotion of Paisley Calling film Paid-for media Digital content Print Stakeholders and partners Visitor data Paisley social Campaign results 5.1 million paid-for OTSH summer campaign messaging 57,000 website page views (campaign pages and blogs) +120% increase in views of Visit section compared to 2019 and Homepage +61% compared to 2019 Facebook Reach (organic): 37,485 Reach (paid): 39,917 Engagements: 1,063 Twitter Impressions: 13,395 Engagements: 659 Instagram Reach: 6,408 Engagements: 340 Council Facebook Reach: 14,172 Engagements: 148 Totals: 111,377 Reach/Impressions 2,210 Engagements across channels � 19
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Paisley ...I’m looking for the history, the culture, the scenery, walking, hiking, looking at old buildings…” � Family Favourites 20 �
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In addition to visitor marketing, we’ve also supported the development of new products: � Supported by Digital Tourism Scotland, we developed and launched the ‘Wallace Begins’ trail—a self-guided driving tour, promoted in partnership with VisitScotland and linking the Wallace Monument in Elderslie to the National Monument in Stirling and Dumbarton Castle. � Collaboration with international fashion house Hermès in 2019 which produced a ‘Paisley from Paisley’ scarf and jewellery collection. This was sold worldwide and generated significant media coverage for Paisley Museum. � Other visitor products include Abbey Drain VR tour, Paisley First Mural Trail collaboration and three new town trails, supported by external funding: Four Architects Tour, Paisley’s Music History Tour and Paisley Radicals: Catalysts for Change walking tour. Developing new products Wallace Begins Paisley’s Music History Audio Walking Trail Four Paisley Architects Walking Trail Paisley Radicals: Catalysts for Change Walking Trail � 21
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Paisley Paisley Launched 11 September 2019 As at 26 February 2020 14,307total page views 10,426 total users � 68% of users aged from 45–65+ years of age Raising awareness of Renfrewshire’s links with Scotland’s national hero ahead of the 25th anniversary of Braveheart in 2020. paisley.is/visit/wallace-begins Wallace Begins Trail Spotlight on Artwork images, clockwise from right: � Paisley Wallace Begins Trail web page, The National Wallace Monument trail web page, ‘The home of Scottish heroes’ leaflet. 22 �
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Four-week Facebook campaign 588,346 impressions 4,002 clicks � Target: Within 2-hour drive time of Renfrewshire. � Engaged Sightseers (Excluding those who like VisitScotland Facebook Page) 16 week search & display campaign running from October 2019–February 2020 �Impressions: 787,971 �Clicks: 9,609 �CTR: 1.22% �CPC: £0.08 VisitScotland digital advertising campaign Google Adwords Campaign � 23
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Paisley Microadventures Microadventures was a new visitor proposition and product for Renfrewshire developed in 2022 to align with Renfrewshire’s Tourism Action Plan 2023–2026. Microadventures are a strong proposition for Renfrewshire’s network of towns and rural locations. Campaign development Overview of activity The development of our Microadventures proposition was inspired by the post-lockdown need to get out into nature in new ways and experience a sense of adventure whilst staying close to home. Over 2021 and 2022, we saw a steady rise in users looking for and accessing outdoors content on the website. This was alongside a noticeable increase of one-day-adventures on social media (particularly Instagram). In early 2022, we saw an increase in people cycling from Glasgow to, or through, Renfrewshire. New groups, such as the Glasgow Pedal Collective were gaining popularity. More people than ever were posting on social media about trail running on the Gleniffer Braes or hiking in Clyde Muirshiel. When looking at the strength of our outdoor attractions, and at how accessible some of our ‘adventures’ are, and wanting to strive to create something inspirational, microadventures was a perfect fit for the brand. All campaign material and content was developed by the Council’s in-house marketing team. � A guide to microadventures in Renfrewshire www.paisley.is/visit/microadventures � Inspiring blog content—five stunning woodlands in Renfrewshire www.paisley.is/visit/five-stunning-woodlands-in-renfrewshire � Easy Cycling—three routes around Renfrewshire www.paisley.is/visit/easy-cycling-three-routes-around-renfrewshire � Paid-for advertising and advertorial—Mill Magazine special features (Microadventuring and Castle Semple) and print and digital advertising package with Scottish Walks and Cycling Magazine. � Series of commissioned content—three adventure blogs written by local writer and adventurer Cam Procter featuring cycling in Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park, Lochwinnoch, Barcraigs Reservoir and the Glennifer Braes and trail running in Johnstone and the Bluebell Woods. � Joy of Cycling film —specially commissioned four-minute film, exploring the joy of cycling and what makes Renfrewshire the perfect place to ride. Spotlight on 24 �
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Microadventures are adventures that are short, simple, local, fun and perspective-shifting Photo: Roxanna Barry, The Joy of Cycling � 25
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Paisley In 2021, we worked with a marketing agency to develop a three-year marketing strategy for Paisley Museum. The contract was managed by the Council’s in-house marketing team and the strategy was approved by the Future Paisley Partnership Board and OneRen Board in 2021. Overarching objectives of the marketing strategy: � Put Paisley Museum on the map and raise awareness of Paisley Museum redevelopment. � Contribute to Paisley destination marketing to grow OTSH (opportunities to see or hear) something positive about Renfrewshire and position Paisley and Renfrewshire as a must-visit destination. � Develop audiences locally, regionally and nationally and build excitement for the opening of the museum . � Encourage people to visit Paisley Museum at launch and increase the number of people who visit across three audience types: local people, day visitors and tourists. � Build relationships with key intermediaries and partners to create brand advocacy. The OneRen marketing team will take forward the evolution, delivery and implementation of the Paisley Museum marketing strategy in preparation for the reopening. Paisley Museum— Marketing strategy development 26 �
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The Council’s major events programme has become a key product to attract visitors and has gained national recognition through media coverage, listings and national awards. Consistent marketing of events has continued to build positive national profile, helped to change perceptions of Paisley (with visitors overwhelmingly rating their experience of the town highly) and brought new audiences to the town. This has maintained and increased visitor numbers to Paisley during the closure of Paisley’s main cultural attractions in recent years. Using insights gathered from event evaluations, we have developed a greater understanding of our audiences and why they visit. Paisley Halloween Festival, The Spree and Paisley Food & Drink Festival were the events most likely to attract people from outwith Renfrewshire. We used this as an opportunity to build visitor interest in the wider offer and develop audiences for Paisley Town Hall, Paisley Arts Centre and Paisley Museum. They also provide a great opportunity to deliver high-impact PR and media activity on a national scale. The event programme is much-loved by Renfrewshire residents and their attendance allows us to reinforce the Paisley brand by converting event attendees to Local Advocates. Sma’ Shot Day, Gala Days, Renfrewshire Doors Open Days and Christmas events are attended largely by local people and play a huge role in increasing civic pride and providing positive social and cultural experiences for residents. These events are particularly important to our Local Advocate and Family Favourites audiences. During the pandemic, Paisley continued to support the delivery of events (Paisley Food & Drink Festival 2021 and Sma’ Shot Day 2021), maintaining Renfrewshire’s place on the event map in Scotland. We helped post-pandemic by assisting with the promotion and delivery of hybrid events, building audience confidence and encouraging people to enjoy physical events. Paisley—event marketing � 27
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Paisley *No events due to pandemic Source: official event evaluation commissions (various suppliers) 2018–2023 Year 1—2018 Year 2—2019 Year 3—2020* Year 4—2021 Year 5—2022 Year 6—2023 Paisley Halloween Festival 189,135 Total attendees 34,000 attendees 38% visitors: North Lanarkshire, Glasgow, Ayrshire, Argyll & Bute £70.12 visitor spend £764,498 direct economic impact £1,963,549 combined economic impact with local spend 41,000 attendees 26% visitors: Glasgow, Ayrshire, Edinburgh £47 visitor spend compared to £28 local £55k direct economic impact £736k combined economic impact with local spend 0 19,135 attendees 18.5% visitors: Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Ayrshire, Inverclyde £32.92 visitor spend per head compared to £23.05 local £111,321 direct economic impact £204,118 combined economic impact with local spend 45,000 attendees 29% visitors: Glasgow, Ayrshire, West Lothian, North Ayrshire, Falkirk Average visitor spend per head £45.35 compared to local of £35.06 £200,692 direct economic impact £1,325,571 combined economic impact with local spend 50,000 attendees 30% visitors: Glasgow Falkirk, Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire £43.15 average visitor spend per head compared to £38.53 local £211,779 direct economic impact £1,556,473 combined economic impact with local spend Paisley Food & Drink Festival 74,250 Total attendees +16,000 online participants 15,000 attendees 26% visitors, mainly Glasgow Region (limited data in report) £43.41 average spend per head £84,624 direct economic impact £480,753 combined economic impact with local spend 19,750 attendees 27% visitors, Glasgow, East Renfrewshire, North Lanarkshire £72.87 visitor spend compared to £53.72 local £328,883 direct economic impact £1,108,175 combined economic impact with local spend 0 16,000 online participants 17,000 attendees 14% visitors: Glasgow, North Lanarkshire, Ayrshire £67.77 visitor spend compared to £57.68 local spend £106,589 direct economic impact £949,258 combined economic impact with local spend 22,500 attendees 18% visitors: Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Ayrshire, Falkirk Average spend per head of visitor £70.14 compared to £63.19 local £219,619 direct economic impact £1.383,654 combined economic impact with local spend Event evaluation (2018–2023) � Direct economic impact—is the total amount of additional expenditure (less event expenditure) generated within a defined area, as a direct consequence of staging an event. � Combined economic impact—is the total of the direct economic impact of the event and total local audience spend (people who live in Renfrewshire) 28 �
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Paisley Halloween Festival Promoting Paisley Halloween Festival has been a significant part of Paisley activity. It provides a platform and national spotlight from which we can boost place reputation and increase the number of visitors to Renfrewshire. The event delivers significant social and cultural impacts— including strengthening the local cultural sector, increasing cultural participation and delivering economic impact and support for local businesses. The impact of the festival has been evaluated through Future Paisley and the Centre for Culture, Sport and Events. An integrated marketing and PR plan supports the successful delivery of the festival. Spotlight on Overall opportunities to see or hear about Paisley Halloween Festival 2021 were more than 18million (18,417,176). 3.1 million marketing opportunities to see or hear (OTSH) (3,165,911) 251,332 organic social media reach 14.9 million media—print, broadcast and online OTSH (14,999,933) Overall opportunities to see or hear about Paisley Halloween Festival 2022 were more than 35million (35,410,575). 20.1 million marketing opportunities to see or hear (OTSH) (20,094,242) 305,262 organic social media reach 15 million media—print, broadcast and online OTSH (15,011,071) Overall opportunities to see or hear about Paisley Halloween Festival 2023 were more than 19 million (19,942,316). 5.6 million marketing opportunities to see or hear (OTSH) (5,616,725) 498,461 organic social media reach 13.7 million media—print, broadcast and online OTSH (13,766,975) Paisley Halloween Festival is an important contributor to the local economy and is hugely supported by local businesses and our cultural community. 2021 2022 2023 � 29
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Paisley The brand has provided opportunities to transform perceptions of Paisley through high-impact media campaigns including press, and broadcast media, and facilitating media familiarisation trips. Media activity has included the events programme, Paisley Museum redevelopment, brand partnerships and showcasing the visitor offer. Since launch, the dedicated team have achieved wide-ranging media coverage positioning Paisley front of mind nationally and locally. Radically changing Paisley’s image and reputation with PR and media activity
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� Paisley pattern collaboration with Hermes: Mail online, The Guardian, Daily Express, I Paper, The Sun, Press and Journal, STV.tv, Sunday Post � Paisley Halloween Festival—Best Halloween festivals: STV broadcast, STV.tv, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, Evening Times, The Herald, The Herald online, The List, Sunday Mail, Glasgow Live, Paisley Daily Express, The Gazette, Yahoo online, Forth 2 Radio, Daily Record online, Metro. � The Mòd coming to Paisley: We Love Stornoway, Oban Times, The Press and Journal online, What’s On Network, Isle of Bute News, The National, The National online, Renfrewshire News, Paisley.org, The Gazette, West Highland Free Press. � Paisley Food & Drink Festival: The Sunday Times, Daily Mail, The Times, The I, Edinburgh Evening News, The Herald, The National, Scots Magazine, The List, Scottish Field, Clyde 1 Radio, Paisley Daily Express, The Gazette, Evening Times, Scotland on Sunday, Scottish Sun online, Great British Life, What’s On Network, Olive online, The Scotsman. � National Manufacturing Institute Scotland: Daily Record online, Paisley.org, The Scotsman online, The National online, Project Scotland, Paisley Daily Express, The National, The Herald online, Renfrewshire News, Manufacturing Management, The Gazette. � Safe-cation—25 top places to go in the UK: Seeded out through Press Association and listed in more than 120 regional titles. � Sma' Shot/Weave: Daily Record, The Big Issue, The Sunday Post, The National, Paisley Daily Express, The Gazette. � British Pipe Band Championships: Daily Record, Scottish Field, Heart Radio, BBC Radio 2, Clyde 1, Heart Scotland, Heart Wales, Glasgow Live. � The Spree: Daily Record, The National, Metro, Sunday Mail � Glen Cinema Disaster 90th Anniversary: Reporting Scotland, BBC Scotland online, STV News, BBC Radio Scotland, Radio Clyde, Global Radio, The Herald, Daily Record, Glasgow Times, Scottish Daily Mail, The National, The Scottish Sun, Paisley Daily Express, The Gazette, The Scotsman online, Glasgow Live, Sunday Post online. � Town Centre Regeneration: The Sunday Times, The Times, BBC Scotland, BBC 2 Scotland, Glasgow Evening Times, Glasgow Live, Daily Record, The Herald, The Herald online, The National, The National online, Paisley Daily Express, Project Scotland, Scottish Field, STV, The Scotsman, The Scotsman online. Media highlights include: We worked with two PR agencies to support dedicated aspects of the visitor offer and broaden the scope of media opportunities. AM+A’s remit was focused on national and international visiting media, Flint PR were responsible for feature-led content to keep the profile of Paisley Museum in the public consciousness while it is closed for redevelopment. � 31
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Future Paisley funding enabled the appointment of London- based PR agency from October 2018 to September 2019 to continue to build the profile of Paisley and increase opportunities to see and hear something positive about Paisley and Renfrewshire. This resulted in high-profile national and international media coverage, with 12 media familiarisation visits to Paisley and Renfrewshire and 5 million opportunities to see and hear. Paisley was represented by AM+A at the World Travel Market 2019. This included pitches to the travel trade media and national intermediaries including VisitBritain. UK and international media profile—AM+A Spotlight on Media familiarisation visits included the following: � A group influencer trip to Paisley Food & Drink Festival where nine UK based social media influencers experienced the Paisley Food & Drink Festival � Media familiarisation trip by a journalist from the Independent to stay in Paisley and experience the British Pipeband Championships � A journalist from Dutch Golfers magazine, the largest golfing publication in the Netherlands visited Renfrewshire to experience Mar Hall and Gleddoch’s golf course and accommodation. � Working with VisitBritain, we hosted a Danish journalist for five days to experience Paisley and Renfrewshire as a visitor. The piece was published in two national Dutch magazines Sondag and Isabella in 2020. 1.5 billion opportunities to see or hear something positive about Paisley and Renfrewshire In total our PR activity has achieved 32 �
