The All-England Destination Marketing Strategy: A New Approach
                                 The All-England Destination 
                                 Marketing Strategy: 
                                 A New Approach
                     The All-England Destination Marketing Strategy: A New Approach
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                     1. Introduction                                      An integrated marketing strategy will enable 
                                                                          destinations at all levels in England to promote 
                                                                          their	unique	assets	to	maximum	effect.	These	
                     This strategy is owned and produced by               destinations will benefit from a coherent 
                     the England Marketing Steering Group for             approach that a robust national marketing 
                     VisitEngland and English destinations. It is         framework will bring: cost efficiencies; reduced 
                     directional, not prescriptive and is to be used as   duplication	of	effort;	a	more	powerful	 
                     a guide to bring together what can otherwise         vaggregated	voice;	and	more	effective	delivery.
                     be a fragmented approach to the marketing of 
                     England and its constituent parts.
                     The strategic objective outlined in the English      2. Strategic
                     Strategic Framework for Tourism is to increase 
                     England’s share of global visitor markets. The 
                     main goals of a new, cohesive, better co-ordinated    Objective
                     All-England Destination Marketing Strategy  
                     are to: increase the value of English tourism;       Increase England’s share of global visitor  
                     improve brand penetration; and deliver               markets, focusing on priority audiences, 
                     long-term growth.                                    destinations and themes.
                     The Strategy suggests several key opportunities:
                     •	   That	we	concentrate	our	effort	on	the           3. Aims
                          earliest stage of the consumer journey, 
                          before the consumer has decided                 3.1  Grow the value of tourism for England 
                          on their choice of destination                       by 5%+ per annum.
                     •	   That	we	undertake	improved	dialogue             3.2  Proportionately increase UK residents’ 
                          with consumers as opposed to telling them            tourism spend in England.
                          what they should do                             3.3  Deliver long-term incremental growth.
                     •	   That	we	provide	a	reason	for	an	immediate 
                          visit and that we help close the sale
                     •	   And	that	we	focus	promotional	work	on	 
                          our most attractive themes and places
                     The Strategy advocates a set of principles to 
                     which all English tourism stakeholders are 
                     encouraged to subscribe. These principles are 
                     built both on evidence-based research 
                     and a period of consultation with destinations 
                     across England. It does not prescribe roles  
                     or responsibilities to VisitEngland or to  
                     English destinations.
                     Individual	destinations	will	have	different	
                     target audiences, messages, markets and 
                     goals. The Strategy is designed to guide the 
                     development of the English destinations’ 
                     Marketing Plans and form an appendix to 
                     those plans. 
                         The All-England Destination Marketing Strategy: A New Approach
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                         4. Context                                                       4.5    Key psychological drivers for word of mouth 
                                                                                                such as networking, trust, passion and 
                                                                                                authenticity must be used as the basis for 
                         4.1     The changing tourism structures, with a likely                 any approach.
                                increase in the number of players, strengthen             4.6    The variable quality of the English tourism 
                                the need for a national marketing framework                     product could be a threat to growth but the 
                                in which destination brands and partnerships                    trend towards increasing public consumer 
                                can support each other and flourish.                            feedback can become a key driver of  
                         4.2     The current economic situation provides a                      industry improvements.
                                good opportunity for growth in the domestic               4.7    Consumers are increasingly proactive and 
                                holiday market but some consumer                                engaged in creating their own travel 
                                perceptions around England need to be                           experiences and passion-based events, 
                                shifted, particularly for international and                     calling for a collaborative approach.
                                domestic consumers who have not 
                                previously holidayed in England.                          4.8    Quickly evolving cultural trends and growth 
                         4.3     Consumer trends that can be harnessed                          opportunities (e.g. “glamping” and slow 
                                include a hunger for authentic experiences                      food) demand a swiftly reactive and socially 
                                whereby visitors want to increase the depth                     aware strategy. 
                                or their engagement with the place, and,                  4.9    The ever-increasing consumer reliance  
                                from a marketing point-of-view, the uptake                      on the Internet and smart phones for 
                                of new social technologies.                                     research prioritises online engagement.
