Category: Workshop facilitation

Laying the foundations for Sculptors

I’ve recently started working with the Royal British Society of Sculptors – they have been somewhat under the radar but that is all set to change with a new director at the helm. Based in South Kensington, the Society has bold ambitions for the years ahead.

I am very excited to be involved at the early stages, working with the team to identify their brand values, develop a SWOT analysis, get under the skin of their target audiences and wordsmith a narrative which neatly explains their direction of travel…of which more, at a later date!

Investing time and effort in getting the building blocks right is essential. It sets the framework for future communications and basically makes life easier in the long run. I find running brand workshops really rewarding and interesting. Participants always comment on how much they appreciate having some time away from their desk to properly think about their organisation and what it stands for.

Gunnersbury Park Museum

Gunnersbury Park Museum documents the life of this exciting part of West London. Housed in a Grade II* Regency mansion once owned by the Rothschild family, the museum is currently working on a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund to enable it to refurbish the building and modernise its offer.

With a view to preparing for a positive funding decision, the museum commissioned Made by Marketing to develop a marketing strategy for this development phase and for the three-year transformation period. A key objective was to ensure current visitors received clear messaging about the refurbishment in order to retain their engagement with the museum and its outreach activities, whilst at the same time building interest in the project amongst new audiences.

NYMAZ

NYMAZ is a youth music development charity which champions the transformative potential of music for children and young people. Working with partners, such as Harrogate Festivals, it delivers high-quality music-making activities across North Yorkshire. In parallel, it runs professional networks to enable musicians and practitioners to develop their skills and learn one another.

Made by Marketing was appointed to manage the marketing for the charity, which was going through a period of change brought about by changes to its funding conditions. Having drafted a detailed communications strategy, hand-on activity has included: refreshing the brand to broaden its appeal; setting up a brand new web site and suite of stationery; updating its social media presences and other digital communications; creating new print promotional materials; drafting press releases and setting up journalist briefings.

www.nymaz.org.uk

Eaton Manor Country Estate

Set in 500 acres of glorious Shropshire countryside, Eaton Manor Country Estate offers award-winning luxury 4 and 5-star self-catering holiday cottages.

Over the past ten years the business has grown substantially and the team recognised that it was now time to review its customer communications. Made by Marketing was drafted in to help the business address this challenge. Workshops were used to  better understand their key target audiences and their individual communication needs, as well as to identify their brand values and agree a visual direction for the company.  The project was wrapped up with a series of recommendations to be taken forward in-house.

“Our workshops with Elizabeth were crucial to help us define our brand values and identify our target markets so that we could be confident in tackling the task of re-branding and developing a new web site and printed brochure. We have now finished this project and are reaping the rewards as a result of a clear direction gained by our initial work with Elizabeth.”
Phillipa Hillier | Eaton Manor Country Estate

www.eatonmanor.co.uk

South Bank London

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Building the profile of destinations to increase footfall, dwell time and spend is one of my passions. I spent seven years running the South Bank Marketing Group, a successful tourism consortium in London which brings together the area’s attractions, cultural venues, museums, hotels and transport providers to promote the South Bank as a destination. In 2010, I set up South Bank Venues, a group dedicated to attracting business from the meetings, events and conferences sector.

Activity included:
* Working closely with members to draft an annual action plan which balanced the requirements of all partners
* Growing and maintaining membership
* Securing match-funding
* Relationship building with neighbouring areas, government agencies and local authorities to enable closer collaboration and jointly funded projects
* Producing high impact marketing campaigns, including the eye-catching ‘Today I am…” creative, as well as Time Out guides to the area, maps, events guides etc
* Establishing the award-winning site www.southbanklondon.com as well as the area’s social marketing presence, including www.twitter.com/southbanklondon
* Developing a strong, recognisable brand for the destination
* Conceiving and launching the ‘InfoBike’ service, an innovative way of providing visitor information along the riverside
* Ensuring South Bank enjoyed a high profile with key media via regular press releases and events
* Raising the awareness of London concierge via a dedicated familiarisation day
* Commissioning visitor research from MORI

www.southbanklondon.com