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Future Paisley funding provided the opportunity to work with leading culture and creative PR agency, Flint PR, to raise the profile of Paisley Museum and support the fundraising effort from 2020 to 2021. Flint’s main objective was to develop a national PR plan around key project milestones and museum collection stories, to maintain public and arts-industry interest in Paisley Museum redevelopment. Working closely with the in-house team, Flint helped deliver 97 positive pieces of coverage across print, magazine, online and broadcast media. The content ranged from milestone news articles to in-depth features across local, national, trade and international media, delivering 502 million opportunities to see or hear something positive about Paisley Museum. OneRen will take forward the Paisley Museum PR strategy in preparation for the reopening. Paisley Museum —Flint PR Spotlight on � Syrian glass museum collaboration with Syrian refugees: The Guardian, The Guardian online, Yahoo online, Daily Record online, The Gazette � Work starts on Paisley Museum: STV broadcast, BBC online, BBC Radio Scotland, Daily Record online, Evening Times, Paisley Daily Express, The Gazette � 150th anniversary of Paisley Museum: The Sunday Telegraph, The Sunday Times, The I, The Herald, Sunday Post, The Sunday Mail, Stitchery Stories podcast, BBC Radio Gloucestershire � Corozal dredger: BBC Scotland (syndicated into equivalent Spanish, Turkish and Arabic platforms), The American, Scottish Banner, Sunday Post � 200th anniversary of the Radical War: Sunday Post, The Scotsman � 275th anniversary of Jacobites arriving in Paisley: Daily Mail, The Scotsman, The National � Arts stories: Museums Journal, Apollo Magazine, Scottish Arts News � Regeneration stories: Herald Business HQ Magazine, Urban Realm, Topos Magazine, parCitypatory blog Media highlights: Syrian Glass Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian � 33
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Paisley The table and graph below outlines the media coverage achieved each year. OTSH PR and media coverage year-by-year performance Media Coverage (by year) Opportunities to see or hear something positive about Paisley and Renfrewshire (OTSH) Year 1 March 8 2018 – March 31 2019 289,910,667 Year 2 April1 2019 – March 31 2020 236,332,470 Year 3 April 1 2020 – March 31 2021 169,927,206 Year 4 April 1 2021 – March 31 2022 314,057,514 Year 5 April 1 2022 – March 31 2023 204,403,562 Year 6 April 1 2023 – March 31 2024 272,966,097 Total 1,487,597,516 Year 1 350,000,000 300,000,000 250,000,000 200,000,000 150,000,000 100,000,000 50,000,000 Year 2 Year 3 Year 6Year 5Year 4 � Opportunities to see or hear is a measure which indicates the number of times a person will have seen or heard about a piece of news. In the context of Paisley, it relates to the number of times a person will have seen or heard something positive about Paisley and Renfrewshire. � Baseline in 2016 was 15million OTSH per year (pre-2021 and brand activity). This shows a significant shift in the output of the media activity. � Year 3 (1 April 2020 – 31 March 2021) witnessed an initial pause and lower levels of activity due to the council’s response to the pandemic. Activity picked up again as we entered Year 4 (1 April 2021 – 31 March 2022). 34 �
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Since the launch in 2018, www.paisley.is has become the comprehensive online guide inspiring people to visit the area or attend an event. The top-ranked Google website provides information for audiences searching for things to do in the area, itinerary inspiration, events and interesting stories of our people, place and unique cultural history and heritage. This website has given users a central point to find out more information about what the area has to offer—this is something that did not exist before the brand was launched. The ongoing development and growth of the site has contributed significantly to the reputation of the brand and it is now a trusted online source. Consistent effort by the in-house marketing team over the past six years has ensured its success in showing audience growth through: � Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) —undertaking a SEO audit by VisitScotland—Digital Tourism Scotland and digital agency Graphical House to implement improvements to the user experience � Growth tactics—using paid-for advertisments on earned-channels through third party advertising, Google pay-per-click (PPC), working closely with referral sites such as What’s on Network and DataThistle. � Content management—SEO content audit, content creation through the focus of storytelling, day-to-day health check and maintenance and an accessibility review to improve the user experience. Future web development opportunities would include working more closely with industry, to develop a transactional tool for tourism businesses. Managing the digital footprint Creating a top-ranked Google website � 35
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What’s On guide The What’s On guide is powered by Data Thistle—an affiliated company to The List and the UK’s leading live events data business. This paid partnership ensures Renfrewshire events appear on www.paisley.is/events daily from a wide range of partners and venues. This constant refresh of new content helps drive new visits to the site and improves the website's SEO. The events listings are the third-most visited section of the website. Renfrewshire businesses and organisations can promote any events for free by adding listings to the dedicated section using www.paisley.is/tell-us-event. It is one of the best methods of increasing online visibility of local events—this is an area of ongoing development. This partnership also enables Data Thistle to distribute Renfrewshire's event listings to a wide range of partners including VisitScotland, Scotrail and other listing sites including The List, InYourArea.co.uk and datathistle.com. The combined audience of these websites is more than seven million people a month, helping drive awareness of what’s happening in our area and encouraging participation and attendance. Partner focus: What's On Network What’s on Network is an independent network of websites and listing platform for event organisers, venues, local clubs and groups to promote what they do for free. The network covers the majority of central Scotland with up to 300,000 visitors to the site each month. The in-house marketing team have worked closely with What’s On since 2018, advertising at low-cost and listing visitor events. What’s On is one of our top referral sites and generates significant traffic to the website. 36 �
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Website performance for www.paisley.is year-by-year Year Page views Unique page views Users Year 1 March 8 2018 – March 31 2019 321,539 257,334 100,580 Year 2 April1 2019 – March 31 2020 612,284 491,423 230,976 Year 3 April 1 2020 – March 31 2021 258,376 220,429 134,529 Year 4 April 1 2021 – March 31 2022 497,153 426,804 255,913 Year 5 April 1 2022 – March 31 2023 574,374 543,128 459,143 Year 6 April 1 2023 – March 31 2024 362,265 Metric not available in Google Analytics 4 239,198 Totals 2,625,991 1,939,118 1,420,339 � Page views—total number of pages viewed (includes repeated views of a single page). � Unique page view—number of sessions during which a page was viewed at least once. � Users—users who have initiated at least one session on the website. � Year 3 (1 April 2020 – 31 March 2021) witnessed an initial pause and lower levels of activity due to the council’s response to the pandemic. � Activity picked up again as we entered Year 4 (1 April 2021 – 31 March 2022) with VisitScotland funding through paid-for ads directing people to the website. � Year 5 experienced a significant boost in activity due to VisitScotland funding as a result of digital advertising generating traffic to the website. � Year 6 experienced a decrease in page views and users due to a reduction in resource and budget (in comparison to the VisitScotland boost in Year 5). Page Views Unique page views Users Year 1 700,000 600,000 500,000 400,000 300,000 200,000 100,000 Year 2 Year 3 Year 6Year 5Year 4 � 37
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Social media channels have been developed and nurtured over the past six years. Owned channels have been carefully curated with event information, news, blogs and inspiring visitor content. Social accounts share stories and content from local people, businesses and partners. These channels have become a significant part of the marketing activity to promote Paisley and Renfrewshire, building awareness and engagement with our key audiences. The in-house marketing team have also worked with social media influencers and local people to create brand advocacy. This has helped support content by providing authentic accounts of visitor experiences. Like the website, growing an engaged social media audience has taken time, commitment and consistency since 2018. This has required planning content suitable for target audiences, creating organic content and day-to-day management. The social media channels have become a trusted source for local people and visitors. Paid-for social media ads have been a consistent marketing tactic since 2019 with advertising creative and content focused on visitor propositions, products and events running as part of seasonal campaigns. Paid-for ads have let the team target specific audiences and test visitor propositions. The paid-for activity has run alongside organic content and contributed to the growth of reach and engagement on social media channels. Social media growth and development Year 3 coverage The Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown measures have inevitably impacted on Paisley.is activity. Our events calendar and visitor campaigns have been main drivers of traffic to our Paisley. is website and social media channels as well as focal points for media engagement. Without these, we have explored alternative ways of boosting our reach and engagement. We’ve highlighted the area’s fascinating stories, attractions and spectacular things to see and do—but in a different way. Our focus from Visit theme to Discover theme aimed locally, with engaging online resources and striking visuals; stories about our area and its past; features on our rich architectural and built heritage; and a spotlight on our outdoor offer with images of our beautiful scenery. PR coverage (March 8 2020–5 February 2021) Campaigns Events www.paisley.is (March 8 2020–5 February 2021) 160,316,596 Opportunities to see and hear something positive about Paisley and Renfrewshire (OTSH) Steal Back Summer/Spend Local and Be A Tourist In Your Own Town 24 July–31 October 2020 218,193 Page views £6,348,170.23 PR Value 498,076 Combined reach 187,105 3,226 Number of articles featuring Paisley or Renfrewshire ə Syrian Glass and 5th anniversary of Syrian refugees arrival in Paisley. ə The Robert Burns Caup. ə Jacobite collection, including letters of debt unpaid to Paisley after 275 years, to go on display in new Paisley Museum. ə Steal Back Summer/Spend Local campaign ə Outdoor locations (Gleniffer Braes; Erskine Boden Boo) ə Sma’ Shot Day ə Doors Open Days ə Be A Tourist In Your Own Town Main driver of destination media mentions has been Flint PR agency’s work on Paisley Museum Reimagined: Most popular: Unique page views ə Boosted Facebook Ads for our Steal Back Summer content (14,692 reach; 641 link clicks) and Be a Tourist in Your Town content (20,481 reach; 2,407 link clicks) also achieved great results. Sma’ Shot Day ə Video views: 10,497 ə Full campaign reach/impressions: 1.1m (1,105,489) ə Event Day Post Reach: 67,564 ə Event Day Post Engagement: 4,454 Doors Open Days ə Video views: 16,791 ə Reach/impressions: 62,808 ə Engagement: 5,532 Light Up Renfrewshire ə Video views: 15,600 ə Social media reach/impressions: 143,200 ə Social media engagements: 10,624 Campaign examples Steal Back SummerSpend Local Be a tourist in your town Place and event spotlights Mill Magazine Renfrew Road 38 �
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Social media reach and impressions (Paid and organic) � Reach is the total number of people who see your content. � Impressions refers to the number of times content from or about your Page entered someone’s screen. That could be in their news feed, through search, or because they intentionally navigated to your Page. � This figure includes paid and organic Reach for Facebook, Impressions for Twitter and Reach for Instagram. � We did not start to measure Reach for posts on Instagram until 2020 (Year 3). � Year 3 (1 April 2020 – 31 March 2021) also witnessed an initial pause and lower levels of activity due to the response to the pandemic. � Activity was picked up again as we entered Year 4 (1 April 2021 – 31 March 2022). � Year 4 (1 April 2021 – 31 March 2022) also witnessed an increase in Reach due to additional advertising through VisitScotland funding. � Facebook / Meta Insights also witnessed change in reporting methods in Year 4 (1 April 2021 – 31 March 2022), further separating stats for paid-for activity from its previous format. � Facebook is the most popular channel and the reduction in numbers of Twitter mirrors our content strategy as we reduced our use on the channel. � Twitter Analytics moved behind a paywall in 2023. � Reach and Impressions remained steady in Year 5 due to VisitScotland funding with social media advertising helping to maintain numbers. � There was a decrease in Reach and Impressions in Year 6 due to a reduction in resource and social media advertising budget (in comparison to the VisitScotland boost in Year 5). Facebook Twitter Instagram Year 1 3,500,000 4,000,000 3,000,000 2,500,000 2,000,000 1,500,000 1,000,000 500,000 Year 2 Year 3 Year 6Year 5Year 4 Year Facebook Twitter Instagram Year 1 March 8 2018 – March 31 2019 1,672,237 2,007,500 - Year 2 April1 2019 – March 31 2020 2,254,114 1,509,200 - Year 3 April 1 2020 – March 31 2021 623,530 774,200 55,726 Year 4 April 1 2021 – March 31 2022 3,954,260 493,779 140,497 Year 5 April 1 2022 – March 31 2023 2,718,718 164,200 77,554 Year 6 April 1 2023 – March 31 2024 1,021,906 13,934 237,023 Totals 12,244,765 4,962,813 510,800 Overall Reach and Impressions Total 17,718,378 � 39
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Paisley Social media engagement Facebook Twitter Year 1 350,000 400,000 300,000 250,000 200,000 150,000 100,000 50,000 Year 2 Year 3 Year 6Year 5Year 4 Year Facebook Twitter Year 1 March 8 2018 – March 31 2019 155,380 54,300 Year 2 April1 2019 – March 31 2020 159,851 32,117 Year 3 April 1 2020 – March 31 2021 38,463 15,054 Year 4 April 1 2021 – March 31 2022 408,110 8,081 Year 5 April 1 2022 – March 31 2023 314,122 6,600 Year 6 April 1 2023 – March 31 2024 28,860 353 Totals 1,104,786 116,505 Overall Engagement Total 1,221,291 � Social media engagement is the measurement of comments, likes and shares. � This figure includes paid and organic Engagements for Facebook and Twitter. � Year 4 (1 April 2021 – 31 March 2022) also witnessed an increase in Engagements due to additional boost in paid-for advertising through VisitScotland funding. � Facebook / Meta Insights also witnessed change in reporting methods in Year 4 (1 April 2021 – 31 March 2022), further separating stats for paid-for activity from its previous format. � Twitter Analytics moved behind a paywall in 2023. � Social media engagement remained steady in Year 5 due to VisitScotland funding with social media advertising helping to maintain engagement. � There was a decrease in engagement in Year 6 in comparison to the VisitScotland boost in Year 5, reduction in resource and Meta algorithm changes. 40 �
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Working with select partners has strengthened brand campaigns. It has provided us with significant opportunities to increase awareness and advocacy, but this is an area we would have liked to develop further. Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce paid-for premier partnership has been in place since year one. This has enabled us to reach business leaders and build visibility of the brand through the annual excellence awards—The Roccos. Additionally, we introduced The Excellence in Tourism Award, serving as a legacy of the brand. We’d like to thank our local partners for their support. National and international brand awareness and profile has been achieved through consistent partnership with VisitScotland and EventScotland. The partnership with VisitScotland has provided significant opportunities to reach national and international audiences for the first time. A close working relationship with the VisitScotland regional team has helped to grow brand and product awareness with continued efforts to feature Paisley and Renfrewshire in VisitScotland consumer and trade activity, proactive PR and collaborations. Partnerships and brand ambassadors Working with national partners � 41
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Paisley VisitScotland destination and sector marketing fund Spotlight on During the pandemic, visitor marketing activity quickly pivoted to promote outdoor attractions to a local audience and to encourage people in Renfrewshire to stay local and shop local. We continued to reach visitors from outside Renfrewshire with trip inspiration to maintain their longer-term interest in Renfrewshire. In 2021, Paisley was awarded £56,000 from the VisitScotland Destination and Sector Marketing Fund to help drive tourism recovery and encourage footfall to Paisley Town Centre following lockdown. The ‘Paisley Calling’ campaign was developed and ran from December 2021 to September 2022 to increase visits to Paisley Town Centre. Paisley Calling highlighted stories unique to Paisley—the home of the Paisley Pattern; the town with a radical past and present; a rich musical history and impressive architecture. Promotional activity was linked to self- guided products which allowed visitors to experience these stories over a day or weekend visit. These include: Four Architects Walking Trail, Mural Trail, Paisley Music Tour App and Paisley Radicals Catalyst for Change Walking Tour App. VisitScotland visitor profiles were used (Engaged Sightseers, Curious Travellers and Natural Advocates) and activity targeted people with a propensity to visit from a 1-hour-drive time. The activity was designed to reconnect people to Paisley in advance of the reopening of the town’s cultural venues. Campaign activity included outdoor advertising, print and digital advertising, paid-for social media campaign, influencer visits, a six-minute film showcasing Paisley’s musical history and heritage and a ‘Paisley Calling’ showcasing a genuine and authentic experience for visitors to the town. Campaign evaluation was presented to VisitScotland in September 2022, and included data from the Moffat Centre’s Visitor Attraction, which reported an increase in visits to Paisley attractions of 237.6% in 2022, year-to-date compared to August 2021 (impact of pandemic restrictions), and an increase in visits of 6.7% in August alone, compared with the previous year. STP hotel occupancy data highlighted an increase in hotel occupancy from 59% in July 21 to 91% in July 22.
