Agenda item

Presentation by Nick Smillie of Clarity Inward Investment Marketing Strategies.

Nick Smillie of Clarity Inward Investment Marketing Strategies provided a presentation to the Board on how Clarity and Diva were developing Blackpool’s investment promotion propositions and brand. The Board heard about the advancement of sector value propositions as a solid basis for brand development and the following sector strengths of Blackpool and its hinterland: 

·         aerospace and advanced engineering – the aerospace cluster and related sectors

·         advanced materials – the intersection of chemicals and advanced engineering

·         energy – nuclear, unconventional gas, offshore renewables food manufacturing - value-added products, clustering and cost advantages

·         business, professional and financial services.

He said that Blackpool and the surrounding area had a value combination of quality and reduced costs to encourage profitable business growth, including:

·         innovation in food manufacturing and advanced materials

·         technology-focused market opportunities integral to world-class industry clusters in aerospace, energy and advanced engineering

·         significant costs advantages and investor incentives like the Enterprise Zones

·         access to a large, highly skilled workforce at both technical and professional skills levels and access to leading universities and skills providers

·         large-scale town centre investment and reinvention with Grade A office proposition, conference centre and infrastructure

·         good connectivity.

The presentation focussed on how the brand would help raise the profile of Blackpool and the surrounding areas as a value-added location for businesses looking to relocate or expand and deliver a powerful business proposition by shifting current perceptions of Blackpool as a tourist destination.

He explained that the rationale behind using Blackpool as the unembellished brand name was because of its instant recognition and geographical context and said that the brand would be bold, confident, business-like, serious and forward looking to challenge and contrast with existing perceptions and assumptions. Important aspects were:

·         clear and coherent positioning to send powerful value proposition messages

·         versatility and flexibility - supporting multiple industry sectors and messages

·         compatibility with identified high-technology and high-growth sector strengths.

Next steps included an Inbound Internet Marketing Campaign to attract inward investment with key elements of

·         pro-actively building online business and intermediary networks

·         publishing and distributing content via website and business social media

·         projecting Blackpool’s ‘Value Proposition’ and ‘Influencer’ messages to provide support for the content

·         utilising multiple content formats - text, video and infographics

·         attracting audiences to the campaign’s ‘publishing website’ to consume content and then identifying those site visitors in order to build relationships

·         researching and identifying target business decision makers, influencers and intermediaries

·         including sponsored content.

There would be an initial focus on awareness raising via the messages “Blackpool Seriously Means Business” and “Blackpool, the place for business” and a strategic launch event to stimulate interest from Fylde Coast businesses and challenge perceptions which was to be held after May 2019.

Members discussed the information presented and agreed to the choice of Blackpool as the marketing brand name as brand recognition would be of the greatest practical value and potential investors would be unconcerned with municipal boundary lines.

As the proposals included the making of a Blackpool promotional video, the Chief Executive, Wyre said that a planned video promoting Wyre would be put on hold.

The Board agreed that the campaign should move onto the next phase.

The visual presentation is appended to these minutes.