Destination Edinburgh Marketing Alliance(DEMA)
January 2009 update
Late Autumn has seen the work on the project continue at
pace. In October, Leithal Thinking (part of the Leith Agency)
were appointed to produce a Destination Promotion Strategy for DEMA
for delivery in early February 2009.
Leithal Thinking are making progress on the development of the
Destination Promotion Strategy through a range of activities
including a series of one-to-one interviews with key stakeholders,
mapping and reviewing existing market and customer research and
marketing strategies.
In summary the common views and themes emerging from the
interviews so far are:
- the need for powerful leadership that can promote a unified
vision for the city
- the need to balance the traditional image of the city with that
of an innovative, forward thinking, emergent city in how Edinburgh
is positioned
- a shared audience across visit, invest, live and study is
identified as a big opportunity for the city
- a shared data infrastructure and CRM approach is considered
essential
- the need for a strategy to have immediate and tangible impacts
identified, as well as longer term strategic objectives.
In early January Leithal Thinking will be concluding the initial
face-to-face interviews and hosting four stakeholder workshops.
These will cover four themes:
1. Shaping the structure and resource requirements for
DEMA;
2. Defining the core audiences, target and segments
(investigating if there is a single core audience relating to cross
– selling opportunities);
3. Agreeing a powerful positioning of the city;
4. Prioritising the objectives for the city and distilling
these into a simple vision.
A first draft of the strategy will be prepared in
February. Soundings on this draft will be taken from
stakeholders and ‘critical friends’.
Any research gaps on market/customer intelligence will be
identified and addressed. Leithal Thinking will be presenting
on the draft strategy to the DEMA Project Board on 11 February
2009.
In tandem to the delivery of the strategy, the DEMA Delivery
Group is taking forward the formulation of a set of ‘open to
business’ messages considered vital at this time and will be
seeking to identify mechanisms for tracking changes in perceptions
and reputational issues about Edinburgh as a destination in key
global markets. Work is also progressing on the production of
illustrative ‘cross-selling’ scenarios.
An important building block on the route to the creation of DEMA
occurred on the 3 November 2008. As part of the
reorganisation of the Economic Development Service in City
Development a new Destination Promotion Team came in to
being. This team is being led by Kenneth Wardrop and has
brought together the work on DEMA, the Edinburgh Inspiring Capital
Brand, the Tourism Team and staff involved in inward investment
promotion within Economic Development.
The Edinburgh Inspiring Capital Brand Team are now co-located
with the other Economic Development officers in the Council HQ at
Waverley Court. The creation of this new team will assist
considerably with the advancement of a new approach to city
promotion and the realisation of the DEMA.
The DEMA Project Board has also been strengthened in its
cross-coverage of stakeholder groups in the city through the
addition of three new members: Willie Watt, Chief Executive of
Martin Currie representing the Financial Services Sector; Norman
Springford, MD of Apex Hotels and representing the Edinburgh
Business Assembly; and, Richard Kington of the University of
Edinburgh representing the Higher Education Sector.
Progress has also been made on the identification and engagement
of members for the four reference groups that will support DEMA
covering tourism, talent and trade, and a City of Edinburgh Council
internal reference group.
The Talent reference group has at its core representation from
all of the Higher Education establishments in the city, a sub group
of the Edinburgh Tourism Action Group will act as the tourism
reference group, and the local inward investment partnership will
act as a reference group for trade.
The first quarter of 2009 is going to be an intense and exciting
period for the project as we crystallise the focus of the city’s
marketing approach, and start to project the key messages or
propositions about our destination in the market place though the
Inspiring Capital Brand.
At the same time the Project will be shaping the form and
function of the preferred delivery vehicle, seeking to provide the
desired leadership, and develop fully collaborative opportunities
and the alignment of promotional activities. All of this will
be done against the backdrop of a volatile, uncertain, and
uncharted market environment - making a cohesive and coherent
approach in partnership of vital importance. We look forward
to working with partners in the city to take forward the
challenge.
Kenneth Wardrop, Project Director
& Ritchie Somerville , DEMA Project Manager
Destination Edinburgh Marketing Alliance