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Paisley’s Musical History and Heritage Audio Tour ‘Paisley Calling’ film commission Campaign reach results 1.6 million paid-for social media reach 5.8 million paid for social media impressions 23,000 overall clicks generated from paid social media 164,000 overall video views 1 million overall reach of digital advertising (exc social media) 1.39 million OTSH for the VS campaign 1.3 million impacts of outdoor and print readerships through media buy 50,000 total campaign website visits � 43
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Paisley You can visit Robert Tannahill’s statue outside Paisley Town Hall; you can wander up to the Rafferty mural, round the corner from the Bungalow Bar; you can even make your way to Gerry Rafferty Drive. Their words, their songs, their ideas and images light up these streets. “...I have lived in Elderslie all my life and I never realised I had all these stunning walking trails on my doorstep…” � Nicola Meighan on Paisley's music history� Local Advocates 44 �
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Year-on-year performance The following section shows the brand in action each year since launch and provides an at-a-glance overview of our performance and activity each year. � Activity at-a-glance � 45
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Year one performance at-a-glance Year one activity focused on establishing the brand as the definitive guide to visiting Paisley and Renfrewshire and raising awareness of Paisley. The key performance indicators for the marketing activity are outlined here: Our digital footprint 257,334 Unique page views 27,000 Unique page views 3,679,737 Total social media reach and impressions 8,466 Total social media followers 209,680 Total social media engagement Most-visited page Paisley Halloween Festival Google adwords campaigns activated. Brand in action ə New visitor marketing materials created: – Paisley Walking Trail – Discover Paisley and Renfrewshire— bedroom magazine – Four Paisley Architects – Great things to see and do—in and around Scotland’s largest town ə Local and national distribution network set up displaying our visitor leaflets ə Paisley taxi ə Paisley Town Centre banners ə Piazza signage ə Trademark filed for Paisley Partnerships activated ə VisitScotland ə EventScotland ə Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce ə Digital Tourism Scotland ə Glasgow City Region ə St Mirren Campaigns activated ə Attended VisitScotland Expo ə Spring/summer visitor campaign – Generated more than 2.5million opportunities to see and hear something positive about Paisley and Renfrewshire ə Autumn/winter visitor campaign promoting the winter events programme – Attracted 38% of attendees from outwith Renfrewshire ə Delivered integrated marketing campaigns for all events ə Headline sponsor of the Rocco Awards Opportunities to see and hear something positive about Paisley and Renfrewshire (OTSH) 289,910,667 Media coverage £4.6m Combined PR value 1,929 Number of articles featuring Paisley or Renfrewshire ə Paisley Food and Drink Festival 2019 —Olive Magazine, Delicious, The Skinny, The Metro, Scots Magazine, Daily Mail Online, Sunday Times, BBC Radio Scotland— Out for the Weekend. ə British Pipe Band Championships 2018—STV2. ə Weave/Sma’ Shot Day 2019—Big Issue. ə SAY Award—Guardian, NME, Glasgow Live, Scotsman, ET, National, Skinny, The List, STV Online, Herald, Scottish Field, Clash Music, The List, Metro, BBC Online, AOL ə Doors Open Days—BBC Radio Scotland ə The Spree 2018—BBC Radio Scotland, Scottish Field, Daily Record, Sunday Mail, The List, The Skinny, Sunday Times. ə Paisley Halloween Festival 2018—The List, The Herald, The Metro, The National, Daily Mail, STV Online, BBC Online. ə Hermès Paisley on Paisley—BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Reporting Scotland, BBC Scotland—The Nine, STV, The Times. Coverage highlights include: Year one 2018/2019 � 47
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Paisley Paisley Abbey ə Monday – Saturday, 10am – 3.30pm (subject to weddings and other events) ə Guided tours Tuesday and Thursday 2pm, £5 ə www.paisleyabbey.org.uk Paisley Thread Mill Museum ə 12 Seedhill Rd, Paisley PA1 1JS In the Mile End Mill building of the Abbey Mill Business Centre, on Seedhill Road. ə Wednesday & Saturday 12 noon to 4pm, the museum is staffed by volunteers. ə Outwith staffed opening times it is possible to visit and view the display cases while the Abbey Mill Business Centre is open but there will be no volunteers available. ə www.paisleythreadmill.co.uk Visitor Attraction Information Sma’ Shot Cottages ə 2 Sma’ Shot Lane, PA1 2HG ə Open: April – September Wednesday: 12pm – 4pm Friday: 1pm – 5pm Saturday: 12pm – 4pm ə Group visits outwith opening hours can be arranged on request ə smashotcottages@outlook.com Paisley: The Secret Collection ə 9 High Street, Paisley, PA1 2AE ə Paisley: The Secret Collection is the first publicly accessible museum store on a UK High Street, containing thousands of objects reflecting Renfrewshire’s amazing heritage and culture. ə Free but pre-booking only (except for specific event days) ə Booking Details: By phone on 0141 618 5129 Online at www. renfrewshireleisure.com/ paisleymuseum/tours By email at tours@ renfrewshireleisure.com Coats Venue ə Up to date information can be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CoatsVenue The Heritage Centre ə 12 Seedhill Road, Paisley PA1 1JS In Unit 907, Abbey Mill Business Centre, in the Mile End Mill building ə Offers dedicated space for local and family history research ə Open: Monday – Friday 9am – 5pm Saturday 9am – 5pm (closed 12 – 1) Telephone: 0141 618 5375 ə www.renfrewshireleisure.com/ heritage Assets to download at www.paisley.is ə Paisley Walking Trail ə Travel itinerary: The Paisley Pattern ə Travel itinerary: The Wallace and The Bruce
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Year two performance at-a-glance There were four priorities for year two— developing partnerships; building the brand; raising the profile of Paisley and Renfrewshire; and developing engaging campaigns. Key performance indicators for marketing and communications activity are outlined here: Our digital footprint 491,423 Unique page views 49,000 Unique page views 3,763,314 Total social media reach and impressions 11,935 Total social media followers 191,968 Total social media engagement Most-visited page Paisley Halloween Festival Google adwords campaigns activated for major events and for new visitor initiatives, including the Wallace Begins visitor itinerary. Brand in action ə Trademark filing complete ə New visitor marketing itinerary created for the Wallace Begins trail, with Renfrewshire acting as a start point and gateway, and new connections made with The National Wallace Monument and Dumbarton Castle. ə Updated version of marketing collateral: – Paisley Walking Trail – Great Things to See and Do in Renfrewshire ə Local, regional and national distribution network set up to display marketing collateral in hotels and visitor accommodations, visitor attractions, leisure and retail attractions and other large public venues. New product development ə Development of a new Wallace Begins visitor itinerary. ə Designed in response to research establishing the significant levels of online search interest in William Wallace, the itinerary positions Renfrewshire as the start and end-point of a full-day visitor experience taking in major landmarks and exploring the Wallace life story. VisitScotland partnership Paid-for campaigns targeted at potential regional and national visitors (defined as living within a two-hour drivetime of Renfrewshire) generated over 5.7 million impressions of Paisley brand and over 30,000 unique visits to the Paisley.is website. ə Paisley Food and Drink Festival – 755,685 impressions/5,064 unique visits ə Spring/Summer – 2,826,660 impressions/12,969 unique visits ə Halloween – 927,165 impressions/8,044 unique visits ə Autumn/Winter – 1,228,944 impressions/13,600 unique visits Partnerships activated ə Campaign partnership – Scotrail ə Strategic partnerships – VisitScotland – EventScotland – Glasgow City Region – Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce ə Media partnerships – The Herald/Newsquest – The List – The Skinny – Capital FM – What’s On Network – Ocean Outdoor – MILL Magazine Campaigns activated ə Consumer campaigns targeting day visitors with propensity to visit delivered in partnership with and endorsed by VisitScotland. ə Paisley at VisitScotland expo for travel trade. ə Headline sponsor of ROCCOs business awards with new ‘Excellence in Tourism’ award introduced. ə Google AdWords campaign to launch and promote new Wallace Begins trail – Over 9,600 visits to Wallace Begins information on Paisley.is website generated via 787,971 search and display impressions. ə Integrated marketing campaigns for 15 town centre events, including national event marketing for Paisley Food & Drink Festival, Paisley Halloween Festival and The Spree. – Record attendance for this year’s Paisley Halloween Festival (41,000) and record ticket sales for this year’s The Spree festival (£71,000) Opportunities to see and hear something positive about Paisley and Renfrewshire (OTSH) 236,332,470 Media coverage £10m Combined PR value 5,030 Number of articles featuring Paisley or Renfrewshire ə Paisley Food and Drink Festival 2019 —The Times, Sunday Times, Daily Mail, INews, Country and Townhouse, Glasgow Live, Daily Record, The National, Clyde 1, Sunday Post, The Skinny, The List, Scottish Field, Scots Magazine. ə British Pipe Band Championships 2019—Press Association, BBC Two, Scottish Field, Heart Radio, Sunday Express, BBC Scotland, BBC Online, The National, The Herald. ə Sma’ Shot Day 2019—Evening Times, The National, Scotland4Kids, Daily Record online. ə The Spree 2019—The List, The Skinny, The I, The Metro, NME online, BBC Radio Scotland, Radio Clyde, Sunday Times, Sunday Mail, The Scotsman, The Sunday Post, The Herald. ə Paisley Halloween Festival 2019—BBC Online, STV, The Sun, Daily Telegraph, Sunday Mail, The Herald, BBC Radio Scotland, The Metro, Clyde 1, The I, The National, Daily Record, Sunday Times. ə Glen Cinema 90th Anniversary —Reporting Scotland, Global Radio, Scottish Daily Mail, The Scottish Sun, The Herald, Daily Record, STV News. Coverage highlights include: Year two 2019/2020 � 49
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Year three performance at-a-glance The pandemic and subsequent lockdown measures inevitably impacted on Paisley activity. Our events calendar and visitor campaigns were main drivers of traffic to our Paisley website and social media channels as well as focal points for media engagement. Without these, we explored alternative ways of boosting our reach and engagement. We highlighted the area’s fascinating stories, attractions and spectacular things to see and do—but in a different way. Our focus shifted from a ‘Visit’ theme to Discover theme aimed locally, with engaging online resources and striking visuals; stories about our area and its past; features on our rich architectural and built heritage; and a spotlight on our outdoor offer with images of our beautiful scenery. Our digital footprint 258,376 Page views 220,429 Unique page views 1,453,456 Total social media reach and impressions 16,860 Total social media followers 53,517 Total social media engagement Most popular: Steal Back Summer/ Spend Local campaign; Outdoor locations (Gleniffer Braes; Erskine Boden Boo); Sma’ Shot Day; Doors Open Days; Be A Tourist In Your Own Town Events ə Sma’ Shot Day – video views: 10,497 – Full campaign reach/impressions: 1.1m (1,105,489) – Event Day Post Reach: 67,564 – Event Day Post Engagement: 4,454 ə Doors Open Days – Video views: 16,791 – Reach/impressions: 62,808 – Engagement: 5,532 ə Light Up Renfrewshire – Video views: 15,600 – Social media reach/impressions: 143,200 – Social media engagements: 10,624 Campaigns activated ə Steal Back Summer/Spend Local – Boosted Facebook Ads for our Steal Back Summer content (14,692 reach; 641 link clicks) ə Be A Tourist In Your Own Town – 20,481 reach; 2,407 link clicks ə 498,076 combined reach Year three 2020/2021 Opportunities to see and hear something positive about Paisley and Renfrewshire (OTSH) 169,927,206 Media coverage £6.3m Combined PR value 3,226 Number of articles featuring Paisley or Renfrewshire ə Syrian Glass and 5th anniversary of Syrian refugees arrival in Paisley. ə The Robert Burns Caup. ə Jacobite collection, including letters of debt unpaid to Paisley after 275 years, to go on display in new Paisley Museum. Main driver of destination media mentions has been Flint PR agency’s work on Paisley Museum Reimagined: � 51
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Forecast checked. Helmet on. Let’s go. Renfrewshire’s truly great outdoors couldn’t be easier to explore.
