North West Regional Development Agency

THE CLIENT:

The Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) was the regional development agency for the North West England region – comprising of Marketing Cheshire, Cumbria Tourism, Lancashire & Blackpool Tourist Board, Visit Liverpool and Marketing Manchester.

Over three years, GDR worked on two national tourism PR briefs for the Northwest Regional Development Agency.

The campaign themes were supporting natural and environment and culture.

 

THE CHALLENGE:

  • Supporting key campaign themes to change and shape opinions of the North West of England
  • Showcasing the breadth, quality and uniqueness of the region’s tourism offering to a national audience of prospective visitors
  • Telling a new story of the region to change out-dated perceptions
  • Increasing visitor numbers and maximising the ‘staycation’ market
 

THE WORK:

  • Working closely with NWDA’s destination management organisations to develop unique visitor propositions and short-break packages for national media
  • Targeting our extensive contacts at national media – in particular broadsheets – to secure familiarisation visits for journalists to experience the region’s visitor offering first-hand
  • Facilitating high-quality, insightful and bespoke press visits to highlight the breadth and uniqueness of the region
 

THE RESULTS:

  • Surpassing targets
  • Generating more than 40 pieces of standout coverage in key national media
  • Achieving advertising value equivalent of more than £2million and a total audience reach of nearly 200 million people
  • Double page spreads in the Daily Telegraph and Daily Express and stand-out features in The Guardian, Sunday Express, Daily Mail and The Times.