                         4.4     In an increasingly vibrant social landscape,             4.10   English consumers are increasingly targeted 
                                trusted peer-to-peer sharing and                                by international destinations due to England’s 
                                recommendation is the most powerful                             position as one of the most important global 
                                influence on decision making (Diagram 1).                       source markets, making domestic strength 
                                This trend necessitates an approach based on                    important to protect market share.
                                listening (to the consumer conversations                  4.11   With decreasing investment, fragmented 
                                being held), transparency and honesty (being                    efforts and competitor outspending, there is 
                                absolutely open with the consumer) and                          an increasing need for an all-England high 
                                collaboration (being part of the conversation                   value, scalable and sustainable strategy.
                                not outside it).
                         Diagram 1
                         Have some degree of trust* in the following forms of advertising, April 2009
                          Recommendations from people known 90%
                                Consumer opinions posted online 70%
                                                    Brand websites 70%
                         Editorial content (e.g. newspaper article)    69%
                                                Brand sponsorship 64%
                                                                  TV 62%
                                                        Newspaper 61%
                                                         Magazines 59%
                                    Billboards/outdoor advertising     55%
                                                              Radio 55%
                                               Emails signed up for    54%
                                                 Ads before movies 52%
                                         Search engine results ads     41%
                                                   Online video ads    37%
                                                 Online banner ads 33%
                                        Text ads on mobile phones      24%
                         Source: The Nielson Company. *E.g. 90% of respondents trusted “completely” or “somewhat” recommendations from people they know
                         The All-England Destination Marketing Strategy: A New Approach
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                         5. Approach                                                      5.6     We will use the best-known and best-loved 
                                                                                                 destination brands or “Attract Brands” to 
                                                                                                 engage consumers and provide a platform 
                                 The approach has been reached following                         for increased awareness of “Hidden Gems”; 
                                consensus from the All-England Marketing                         both geographically and thematically.
                                Strategy Steering Group and after a period                5.7     Research suggests that possible themes 
                                of engagement and open dialogue with                             might include: seaside, rural, city, heritage, 
                                English destinations.                                            family, events and cuisine. These will be 
                         5.1     The focus of our approach will be growing                       interwoven with supporting messages such 
                                market share and acquisition of both share                       as ‘wise’ responsible growth and accessibility.
                                of visits and additional visits.                          5.8     The themes provide a route into achieving 
                         5.2     In order to ensure this sustainable new                         long-term industry partnerships to maximize 
                                growth we will deliver a robust retention                        effect and profitability.
                                plan through an efficient profiled Customer               5.9     We will develop cross selling opportunities 
                                Relationship Marketing programme.                                between leisure and business travel 
                         5.3     Marketing activity will form around two                         encouraging extended stays and repeat  
                                areas: through-the-line advertising                              visits post event. 
                                campaigns delivered in partnership with,                  5.10   Whilst it is important to engage with the 
                                and match funded by, commercial partners;                        customer throughout the consumer cycle, 
                                and low-cost affinity marketing activities                       the priority for resource allocation and 
                                providing reach and engagement chiefly                           marketing effort must be the point of 
                                employing product placement, public                              inspiration during the decision-making 
                                relations and below-the-line marketing.                          process, rather than providing for the  
                         5.4     We will prioritise an increase in overnight                     already decided (Diagram 2).
                                and longer stays, using day trips to inspire              5.11   Whilst the majority of our resources should 
                                deeper engagement.                                               be applied at the earliest stage of the buying 
                         5.5     Using suitable events and festivals marketing                   cycle, all marketing effort should provide a 
                                communications activity should provide a                         clear consumer call to action and the ability 
                                trigger for a near term or immediate visit.                      to purchase.
                         Diagram 2
                                                                   Advertising, CRM, PR, Web, 
                                                                 Brochures, Product Placement, 
                                                                     Mobile, Word of Mouth
                                  Social Media,                             Inspire                            Web, Social Media,  
                                 Word of Mouth                                                              Exhibitions, Guide Books,  
                                                              hare                      Research                Word of Mouth 
                               Welcome, Quality,              isit                       onvert                Ease of Booking,  
                         Tourism Information Centres,                                                        Quality, Product Range, 
                                 Word of Mouth                                ost                               Word of Mouth 
                                                                         Rationalise
                                                                       Web, Social Media,  
                                                                         Word of Mouth