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Year four performance at-a-glance Year four 2021/2022 There were four priorities for year four— continuing to support the restart of our visitor economy, developing campaigns, raising the profile of Paisley and Renfrewshire; and working with partners. Key performance indicators for marketing and communications activity are outlined here: Our digital footprint 426,804 Unique page views 36,953 Unique page views 4,588,536 Total social media reach and impressions 14,962 Total social media followers 416,191 Total social media engagement Most-visited page Paisley Halloween Festival ə Review of our audiences to reflect changes due to pandemic: – 5 VisitScotland audiences plus the creation of Local Advocates and Family Favourites ə Creation of visitor proposition – History & Heritage – Easy Outdoor – Microadventures – Luxury – Family Days Out – Gateway ə Audiences and visitor offer mapped – Our 3 strongest visitor offers are Family Days Out, Easy Outdoor & Microadventures ə These visitor propositions were used for Summer 2022 campaign VisitScotland partnership VisitScotland Destination and Sector Marketing Fund to help drive tourism recovery and encourage footfall to Paisley Town Centre post-pandemic (December 2021– October 2022). ə Paid-for social media reach—1.6m ə Paid-for social media impressions—5.8m ə Total clicks generated from paid social media—23K ə Total number of video views—164K ə Total reach of all digital advertising—1m ə PR—OTSH—1.39m ə Media buy (outdoor and print)—1.3m ə Total website visits—50K link clicks Partnerships activated ə Campaign partnership – Scotrail ə Strategic partnerships – VisitScotland – EventScotland – Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce ə Media partnerships – The List – The Skinny – What’s On Network – MILL Magazine Campaigns activated ə Be a tourist in your own town—digital campaign to encourage local people to explore the local area. This included creation of digital content, organic social and paid-for social media content. Keep fit and feel good webpage was one of the Top 5 visited pages with 13,069 unique page views. ə Headline sponsor of ROCCOs business awards and ‘Excellence in Tourism’ award. ə Integrated marketing campaigns for town centre events, including national event marketing for Paisley Food & Drink Festival, Paisley Halloween Festival and The Spree. ə Paisley Calling campaign (December 2021–2022) with VisitScotland Destination and Sector Marketing Fund. Opportunities to see and hear something positive about Paisley and Renfrewshire (OTSH) 314,057,514 Media coverage £9m Combined PR value 1,913 Number of articles featuring Paisley or Renfrewshire ə Paisley Food and Drink Festival 2021—Scottish Field, What’s On Network, The National, Evening Telegraph, The Herald, Paisley Daily Express, Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce, Glasgow Evening Times. ə The Spree 2021— BBC Radio Scotland FM, Arts Professional (Web), Herald Scotland Online, DailyRecord.co.uk, Glasgow Evening Times. ə Paisley Halloween Festival 2021—BBC Radio Scotland FM, Arts Professional (Web), Herald Scotland Online, DailyRecord.co.uk, Glasgow Evening Times. ə Paisley Museum —BBC Radio Scotland FM, BBC Radio Gloucestershire, STV Central East and West, BBC2 Scotland, Art Mag, Scottish Construction Now!, Building.co.uk, Evening Express, Sunday Post, World Construction Network, Museums and Heritage Advisor, Glasgow Live, Evening Telegraph, STV (web), Scotland on Sunday, i (The paper for today),The Sunday Times, The Sunday Express (Scotland), The Daily Telegraph, The Times. Coverage highlights include: Campaign planning— visitor propositions � 53
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Year five performance at-a-glance Year 5 2022/2023 There were four priorities for year five— activation of brand, transforming perceptions of Paisley, management of digital channels and working with partners. Key performance indicators for marketing and communications activity are outlined here: Our digital footprint 543,128 Unique page views 155,355 Unique page views 2,960,472 Total social media reach and impressions 19,435 320,722 Total social media engagement Most-visited page Paisley Halloween Festival Brand in action ə New Renfrewshire-wide hero photography ə New campaign creative for summer 2022 campaign ə Creation of the following films: – Paisley Calling film – Paisley Calling: Our Architecture – Paisley Calling: You – Paisley Calling: Our Textiles Heritage – Paisley Music Town film – Joy of Cycling film VisitScotland partnership Continuation of the VisitScotland Destination and Sector Marketing Fund to help drive tourism recovery and encourage footfall to Paisley Town Centre post- pandemic (December 2021—September 2022) ə Paid-for social media reach—1.6m ə Paid-for social media impressions—5.8m ə Total clicks generated from paid social media—23K ə Total number of video views—164K ə Total reach of all digital advertising—1m ə PR—OTSH—1.39m ə Media buy (outdoor and print)—1.3m ə Total website visits—50K link clicks Paid-for social media campaign to promote Halloween in partnership with Visit Scotland. This campaign achieved: – 2m impressions – 64, 948 link clicks – £0.07 CPC – 43,749 lands to website – Clicks to landing—67% – Cost per land—£0.10 Partnerships activated ə Campaign partnership – Scotrail ə Strategic partnerships – VisitScotland – EventScotland – Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce – Paisley First ə Media partnerships – The List – The Skinny – What’s On Network – Mill Magazine Campaigns activated ə Spring consumer campaigns targeting day visitors with propensity to visit. ə Headline sponsor of ROCCOs business awards and ‘Excellence in Tourism’ award. ə Integrated marketing campaigns for town centre events, including national event marketing for Paisley Food & Drink Festival, Paisley Halloween Festival and The Spree ə Partner marketing support for UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK hosted in Paisley Town Centre ə New summer campaign launched—raising the profile and awareness of Paisley and Renfrewshire and positioning Paisley and Renfrewshire as a destination of choice for day visitors. Campaign results: – 5.1 million paid-for OTSH campaign messaging – 57K website page views (campaign pages + blogs) Visit section +120% compared to 2019 Homepage +61% compared to 2019 – Facebook—Reach (organic): 37,485. Reach (paid): 39,917. Engagements: 1,063. Twitter—Impressions: 13,395. Engagements: 659. Instagram—Reach: 6,408. Engagements: 340. Council Facebook—Reach: 14,172. Engagements: 148. Total—Reach/Imp.: 111,377. Engagements: 2,210. Opportunities to see and hear something positive about Paisley and Renfrewshire (OTSH) 204,403,562 Media coverage £4.9m Combined PR value 1,115 Number of articles featuring Paisley or Renfrewshire ə Paisley Food and Drink Festival 2022 —DailyRecord.co.uk, Scottish Field, Scottish Sun Online, Yahoo! UK and Ireland (Web), Scottish Licensed Trade News, Scottish Field, Scotland on Sunday, The Gazette, Paisley Daily Express. ə The Spree and The Wee Spree 2022— Clyde 1, Forth 2, STV Central West, STV Central East, Scottish Field, Glasgow Live, Herald Scotland Online, Today UK News, DailyRecord.co.uk, Glasgow Evening Times, Yahoo! UK and Ireland (Web), Glasgow Evening Times, The Skinny, The Scotsman, TotalNtertainment, Mail Online UK, Scotland and Sunday, The Herald, The Sunday Times, Metro. ə Paisley Halloween Festival 2022—BBC Radio Scotland FM, Glasgow Evening Times, Herald Scotland Online, The List, Scottish Sun, Sunday Mail, Daily Record, The Metro, The Sun, Press and Journal (Aberdeen), Where Can We Go, Primary Times, The National, Evening News, The Times, The Daily Telegraph. ə Paisley Museum —BBC Radio Scotland FM, BBC Radio Gloucestershire, STV Central East and West, BBC2 Scotland, Art Mag, Scottish Construction Now!, Building.co.uk, Evening Express, Sunday Post, World Construction Network, Museums and Heritage Advisor, Glasgow Live, Evening Telegraph, STV (web), Scotland on Sunday, i (The paper for today), The Sunday Times, The Sunday Express (Scotland), The Daily Telegraph, The Times. Coverage highlights include: New product development ə Microadventures is a new visitor proposition and product for Renfrewshire developed in 2022 to align with Renfrewshire’s new emerging Tourism Action Plan. Microadventures are defined as ‘adventures that are short, simple, local, fun and perspective shifting’ —a strong proposition for Renfrewshire’s network of towns and rural locations. The following campaign material and content was developed and curated to support the activity: ə A guide to microadventures in Renfrewshire— www.paisley.is/visit/microadventures ə Inspiring blog content—Five stunning woodlands in Renfrewshire, Easy Cycling—three routes around Renfrewshire. ə Series of commissioned content—three adventure blogs written by local writer and adventurer Cam Procter featuring cycling in Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park, Lochwinnoch, Barcraigs Reservoir and the Glennifer Braes and trail running in Johnstone and the Bluebell Woods. ə Joy of Cycling film—specially commissioned four-minute film, exploring the joy of cycling and what makes Renfrewshire the perfect place to ride. Total social media followers � 55
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Paisley
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Year six performance at-a-glance There were five priorities for year six —continuing to raise the profile of Paisley and Renfrewshire as a day-out destination, supporting the council’s events programme (including Mòd Phàislig), supporting the reopening of cultural venues, engaging with key stakeholders, and providing an evaluation of Paisley to date. Key performance indicators for marketing and communications activity are outlined here: Our digital footprint Campaigns activated Brand evaluation Partnerships activated Opportunities to see and hear something positive about Paisley and Renfrewshire (OTSH) 362,265 page views www.paisley.is 60,224 Unique page views 1,272,863 Total social media reach and impressions 28,073 Total social media followers 29,213 Total social media engagement Most-visited page Paisley Halloween Festival Development and distribution of a new visitor guide to Renfrewshire attractions and hotels, created to inspire visitors travelling to Paisley for Mòd Phàislig Migration of Renfrewshire Heritage Stories on to www.paisley.is, delivering new stories about important historical people and places from every corner of Renfrewshire Sponsorship of Excellence in Tourism Award at ROCCOs—annual business awards of the Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce A 5-year retrospective report was delivered in September 2023, summarising the marketing activity, undertaken by Paisley, to transform perceptions of Paisley over the last five years. From 2018–2023, the brand achieved the following cumulative KPI totals: ə Campaign partnership – An Comunn Gàidhealach and The Reeling to support Mòd Phàislig 2023 ə Strategic partnerships – VisitScotland – EventScotland – Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce ə Media partnerships – The List – What’s On Network – Data Thistle – MILL Magazine 272,966,097 Media coverage 1,810 Number of articles featuring Paisley or Renfrewshire ə Mòd Phaislig—The National, (What’s On Network, Gazette, Event Base, Stornoway Gazette, Inverness Courier, BBC Orkney, BBC Shetland, BBC Radio Scotland, What’s On Network, The List, BBC online, We Love Stornoway, Evening Times (print and online), Mòd (The National, Oban Times, Press and Journal (print and online), The List, Stornoway Gazette, West Highland Free Press, BBC Radio Scotland, Radio Clyde, BBC Radio Orkney, STV Central West, STV North, The Scotsman, BBC online, The Courier, Falkirk Herald, Daily Record online, Dundee Evening Telegraph, BBC 2 Scotland. ə Paisley Food & Drink Festival—Herald, Evening Times, Clyde 1, Daily Record (web), Great British Life (web), What’s On Network (web), Paisley Daily Express, Gazette, Renfrewshire News, Paisley.org, Mill Mag. ə Paisley Town Hall reopening—Paisley Daily Express, Paisley.org, Daily Record online, Evening Times (print and online), The Herald, Scottish Construction Now, Gazette, The Herald online. ə Future Paisley—Sculpture House: The Herald, The Herald online The National, Daily Record, Paisley Daily Express, Yahoo.co.uk, What’s On listings. ə Creativity Week—TESS, The Herald, BBC Radio Scotland. ə The Other Side of the River—The Big Issue, BBC Radio Scotland, The Scotsman, Broadway World, The National. ə Paisley Halloween Festival—The Scottish Farmer, What’s On Network, The List, Daily Record online, STV Central East, STV Central West, Paisley Daily Express, The Times (Ireland), Yahoo.com, Evening Times online, The World News, The Gazette. ə Opening of New Library—The Herald, Herald online, Evening Times, Gazette, Evening Times, What’s On Network, Paisley.org. Coverage highlights include: 23.3 million Opportunities to see and hear something positive about Paisley and Renfrewshire (OTSH) Scotland-wide campaign for Mòd Phàislig ə Featuring PR, Out of Home (OOH), print and social media advertising, which generated more than 1.2 billion Opportunities to see and hear something positive about Paisley and Renfrewshire (OTSH) 16.4 million social media reach and impressions 1.2 million social media engagements 2.3 million website views to www.paisley.is 1.2 million unique website users 19.9 million Opportunities to see and hear something positive about Paisley and Renfrewshire (OTSH) Integrated campaign for Paisley Halloween Festival ə comprising PR, OOH, Print, digital and social media, which led to more than Always-on Meta advertising (Facebook & Instagram) activated ə 5777 lands on Paisley.is ə 300,000 accounts reached ə 1,500,000 impressions ə 9000 engagements ə £0.53 average cost per land ə May to September featuring our three main visitor propositions; easy outdoors, microadventures and family days out. Collectively these ads delivered: � 57
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BRAN BRAND REVIEW OF Paisley August 2024
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2 Contents : PAGE 1. Purpose of review 3 2. Executive summary 4 3. Paisley the brand - context 6 4. Consultation feedback 6 5. Paisley the brand - key conclusions 8 6. Options for the brand 16 7. Recommendations 18 8. Timescale and funding 23 9. A new phase 24 Appendices : (i) Online questionnaire results 25 (ii) Brand overload 26 (iii) Examples of Paisley.is brand usage 27 (iv) Renfrewshire : social media audiences 28 (v) RMP – Draft terms of reference 29 (vi) Renfrewshire recurring event schedule 30 (vii) 21 examples of potential festivals 31 (viii)Proposed website reorganisation 32
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3 Paisley was developed to address head on the requirement for a town brand to help challenge outdated, negative perceptions of Paisley - considered to be detrimental to the wider Renfrewshire region - support Paisley’s bid in the UK City of Culture competition and to promote the town’s cultural and heritage assets. This requirement was confirmed in Paisley: The Untold Story. The final brand evolved from ten months of research including interviews with partners, businesses and VisitScotland and a far-reaching digital engagement exercise called ‘What’s Our Story.’ This demonstrated overwhelming support for a Paisley brand. The development and management of the destination brand was taken forward by the Council, through existing resource within the Council’s marketing and communications service. This required specific endorsement from VisitScotland as visitor marketing is expressly not included within Local Authority responsibilities. Six years on from launch, this review has been carried out is in response to a range of questions set out in the proposal document produced by the Council marketing team : • Does the brand work for the wider Renfrewshire region ? • Does the brand resonate with target audiences ? • What are the gaps, strengths and weaknesses of the brand ? • What are the opportunities for the brand ? • How can the brand be sustained in a challenging funding environment ? • How can links with ‘place partners’ be strengthened ? • How should inward investment opportunities be marketed ? • How can the value of the brand be justified ? This document aims to address these questions with one caveat. What’s missing from this work is a bespoke and substantial piece of research to establish the impact of the brand on various target audiences. This would be a very difficult and expensive thing to do objectively and properly. However, the consultation exercise has provided some subjective insight into this question. There are also some useful insights gained from the evaluation of the Council’s events programme which has shown a year on year increasing awareness of the Paisley brand. An effort has been made not to replicate the very comprehensive Paisley.is marketing review presented to the Future Paisley board in September 2023. That review has been used to inform the input to this document but it co-exists as an internal analysis of the Paisley brand, ratified by Future Paisley, whereas this work is very much an independent, external interpretation of what has been achieved over the last six years. Finally, it’s worth re-stating the purpose of the brand when it was launched in 2018. It was designed to respond to ‘step change 1’ of the Future Paisley programme : “Radically change Paisley's image and reputation in Scotland, the UK, and internationally.” The brand tool kit launched in 2018 stated : “We have created a modern brand that will make people more aware of the positive changes happening in the town and communicate what makes Paisley a great place to live, work and visit.” 1.PURPOSE OF REVIEW
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4 This review is in response to a detailed brief put out by the marketing team at Renfrewshire Council. To summarise, the Paisley brand is 6 years old and the task is to review how successful the brand has been in that time and what changes, if any, need to be made for the future marketing and promotion of the county. As part of the evaluation of Future Paisley, a comprehensive marketing review was carried out in September and this document is aimed at complementing that work not duplicating it. This review has consisted of 3 pieces of work : an extensive consultation exercise with stakeholders, an analysis of various reports and marketing material from the last 10 years and the introduction of destination marketing best practice from other cities and counties. Every councillor was given the opportunity to contribute to the review and several of them were interviewed face-to face. A further 29 people were individually consulted from key stakeholder organisations in Renfrewshire. A further 32 people responded to an online questionnaire. What hasn’t been possible to include is bespoke research on the consumer attitude to and awareness of the Paisley brand – this would require a much bigger piece of work. The consultation generally revealed an immense amount of goodwill towards the brand, particularly from the cultural community. Positive feedback focussed on the ‘look and feel’ of the brand and all the work that has gone in to support the brand : events and festival development, PR activity and the ‘What’s On’ platform on the Paisley.is website. The contribution of the Paisley brand work in filling a void and maintaining momentum following the disappointing City of Culture decision was also widely highlighted. Adding in the marketing review ‘evidence’ should leave no doubt that the brand work played a critical role in fulfilling one of Future Paisley’s objectives to “radically change Paisley's image and reputation in Scotland, the UK, and internationally.” STEAM tourism data and the economic impact data produced from the major festivals presents a compelling case that the investment in Paisley and, crucially all the work that has underpinned the brand, has produced a very positive return. Most importantly, those consulted unanimously agreed that “it is important that Paisley and Renfrewshire continue to promote itself positively both within the region and outside.” That alone suggests the efforts over the last 6 years have been highly valued. Inevitably, there were some challenges to the brand. Outside of Paisley there are those who believe that it doesn’t work for the wider Renfrewshire region. Other challenges included a lack of visibility of the brand, the fact that it was not adopted by other organisations to become the ‘umbrella’ brand for the county and a sense that the expectations for the brand were too wide-ranging. There are 10 conclusions to all the analysis, most relating to the brand but some also linked to the wider tourism strategy. They combine to help inform the next phase for the brand : • The Paisley brand has unquestionably contributed significantly to the improved image and perception of Paisley/Renfrewshire. • Like many places, there are many brands visible in the Renfrewshire consumer space. There remains the opportunity for consolidation and collaboration in the future to simplify things for the consumer.. 2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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5 • For the consumer (residents and visitors), ‘What’s On’ information appears disjointed and fragmented. Again, there is the opportunity for future consolidation. • The Paisley.is website was developed to reach different audiences but perhaps suffers from trying to be ‘all things to all people’. • The biggest strength of the Paisley.is brand is as a campaigning brand. • The Paisley brand enjoys a good level of support for those based in Paisley but lacks support from some people in Renfrewshire who don’t live or work in the town. • The chance should be taken to better align between the new tourism strategy and the future development of Paisley.is. • The promotion of Paisley as a brand is not yet embedded into the fabric of Renfrewshire and has depended on bespoke marketing campaigns with modest budgets. Sustained investment would be needed to address this. • From marketing data to sales data, the emphasis needs now to change. There is solid evidence that Paisley.is has achieved significant reach but economic development data now needs to be the focus. • The Paisley brand should not be diluted by doubling up as the inward investment brand for Renfrewshire (other than in a campaigning capacity). Looking to the future, 3 options were considered for the brand : (a) drop the brand and move on, (b) continue ‘as is’ or (c) revitalise/re-purpose the brand. The stakeholder feedback was overwhelmingly to continue with the brand but to do things differently, the third of those options. In response to the 10 conclusions listed above and the preferred option, 6 recommendations are made for the development of Paisley : • Set up a new, formal ‘Renfrewshire Marketing Partnership’ • Reposition Paisley.is exclusively as a campaigning brand to continue the massively important task of improving the town and the county’s image and perception • Develop a more conventional, dedicated visitor website branded ‘Visit Paisley and Renfrewshire’ • Over time, consolidate ‘What’s On’ initiatives into one definitive platform branded ‘What’s On across Renfrewshire’ • Double-down on developing a dynamic, expanded and varied events and festivals programme • Create a new data ‘dashboard’ that gives timely and useful intelligence of cultural, tourism and leisure activity in the county. The emphasis is on keeping things pragmatic and deliverable. The funding prognosis is not favourable for the next few years and so certain things must be done differently. The proposed website changes require re-organisation of what has already been developed rather than demanding additional content creation or a re-design. All the initiatives are designed as longer-term developments that will stimulate gradual progress, a move away from one-off bursts of expenditure that lead to short-term spikes of response. In terms of timing, the re-opening of Paisley Museum in the spring of 2025 provides an incentive for action. Key to everything is the setting up of a new marketing partnership. As Future Paisley winds down, the proposed Renfrewshire Marketing Partnership would ensure momentum is maintained and it would go a long way to delivering the collaboration that is required to fully exploit marketing opportunities. The Council has carried the burden over the last 6 years. Place marketing should move from being the exclusive responsibility of the Council to a joint responsibility of the key organisations in the area. The other recommendations are all designed to give the Paisley brand a clear (campaigning) purpose moving forward and to support it with smoothing out some other areas of the marketing effort. One way to look at these proposals is to consider this a third phase in the cultural and economic
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6 regeneration of Renfrewshire. Phase one, 2014-2017 was all about ambition, building support for the 2021 City of Culture bid and changing the mindset of the local population. Phase two, 2018-2024 was all about delivery, developing the assets that would transform the image of and opportunity for the county alongside a strong, new brand. Phase 3 must be about performance, making sure that the marketing and promotional effort intensifies not diminishes, helping to produce the results that will validate the massive Council investment in cultural regeneration. A simplistic way of looking at the build-up to this point in 2024 is to segment the last 10 years into two distinct phases : Phase 1 : 2014-2017 → AMBITION – Building momentum and support for the very brave and enterprising decision to enter the race for UK City of Culture 2021. It required immense vision and determination and a serious effort to capture ‘the hearts and minds’ of the local population. Phase 2 : 2018-2024 → DELIVERY – Despite the disappointment of the failed bid, there has been an impressive commitment to delivering on the aspirations of becoming the UK City of Culture : Future Piasley, investment in major events, the town hall development, the new library, the arts centre refurbishment, the massive investment in Paisley Museum and other cultural initiatives. The Paisley brand has been an integral part of the Council’s mission to deliver real change in the county’s fortunes. Now that the key projects are all near completion, it seems like an opportune time to think through what the next phase – phase 3 – should look like. This is a useful context for deciding where the Paisley brand goes from here. There are two other important pieces of context that add extra dimensions to the brief of auditing the brand. First, the impending winding down of the Future Paisley programme will potentially leave a gap in the strategic framework that has supported Paisley over the last 6 years. Maintaining interest and commitment in initiatives such as place brand development might be more challenging going forward. Second, it’s clear that for any local authority the budgetary situation is going to be very tight over the next few years. The Paisley brand has benefitted from several very helpful funding schemes since 2018 but there’s no guarantee that there will be the same opportunities in future. Both these issues mean that recommendations for what happens next with the brand must be realistic and pragmatic. At the heart of this review has been a significant consultation. 35 face-to-face interviews have taken place including a selection of 6 cross party councillors. Every other councillor has been given the opportunity to contribute to the discussion through an online questionnaire. 3.Paisley THE BRAND - CONTEXT 4.CONSULTATION FEEDBACK
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7 The other interviews have taken place with senior representatives from the following stakeholders : Renfrewshire Council Executive – OneRen – Chamber of Commerce – Engage Renfrewshire – Scottish Leather Group – Paisley First – UWS – West College Scotland – PACE Theatre Company – Outspoken Arts – Visit Scotland – Mill magazine – Erskine Arts – Johnstone Business Consortium – WH Malcolm – Graphical House – Henderson Properties – National Trust – RSPB – Scottish Enterprise - Renfrew Development Trust 12 councillors and 20 other stakeholders responded to the online questionnaire, meaning that some 67 individuals were involved in the consultation. For various reasons there were some notable omissions from the consultation and, at some point, for completeness, it would be good to engage with the following organisations : • Glasgow Airport • Braehead Shopping Centre • St. Mirren F.C. • Mar Hall Hotel • Braehead Arena On some questions, there has a high degree of consensus whilst on other issues views were quite polarised. For most people, the Paisley brand resonated strongly and facilitated a meaningful discussion. For a few people, there was a striking lack of awareness of the brand and its role over the last 6 years. As a very broad generalisation, the closer people were to the cultural agenda and the public sector, and located in Paisley, the more engaged they were with the brand. This reflects the main purpose of the brand. The main feedback can be summarised as follows : POSITIVES (with a high degree of consensus) • Almost universally, people believe that the image and perception of Paisley and Renfrewshire has improved over the last 6 years. • There were very few negative comments about the style of the brand itself – generally people like the ‘look and feel’ of Paisley. Several people commented on the versatility of the brand. It was also acknowledged that the brand doesn’t come across as a typical council branding exercise. • The development of events and festivals in Paisley is highly regarded and is seen as a very positive improvement. • Virtually everyone believes that the continued promotion and marketing of Paisley/Renfrewshire in the future is very important. This must reflect some satisfaction in what has been achieved over the last 6 years. • Most people, though not all, believe that the focus on Paisley for the brand rather than Renfrewshire was both sensible and understandable – the “attack brand”, a reflection of the strategic priority when the brand was launched. • The ‘What’s On’ element of the website is by far the most recognised and used.
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8 • Many people, particularly from the cultural sector, referred positively to the void that the Paisley brand had filled after the failed City of Culture bid. It has helped maintain momentum and keep cultural regeneration at the forefront of people’s mind. NEGATIVES • Although a minority, there is clearly a vociferous body of people outside of Paisley who resent that conceptually the brand is Paisley.is not Renfrewshire.is. No amount of persuasion will alter their views. Similar opinions were expressed in the tourism plan consultation. • Some people commented on the lack of visibility of the brand within Renfrewshire and there were similar comments questioning the level of brand awareness with residents in the county. This is largely ‘hearsay’ and is also contradicted by some of the brand awareness research that has happened during the main festivals. It could also reflect the fact that the priority for the brand was to target people outside the region. • It was widely acknowledged that other organisations (possibly apart from the Chamber of Commerce) had failed to pick up the brand and integrate it into their own marketing. Some described Paisley.is as “the Council’s brand” rather than a brand for the whole area.. It has not become the ‘umbrella’ brand adopted by all. This was not helped by changes of leadership at key organisations. • There was inconsistent understanding on what the brand is all about. “The culture brand”, “the destination brand”, “the tourism brand”, “a campaigning brand”, “the Council brand” were all different interpretations of what Paisley stands for. • A lot of people referred to a confusing landscape of branding across Renfrewshire (not uncommon in many places). Lots of brands, lots of initiatives – all fighting for air space and in danger of creating ambiguity for the consumer. • Generally, people were very optimistic about the impact and potential of the Paisley Museum re- opening but there were several concerned comments about the surrounding infrastructure, particularly the High St. and overall town readiness. This has little relevance to the Paisley brand but has wider significance for the marketing of the area. The online questionnaire scores are set out in appendix (i). Note : All the 32 consultees who used the online questionnaire made comments in response to 4 very general questions about the brand. They are in a separate document and these are well worth a look at. Putting the consultation feedback, the Paisley marketing review and an independent assessment together, the following conclusions have been drawn : 5.1 The Paisley brand has unquestionably contributed significantly to the improved image and perception of Paisley/Renfrewshire. 5. Paisley THE BRAND – KEY CONCLUSIONS
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9 The marketing review presents substantial evidence that waves of marketing activity, underpinned by the Paisley brand, has ‘shifted the dial’ in terms of the perception and image of Paisley and Renfrewshire. The review details ‘opportunities to see or hear something positive about Paisley and Renfrewshire ‘ in excess of 1.2 billion over 5 years, 1.2 million website users and social media reach and impressions of over 16 million over the same period. Other data sources back up the idea that that all the work around the Paisley brand has paid dividends. For example, independently produced STEAM tourism data for 2022 (the latest numbers) calculates the economic impact of tourism at £251 million, 19% higher than the pre-Covid year of 2019. (This compares very favourably with overall UK figures which are still showing a deficit against 2019). Added to the data evidence is the consultation feedback. 32 councillors and stakeholders answered the online questionnaire. On a scale of 1-5 (with 5 representing “agree strongly”) this was the response to 2 very direct questions : Question Average score from 18 stakeholders Average score from 12 councillors “The Paisley brand work has made a positive contribution to the image of the region over the last 5 years.” 4.60 4.33 “The investment and commitment to the Paisley brand has had a positive economic impact on the region.” 4.25 4.00 With only a few exceptions, the face-to-face interviews painted a similar picture. The validity of the sample size and composition could be questioned but the positive consensus from those consulted was overwhelming. The marketing review also highlighted the success of event and festival development, something identified as an area for improvement by the City of Culture bid team. The following graphic from the Halloween Festival 2023 research clearly illustrates how these events have contributed to the changing image and perception of the area :
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10 Stakeholders consulted face-to-face were also very complimentary about the events programme, the majority view being “more please.” This is backed up by the recent figures compiled for 2023/24 showing that the events programme attracted 140,000 attendees, with an average visitor satisfaction rating of 97.5% and a combined economic impact of £5.4 million for Renfrewshire. A research report for Future Paisley from the CCSE at the University of the West of Scotland titled “Public Value of Festivals and Events” concluded : “There is substantial support for the events programme and wider investment” and “Events in Paisley are a good investment.” (https://bit.ly/4fj6V1Y) It is more difficult to assess what impact the brand itself had on the changing of image and perception. The brand was just one element of a broader strategy, delivered by the Council’s marketing and communications teams, to raise the profile of Paisley. This included PR work, the building up of the website, the festival development, the promotional campaigns and all the other activities that have been carried out over the last 6 years. Suffice to say, the Paisley brand has been a vital component of the strategic effort and has underpinned and successfully linked everything together. To illustrate the change that has been brought about, here is just one example of ‘before and after’, one of the 1.2 billion ‘opportunities to see and hear something positive about Paisley” : FROM (October 2013) TO (March 2024) “There’s still a long way to go but nowhere else in Scotland is going about urban regeneration with such vision.” – The Sunday Times “A new report has lifted the lid on Paisley’s retail misery by revealing the town has more empty shops than anywhere else in Scotland.” – Daily Record.
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11 Note : The impact of COVID-19 should not be forgotten or under-estimated in assessing the 6-year brand campaign. Some of the achievements of the Paisley brand work are even more impressive when the impact of the pandemic is considered. Less than 2 years after the launch of Paisley, activity was effectively put on hold for 2020 and most of 2021. To maintain the commitment to the brand and to use it effectively for the marketing recovery work was commendable. The 2022 summer campaign, the Paisley.is Calling campaign and the revitalisation of the Halloween festival in 2022 are all excellent examples of the brand in action. 5.2 Renfrewshire has many brands, logos and slogans that will be confusing the consumer (residents and visitors). Appendix (ii) illustrates the cacophony of brands that people in Renfrewshire are exposed to. To the average consumer, understanding that Future Paisley is the name for the City of Culture legacy programme while OneRen has responsibility for running the main cultural organisations while Renfrewshire Council is leading on the branding of the county through Paisley at the same time as Paisley First is doing its best to boost activity in Paisley town centre is a tough challenge. This situation is not unique to Renfrewshire, most other towns, cities and counties have the same problem. Trying to reduce the number of brands on display is not practicable and it is totally understandable that each organisation and initiative wants its own distinct label. What is perhaps a missed opportunity is that the Paisley brand could have been a catalyst for pulling everyone together for a common cause – an ‘umbrella’ brand. There is scant evidence that other organisations rallied behind Paisley and added value to the core activity driven by the Council. From outside, it looks as though it is just accepted that the Council has the sole responsibility for promoting the county, a responsibility that is becoming less sustainable and reasonable. The imminent Tourism Action Plan is an example of a mechanism that could help address this. Most respondents to the consultation acknowledged the opportunity for better collaboration : Question Average score from 18 stakeholders Average score from 12 councillors “More could be done to encourage other organisations in the area to collaborate on marketing and branding Renfrewshire.” 4.25 4.75 This contrasts markedly to the collaborative way that people and organisations in Renfrewshire coalesced around the UK City of Culture bid. Getting this spirit of co-operation re-energised is important for the future especially given the positive appetite through the consultation process for continuing to market and promote Paisley/Renfrewshire, as exemplified by 2 answers in the online questionnaire : Question Average score from 18 stakeholders Average score from 12 councillors
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12 “It is important that Paisley and Renfrewshire continue to promote itself positively both within the region and outside.” 5.00 4.67 “It is important to build on the investment in the Paisley brand over the last 6 years.” 4.80 4.25 5.3 A strength of the Paisley.is website is ‘What’s on’ information but for the consumer (residents and visitors) too many ‘What’s On’ sources create a disjointed and fragmented picture. Presenting ‘What’s On’ information in a timely, uniform and accurate way for the consumer is a major challenge for many places around the UK – few do it well. One of the strengths of the Paisley.is website is the presentation of ‘What’s On’ information – it has a good look, it’s searchable and, despite a few glitches, has good functionality. It is though having to fight for air with a host of other ‘What’s On’ sites in the area : Website Description Google search ranking (“what’s on in Renfrewshire”) Google search ranking (“what’s on in Paisley”?) Pailey.is Powered by Data Thistle, it’s comprehensive and open to all 6 1 One Ren Bookable tickets, Council venues only 2 7 Paisley First Events happening in the BID area only - 10 What’s On Renfrewshire Independent network covering central Scotland, free to list 1 2 Visit Scotland Very poor event search for Renfrewshire - 34 The Renfrewshire Gazette Feature led, very poor search facility 7 3 Mill magazine Linked to What’s On Renfrewshire rather than Paisley.is 9 33 Paisley.org.uk Poor, “weekly updates” 28 11 The list National site, relying on own search facility - - The implication of this for the consumer is that it’s ‘potluck’ what information they get depending on which website they choose to select. Get through to the wrong site and they have a very poor experience. The Google ranking scores illustrates the strength of Paisley.is as a Paisley platform and it’s clear there is an opportunity for key organisations in Renfrewshire to coalesce around one main site. 5.4 The Paisley.is website has tried to be ‘all things to all people’. For the future, a key question is what is the Paisley.is website looking to achieve ? The statistics point to the fact that the website has achieved most of its success through ‘What’s On’ and the promotion of events. 8 out of 10 of the most visited pages on the website last year related to ‘What’s On’ and,
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13 currently, 4 of the 5 sitelinks on the Google listing take you to ‘What’s On’ pages. The main search result promotes ‘Paisley and Renfrewshire – visit, live, work and invest – Paisley.is’. The main menu on the site has 6 headings – What’s On, Blog, Visit, Stories, Live, Invest. What’s On provides lifestyle information and it is the main visitor website for Renfrewshire yet it takes an unconventional approach to how visitor information is promoted – with an emphasis on stories rather than easy access visitor information. For example, a potential visitor must scroll down a long way to uncover limited information on ‘hotels and accommodation’. The Blog section is interesting and colourful and is focussed on ‘our story’ – it’s unclear who this is aimed at. The live section has some useful information and would be a good component of an inward investment ‘pitch’ rather than as a standalone section. The invest section relies on Council links and would probably sit better as a stand-alone site. The marketing review highlights the growth in the number of pages on the site from around 100 in 2018 to nearly 450 in 2023, an impressive increase in content. There are though some further insights to consider : • Last year the gap between the most viewed page, the Paisley Halloween Festival (57,308) and the 10th most viewed page, the Paisley 10k run (4,302) was considerable. Beyond 10th the figures suggest many pages are receiving little attention and that is a consequence of the wide-ranging nature of the site. • The overall user numbers on the site are volatile, reflecting campaign activity : YEAR UNIQUE USERS 2018/19 100,580 2019/20 230,976 2020/21 134,529 2021/22 255,913 2022/23 459,913 2023/24 228,819 Impressive growth in year 2 against the launch year was thwarted by Covid but the bounce-back in 2021/22 was strong and there followed a spectacular year in 2022/23 fuelled by marketing activity. The figures for 2023/24 are back to year 2 levels. This implies that marketing activity has been the main driver of traffic rather than organic growth. Sustaining growth, given budget limitations, will be difficult. • Figures produced by Visit Scotland show a similar volatility : Annual average views of Paisley/Renfrewshire pages on Visit Scotland Year Total pages Page views Unique Page views 2019 2,382 14,770 12,935 2020 1,196 5,287 4,356 2021 1,344 5,416 3,467 2022 1,560 12,251 9,590 2023 1,120 5,859 4,706
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14 The conclusion to this section is that the Paisley.is website should be re-organised and this is detailed in the recommendations 5.5 The biggest strength of the Paisley.is brand is as a campaigning brand. Following on from the last section, Graphical House, the agency who helped conceive the brand, affirm that the Paisley.is website was designed primarily as a campaigning website rather than as a traditional visitor website. The Paisley.is brand has also been the ‘badge’ of some excellent, stylish marketing campaigns, a small selection can be seen in appendix (iii). Has it worked as a destination brand ? This question was put to stakeholders as part of the face-to- face consultation and the majority consensus was the brand’s strength is as a campaign. There is less consensus on whether it has worked as a destination brand for visitors. The fact is that it is very difficult for a brand to fulfil the dual functions of campaign and destination. Interestingly, Glasgow Life have recently re-badged their main visitor website to Visit Glasgow with ‘People Make Glasgow’ used now as a tagline.. The two brands now sit aside each other – doing different things. Their reasoning is here : https://www.visitglasgow.com/the-city-tourism-brand-is-visit-glasgow 5.6 There needs to be closer alignment between the new tourism strategy and the future development of Paisley.is. The Paisley.is brand should feature prominently in both the new tourism strategy document (‘Renfrewshire’s Tourism Today 2024-2027’) and the accompanying ‘Operational Framework’
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15 document – but it doesn’t. If Paisley.is is regarded as the destination brand for the county then this represents a significant misdirection. Another observation of the new tourism strategy is that, given the ambitions for Renfrewshire, and the massive investment in cultural facilities, a target growth rate of 2% per annum through to 2027 is very cautious. Inflation alone will take care of that. The targets seem out of step with the aspirations of other parts of the Council and should be reviewed. 5.7 The Paisley brand is not supported by some people in Renfrewshire who don’t live or work in Paisley. Most people interviewed as part of the consultation understood and supported the emphasis on Paisley as the destination brand – it is by far the biggest town, it has much greater geographical recognition than Renfrewshire and it is where the bulk of the Council’s investment has been made. Equally understood by most is that if the fortunes of Paisley can be improved then other parts of Renfrewshire should also benefit. However, there was a small but vociferous group of respondents, outwith the Paisley area, who simply cannot support the brand because it doesn’t overtly reference Renfrewshire as a whole. They feel excluded and no amount of persuasion will bring them round to being advocates for Paisley. It as an issue that needs addressing if there is to be a county-wide unity of purpose moving forward. 5.8 The promotion of Paisley as a brand is not embedded into the fabric of Renfrewshire and has depended on bespoke marketing campaigns. What has been very difficult for the Paisley brand to achieve is ‘stickiness’. The only constants for the brand are the website and social media, all other activity has relied upon marketing campaigns when funding has allowed. The pandemic also disrupted continuity. There is a perception that, visually, the brand ‘comes and goes’, alongside big events for example. However, it is worth noting that two surveys of residents during the 2023 Food and Drink Festival and the Sma’ Shot Day showed residents’ awareness of the Paisley.is brand at 78% and 56% respectively. That suggests a reasonable degree of engagement. There simply haven’t been the budgets to give Paisley a consistent presence in the county and this issue is exacerbated by 2 earlier points : 5.3 – too many brands, disjointed ‘What’s On’ marketing and 5.6 - Paisley has worked much better as a campaigning brand. The OneRen website is a good example of a missed opportunity for co-promoting Paisley. Similarly, within Paisley town there are times when the only place branding is for Paisley First and OneRen, neither of which reference Paisley.is :
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16 5.9 From marketing data to sales data, the emphasis needs now to change. The supporting marketing data for Paisley over the last 6 years has been comprehensive and highly commendable. The degree to which PR is monitored, events are surveyed for feedback and marketing data is captured on a regular basis would be perceived as ‘best practice’ by many other local authorities. The recent marketing review captures the scale and breadth of information that is analysed. What is missing, as it is in most places, is much ‘harder’ data that takes marketing data a stage further, translating marketing activity into ‘action’ – more people visiting the county, busier hotels, increased attraction audiences, increased retail activity etc. A lot of the information exists, it is just not collected, aggregated and monitored. Once the Paisley Museum has been re-opened, it will be imperative to be able to demonstrate that this significant investment in culture over the last 6 years is leading to a return. Currently, the marketing can be proved, can the sales be proved ? 5.10 The Paisley brand should not be diluted by having to be the inward investment brand for Renfrewshire (other than in a campaigning capacity). Trying to also be the inward investment brand for Renfrewshire is an unnecessary distraction for Paisley – the focus should be on campaigning. This from time to time might be an inward investment campaign (e.g. ‘Paisley.is A great place to do business’) but it makes more sense for the economic development team to have ownership of the strategy, the inward investment ‘story’ and the associated content. An inward investment brand already exists at the Council and, as it works with Paisley.is now, just confuses the picture. The Council’s ‘Renfrewshire’s economic strategy 2020-2030’ document refers to the objective ”to raise Renfrewshire’s profile nationally and internationally as a natural location for inward and established business investment” but there is no reference to Paisley. Changing ‘image and perception’ is quite generic and fits the Paisley brand well. Promoting inward investment is much more specific and requires real focus and collaboration from the Council, the Chamber of Commerce and Scottish Enterprise. ‘Invest in Renfrewshire’ requires a lot of development. Although with separate organisations to the Council, there are two places that do business development/inward investment very effectively and with very distinct brands, Hull and Derby : https://www.futurehumber.com https://www.marketingderby.co.uk To move on from the retrospective, the priority now is to look forward – what next for the Paisley brand ? There are 3 core options : (a) drop it, (b)continue ‘as is’, (c) develop/refresh/revitalise. A brief overview of each option is as follows : OPTION RATIONALE FOR AGAINST 6.OPTIONS FOR THE BRAND
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17 1. Drop the brand – move onto something else It has done its job. Things have moved on, let’s create something new and appropriate for now. With Future Paisley coming to its conclusion, the brand can too. Weaknesses (e.g. the Renfrewshire issue) need to be addressed. • Good timing for the museum relaunch • Reflect the county now not what it was 6 years ago. • Some stakeholders can be brought ‘onside’. • ‘New brand’ fatigue • Too soon to lose the brand equity that has been built up (Glasgow’s ‘People make Glasgow’ was launched in 2014, 10 years ago) • Cost of developing a new brand 2. Continue ‘as is’ – build on the strengths Significant time, effort and money has gone into developing the brand, let’s not “throw the baby out with the bath water”. Continuity will further embed the brand and build on its strengths. • Makes the most of the historical investment • Website continuity • ‘Paisley.is’ still works for the challenges ahead • Does nothing to address the weaknesses identified by stakeholders • Opposition to the brand will intensify • ‘Old brand’ fatigue 3. Re-energise and re- vitalise the brand, make it relevant to the current agenda Things have moved on considerably since 2018 so it’s a good time to ‘refresh’ and make sure it’s fit for purpose for the future. It’s also important to address some of the weaknesses associated with the brand. • Chance to build on the investment AND address some key issues • Good timing for the promotion of new assets • Reflects the vast majority view of key stakeholders • Hard to reconcile the ‘Renfrewshire issue’ • Compromise solution • What evidence that stakeholders will support as would be required ? These options were discussed in the consultation face-to-face interviews. With just a few exceptions, there was an overwhelming consensus around option 3. There is confidence in maintaining the brand but a realisation that there are some things to be addressed and that it is the right time to recalibrate for fresh challenges ahead. The same question wasn’t put to the online respondents but a very positive answer to another question suggests a similar preference : Question Average score from 18 stakeholders Average score from 12 councillors “The reasons for developing a brand strategy back in 2016 are still relevant in 2024.” 4.50 4.17
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18 This section aims to build on option 3 (develop/refresh/revitalise) by drawing all the consultation feedback together, by reviewing an extensive collection of documents in relation to the brand and by thinking through how the 10 conclusions set out in section 5 can be addressed. Examples of ‘best practice’ have been included, as applicable. There are 6 key recommendations : 7.1 Set up a new, formal ‘Renfrewshire Marketing Partnership’ If Renfrewshire is to make the most of the opportunities afforded by the new cultural assets then greater collaboration across the county is essential. The successes achieved with the Paisley brand have been driven by a small Council team and is despite a lack of active support from other organisations, and a rather disjointed approach to marketing across Renfrewshire. There has been very good collaboration through Future Paisley with the cultural development agenda but, as this is now winding down, there is a significant case for a new initiative to build on its legacy. In the same way that Future Paisley filled the void following the City of Culture bid so a new Renfrewshire Marketing Partnership can take up the responsibility for keeping place marketing momentum going. The remit of the new partnership would be to create initiatives that encourage and deliver a collaborative approach to the marketing and promotion of the county. Draft terms of reference and a proposed membership of the partnership are set out in Appendix (iv). Looking at the terms of reference for the ’Economic Leadership Panel’ and the ‘Tourism Leadership Group’ , there is no overlap – the new partnership would have a very clear and distinct mandate. The potential benefit of a true partnership approach is demonstrated in appendix (v). Paisley.is has a combined social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) following of around 24,000. The aggregate following of the key organisations in Renfrewshire is 986,000, nearly 1 million, and nearly 40 times the potency of Paisley.is. There is duplication but imagine if that firepower could be harnessed to blast out regular campaigns with Paisley.is as the common denominator ? Outside of the public sector arena, some consultees expressed concern about the potential marketing conflicts of interest between the Council, OneRen and Paisley First. Establishing this new partnership might allay these fears and provide a solid platform for much greater collaboration going forward. 7.2 Reposition Paisley exclusively as a campaigning brand to continue the massively important task of improving the county’s image and perception Rather than trying to be ‘all things to all people’, the Paisley brand should be re-focussed to concentrate on the ongoing challenge of enhancing the image and perception of the town. It is a brand that should remain at the heart of ongoing PR and campaigning work and its target audience focus should be primarily on people from outside of Renfrewshire. Carefully constructed Paisley campaigns should be a regular (quarterly ?) undertaking using the collaborative power of the Renfrewshire Marketing Partnership to make things happen. This is a shift from the marketing burden being the sole responsibility of the Council. An example of a campaign 7.RECOMMENDATIONS 7
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19 could be, at the time of the re-opening of Paisley Museum, a ‘Paisley.is Transforming’ promotion to maximise national and international coverage of the area. Over time, the Paisley.is website can be re-purposed to concentrate on telling the Paisley/Renfrewshire story, updating as things happen and providing the backdrop for ongoing campaigning work. It would also integrate closely with two other sites (see 7.3 and 7.4). This re-focussing of the brand gives it a much clearer sense of purpose, ensures that the brand equity built up over the last 6 years is not lost and helps to address the ‘Renfrewshire issue’ by using it more externally than internally. The opportunity should also be taken, with key stakeholders, to review the ‘tone’ of the brand and its campaigning work. Do elements need to be updated ? This is just the sort of question, with others, that the proposed marketing partnership can seek to get some consensus on. 7.3 Develop a more conventional visitor website branded ‘Visit Paisley and Renfrewshire’ With the Paisley brand concentrated on campaigning, there would be a need to have a more functional, conventional website serving the specific needs of the visitor. The obvious brand for this website would be ‘Visit Paisley and Renfrewshire’ *. There are plenty of examples of visitor websites badging two geographical locations, here’s one for Chester and Cheshire : A new website can be kept straightforward with content areas such as : Where to stay What’s On Trails Top attractions Golf How to spend a day in Paisley Where to eat Walking and cycling How to spend a day in the country How to get here Shopping Towns and villages The new site would be aimed solely at visitors and potential visitors. There would be a prominent link to the re-purposed Paisley.is website for more ‘colour’ and depth of what the county has to offer. The ‘town and country’ offer can be presented side by side. Here are some good examples of visitor websites : https://www.visitderry.com https://www.discovercarlisle.co.uk https://www.visitbrighton.com https://www.visitleicester.info https://visitbristol.co.uk Note : *Why ‘Visit Paisley and Renfrewshire’, why not just “Visit Renfrewshire’ ? There does seem to be a strong consensus that Paisley has much greater geographical recognition than Renfrewshire and it
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20 clearly has the bulk of the visitor attractions. The proposed brand for the website is true to the original thinking behind Paisley.is but also recognises the need for inclusivity of the rest of the Renfrewshire County. Note : In terms of ‘look and feel’, the visitor website would maintain the brand guidelines for Paisley.is, there is no need to ‘re-invent the wheel’, just change and provide the focus. 7.4 Over time, consolidate ‘What’s On’ initiatives into one definitive platform branded ‘What’s On across Renfrewshire’ Again, using the collaborative powers of the Renfrewshire Marketing Partnership, aim to create a ‘one- stop shop’ for What’s On information across Renfrewshire. The best current platform is the Paisley.is website and partners such as OneRen and Paisley First should be encouraged to coalesce around developing and supporting this site. Conceptually, re-brand as ‘What’s On across Renfrewshire’ and this re-purposed site would be aimed exclusively at residents and would become the ‘go to’ site for people in Renfrewshire to get the best out of their county. As well as being a stand-alone site, it would also be the platform for the ‘What’s On’ element of the visitor website….and it would have a prominent link to the Paisley.is campaigning website. Leeds inspired (https://www.leedsinspired.co.uk) and Creative Tourist in Manchester (https://www.creativetourist.com) are two interesting sites to take a look at. In time, a more pro-active approach to marketing What’s On could be developed. A curated, monthly newsletter could be published for residents highlighting the best things happening in Renfrewshire in the month ahead. A couple of examples : York do it weekly : https://bit.ly/3TtmZ7r Bradford do it monthly but with an awful design : https://bit.ly/4a9R4Aa Note : Again, the ‘look and feel’ of the site would be unchanged from Paisley.is – the 3 sites would clearly be part of the same family and they would be inextricably linked. A diagram to show how the proposed new approach for the websites would work can be seen in appendix (viii). 7.5 Double-down on developing a dynamic, varied events and festivals programme The Renfrewshire Events Strategy 2022/23 has a very clear direction : “Our vision is to deliver high-quality events through socially engaged practice, deliver positive and memorable experiences for residents and visitors, contribute positively to the local economy, and position Renfrewshire as a great place to visit, work and learn.” It’s clear that Paisley has developed an excellent reputation for events and festivals, particularly the Halloween Festival, the Book Festival and the Food and Drink Festival. The investment in the Arts
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21 Centre, Library, the Town Hall and the Paisley Museum together with the event aspirations of Coats provides a fantastic opportunity to further develop the programme. Tight funding makes this very difficult but it is highly recommended that every creative effort is made to ‘double-down’ on the commitment for expansion. Appendix (vi) sets out the current Renfrewshire programme of events and festivals. It highlights gaps in the calendar, particularly early in the year. It also shows a lack of activity in places other than Paisley. These issues should be addressed. Appendix (vii) gives 22 examples of successful events elsewhere in the UK – some of them are large- scale, some are smaller affairs that requires good organisation rather than significant investment. Resourcing is clearly tight but there are ways in which programme development could be encouraged : • Reaching out to English event organisers to see if there could be a Scottish version of their distinct festival (e.g. The Steam Punk Festival in Lincoln- Paisley would be a fantastic backdrop for such an event.) • Approaching organisations in Renfrewshire to see if they would take responsibility for developing a festival (e.g. Could the University of West Scotland replicate York University’s successful ‘Festival of Ideas’ ?) • A competition for event organisers (with some small seed-funding) to come up with ideas for new events, to then deliver them. • A collective endeavour within Paisley that creates a festival that cuts across all the great venues : the Abbey, Town Hall, Museum, Coats, arts Centre etc. • Scotland’s forthcoming new National Events Strategy should be scoured for opportunities. There should be a distinct shift in emphasis at the Council : from organiser to facilitator, making it easy for event organisers to use Paisley’s fantastic creative spaces as their ‘playground’. The events and Renfrewshire events and festivals strategy is due to be updated later this year, it should remain a vital component of Renfrewshire’s regeneration. Two places that have gone really big on events and festivals are Cheltenham and Harrogate : https://www.cheltenhamfestivals.com and Harrogate : https://visitharrogate.co.uk/events/category/festivals 7.6 Create a new data ‘dashboard’ that gives much more timely and useful intelligence of cultural, tourism and leisure activity in the county. As the focus moves from investment in cultural facilities to building audiences and developing tourism, it is essential that Renfrewshire builds on the existing marketing dashboard and adds much more wide- ranging data and intelligence from which to monitor performance. This is difficult to do but with some cross departmental work at the Council, and with co-operation of partners, it is possible to create a monthly snapshot of activity in the area. Data sources could include : Visitor attraction numbers Rail passenger numbers Hotel occupancy Social media data Room rates data Bus passenger numbers Braehead retail footfall RSPB/National Trust visitor numbers
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22 Paisley footfall data (Paisley First) Event/festival attendees Website user numbers New cultural/hospitality businesses opening Car park data Media coverage Etc. A lot of this data already exists but it is not brought together and aggregated. If it could be, it would provide a much more valuable and timely measure of what’s being achieved than currently exists. After a year, monthly year on year comparisons can be made and it’s a way of developing much greater knowledge of seasonal variations and an understanding of what promotional activity drives a response. IMPACTS : The impacts that these 6 recommendations are designed to create can be summarised as follows : Recommendation Which issues does it address ? Desired impacts 7.1 Set up a new, formal ‘Renfrewshire Marketing Partnership’. 5.2, 5.6,, 5.8 • Build on the momentum of Future Paisley • Emphasis on collaboration • The responsibility for marketing Renfrewshire becomes a shared one not the sole responsibility of the Council 7.2 Reposition Paisley exclusively as a campaigning brand to continue the massively important task of improving the county’s image and perception. 5.1, 5.5, 5.10 • Renewed focus and targeting • Continuity and development of the brand • An opportunity to ‘re-boot’ 7.3 Plan to develop a more conventional visitor website branded ‘Visit Paisley and Renfrewshire’. 5.4, 5.5, 5.6, 5.7 • Better information and online experience for the visitor • More inclusive for the whole county • More ownership from the tourism team and sector 7.4 Aim to consolidate ‘What’s On’ initiatives into one definitive platform branded ‘What’s On across Renfrewshire’, using Paisley as the template 5.3, 5.7 • A ‘one-stop shop’ • A better experience for residents • Encouraging residents to engage with their county more positively 7.5 Double-down on developing a dynamic, varied events and festivals programme. 5.1 • Responds to “more please” from stakeholders • Complements the fantastic new venues now available : animation • Paisley as a playground 7.6 Create a new data ‘dashboard’ to give much more timely and useful intelligence of cultural, tourism and leisure activity in the county. 5.9 • More informed decision-making • Better understanding of performance • Timely information
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23 TIMESCALE : Delivering on these recommendations is not a quick fix. It probably requires an 18-month plan of action. That plan should probably be based on the following logic : • The priority is to set up the Renfrewshire Marketing Partnership, absolutely key in helping to advance the 5 other recommendations. It will require a mandate from the Council and possibly Future Paisley and an early appointment of a strong, suitable external Chair. • There are 3 potential website projects but they are all connected. The work requires re-organisation rather than a massive increase in content and there is no suggestion that the ‘look and feel’ should change. The new sites should be up and running for the re-opening of the Paisley Museum in the spring of 2025. • The recommendation on events and festivals is best picked up as part of the events strategy update later this year. • The data project is potentially the hardest. It will require some resource and possibly a small project team to bring it to fruition and huge co-operation from partners. Again, in a perfect world, the first month of data collection would be January 2025. FUNDING : There are 4 points to make on funding : • The recommendations are deliberately focussed on pragmatic change rather than a reliance on major, new funding. It will require changes of emphasis and resource allocation. • To what degree can existing budgets be re-purposed to underpin the new recommendations ? • A benefit of a new Marketing Partnership should be to evolve a culture in which key partners help to fund marketing campaigns. It is not inconceivable (and it does happen elsewhere) that, for example, 10 organisations in the area (the University, Braehead retail, OneRen, Paisley First, Glasgow Airport, Mar Hall etc.) could contribute £500 each for a £5,000 Paisley brand campaign that promotes the ‘greater good’ of the area. • There are some obvious commercial opportunities that could be taken to help boost the marketing effort. For example, if the new visitor website goes ahead, advertising options should be built in for tourism and hospitality businesses. 8.TIMESCALE AND FUNDING
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24 As a summary, all of this could be considered as a distinct new phase in the regeneration of Renfrewshire – a phase 3 in the evolution of a long-term cultural and regeneration strategy. FROM TO TO TIME 2014-2017 2018-2024 2024-2027 IMPERATIVE Ambition Delivery Performance LEAD Bid team Future Paisley Renfrewshire Marketing Partnership/ ELP/Tourism Leadership Group BRANDING Paisley 2021 for UK City of Culture Paisley.is Paisley.is, Visit Paisley and Renfrewshire, What’s On across Renfrewshire 9. A NEW PHASE
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25 Appendix (i) : Online questionnaire results (Highest to lowest scores) 5 = Agree strongly 4 = Agree 3 = Neither agree nor disagree 2 = Disagree 1 = Disagree strongly STATEMENT Stakeholder response (Ave.) Councillor response (Ave.) Combined response (Ave.) “It is important that Paisley and Renfrewshire continue to promote itself positively both within the region and outside.” 5.00 4.67 4.88 “There is still a job to do in making residents feel proud and positive about their place.” 4.60 4.75 4.66 “It is important to build on the investment in the Paisley brand over the last 5 years.” 4.80 4.25 4.59 “The Paisley brand work has made a positive contribution to the image of the region over the last 5 years.” 4.60 4.33 4.50 “More could be done to encourage other organisations in the area to collaborate on marketing and branding Renfrewshire.” 4.25 4.75 4.44 “Renfrewshire as a whole has benefitted from the branding work over the last 5 years.” 4.30 4.08 4.21 “The Paisley.is website has significantly helped the visitor economy and the programme of events across the county.” 4.30 4.00 4.19 “The investment and commitment to the Paisley brand has had a positive economic impact on the region.” 4.25 4.00 4.19 “The brand should concentrate on developing the visitor economy rather than be extended to promote other interests e.g. inward investment.” 4.20 4.08 4.16 “The Paisley brand is well recognised within the communities of Renfrewshire.” 4.55 3.42 4.13 “The reasons for developing a brand strategy back in 2016 are still relevant in 2024.” 4.40 4.17 4.13 “More should be done to project Renfrewshire rather than Paisley.” 3.75 4.08 3.87
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26 Appendix (ii) : Brand overload
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27 Appendix (iii) : Examples of Paisley.is brand usage
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28 Appendix (iv) : Renfrewshire - social media audiences ORGANISATION FACEBOOK TWITTER INSTAGRAM Paisley.is 15,000 3,800 5,000 One Ren 11,000 3,900 3,100 Renfrewshire Council 29,000 29,500 3,500 TOTAL : 55,000 37,200 11,600 ORGANISATION FACEBOOK TWITTER INSTAGRAM UWS 106,000 25,800 15,500 West College Scotland 22,000 7,300 3,800 St.Mirren 29,000 44,000 21,000 Glasgow Airport 50,000 86,000 13,500 Braehead Retail 60,000 11,000 7,500 TOTAL : 267,000 174,100 61,300 ORGANISATION FACEBOOK TWITTER INSTAGRAM Paisley First 17,000 3,500 3,200 Chamber of Commerce 700 5,100 Engage Renfrewshire 2,300 3,800 200 Pace 100 2,000 3,000 Mill Renfrewshire 10,700 200 3,300 RSPB Lochwinnoch 7,600 3,100 Paisley Abbey 3,600 200 1,100 Renfrewshire Gazette 17,000 3,600 200 Paisley on the Web 3,000 8,200 4,900 Creative Renfrewshire 1,300 2,300 700 Coates Paisley 5,000 2,100 TOTAL : 68,300 32,000 18,700 ORGANISATION FACEBOOK TWITTER INSTAGRAM Mar Hall Hotel 25,000 2,500 6,900 Bowfield Hotel 36,000 11,100 Gleddoch Hotel 17,000 13,900 Ingliston Hotel 70,000 3,900 16,400 Glynhill Hotel 15,000 1,400 Lynnhurst Hotel 39,000 3,700 TOTAL : 202,000 6,400 53,400 TOTALS : 592,000 249,700 145,000 OVERALL TOTAL : 986,000
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29 Appendix (v) : Renfrewshire Marketing Partnership - Draft terms of reference Purpose : To deliver much greater marketing collaboration among key organisations within Renfrewshire for the benefit of each organisation and for the county as a whole. Core objectives : • To coalesce around 4 generic marketing campaigns each year that promotes Renfrewshire to potential visitors to the county • To support the creation of a definitive ‘What’s on across Renfrewshire’ content portal to become the ‘go to’ place for ‘what’s on’ information in the county for residents • To support the ongoing efforts, using the ‘Paisley.is’ brand, to improve the external image and perception of Paisley/Renfrewshire through ongoing PR activity • To assist the creation of a new data platform for Renfrewshire that will provide a monthly snapshot of resident/visitor activity in the area • To collaborate on supporting marketing initiatives from individual organisations e.g. OneRen and the re-opening of the Paisley Museum • To provide input to a new visitor focussed website : ‘Visit Paisley and Renfrewshire’ • To champion the creation of a new network for social media marketing practitioners in Renfrewshire : to encourage collaboration and to share expertise • To serve as a ‘sounding board’ for Renfrewshire Council on a range of marketing challenges • To create an annual event when marketing practitioners right across the county can come together and be encouraged to contribute to the Partnership’s initiatives. Partnership members : A private sector Chair Senior marketing executives from the following organisations : Permanent Members 4 from these organisations 4 private sector companies Renfrewshire Council Engage Renfrewshire e.g. The Malcolm Group OneRen Glasgow Airport e.g. Mill magazine Paisley First Braehead Shopping Centre e.g. Aillum Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce St. Mirren FC e.g. Scottish Leather Group University of West Scotland Mar Hall Golf and Spa Resort e.g. DXC Technology West College Scotland e.g. NS Design Coats Paisley
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30 Appendix (vi) : Renfrewshire recurring event schedule MONTH EVENT/FESTIVAL LOCATION DURATION January February March • Paisley International Tango Festival • Lochwinnoch Arts Festival Paisley Lochwinnoch 3 days 1 day April • Paisley Food and Drink Festival • Paisley Book Festival • Paisley Comic Con • PACE Easter Fest Paisley Paisley Paisley Paisley 2 days 4 days 1 day 14 days May • Superhero Spirit Challenge • Braehead Wedding Exhibition Braehead Braehead 3 days 2 days June • Barshaw Gala Day • Renfrew Gala Day • Bishopton Day • Renfrew Food and Drink Festival • Paisley CarFest Barshaw Renfrew Bishopton Renfrew Paisley 1 day 1 day 1 day 2 days 1 day July • Sma’s Shot Day • Renfrew Pipe Band Competition • Scotland Vegan Festival 1 day 1 day 1 day August • Paisley 10K • Colourfest • Film and Comic Con • Renfrewshire Cycle Arts Festival Paisley Braehead Braehead Paisley to Lochwinnoch 1 day 1 day 1 day 7 days September • Big Art Show Paisley 10 weeks October • Paisley Halloween Festival Paisley 3 days November • Erskine Christmas Lights Switch- on • Renfrew Christmas Lights Switch- on • Paisley Model Railway Show • Johnstone Christmas Market Erskine Renfrew Paisley Johnstone 1 day 1 day 2 days 1 day December • Paisley’s Christmas • Johnstone Christmas Lights Switch-on Paisley Johnstone 30 days 1 day
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31 Appendix (vii) : 2 examples of potential festivals • Festival of thrift - https://www.festivalofthrift.co.uk • Ice trail - https://visityork.org/york-ice-trail • Steam Punk Festival - https://www.ministryofsteampunk.com/weekend-at-the- asylum-lincoln • Golf festival - https://golfsouthwest.co.uk/cornish-festival-golf-2020/ • Hot air balloon fiesta - https://www.bristolballoonfiesta.co.uk • Health and wellbeing festival - https://www.happyplaceofficial.co.uk/festival/ • Restaurant week - https://www.theyorkbid.com/event/york-restaurant-week/ • Open studios - https://yorkopenstudios.co.uk • Festival of ideas (University) - https://yorkfestivalofideas.com/2023/ • Flower festival - https://issuu.com/visityork/docs/bloom__programme_web_v2 • Cultural music festival - https://riponinternationalfestival.org • Science festival - https://www.cheltenhamfestivals.com/science • Residents festival - https://visityork.org/offers/category/york-residents-festival-2024 • Scarecrow festival - https://www.kettlewellscarecrowfestival.co.uk • Goth weekend - https://wgwshop.whitbygothweekend.co.uk/pages/about-us • Coffee festival - https://www.londoncoffeefestival.com • Festival for kids - https://south.elderflowerfields.co.uk • Ageing well festival - https://ageingwellfestival.org • County wide treasure trails - https://www.treasuretrails.co.uk • Bed race - https://www.bedrace.co.uk • Soapbox challenge - https://www.micklegaterun.co.uk • Beverley Puppet Festival : https://www.beverleypuppetfestival.com
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32 Appendix (viii) : Proposed website re-organisation Paisley.is “Umbrella” website brand Target audience : residents and external audiences Purpose : to continue the task of improving the image and perception of Paisley Core content : great imagery, stories, blogs, testimonials, links to related sites Invest in Renfrewshire Specialist inward investment site Target audience : inward investors Purpose : A ‘one stop shop’ for potential investors Core content : the ‘pitch’, property details, business support, the ‘landing package’ What’s on across Renfrewshire Visit Paisley and Renfrewshire Visitor website Target audience : visitors Purpose : to provide a ‘native guide’ for the visitor Core content : accommodation, things to do, where to eat etc. What’s on Website Target audience : residents Purpose : definitive local information Core content : searchable listings N.B. One click, direct link from visitor website