Christmas 2013 Campaign

1. Christmas 2013 Campaign

2. Objectives • Drive visitors to visitmanchester.com/christmas to plan a visit – target 300,000 visits • Highlight the Christmas offering and events in Manchester • Motivate planning and booking of overnight stays/ short breaks • Increase visitor numbers by attracting new visitors to the city, driving repeat visitors and increase the frequency of repeat visits • Extend the length of stay of visitors by converting day trips to overnight stays • Increase contact database by 5000 • Increase hotel occupancy by 1% through the promotion of Manchester as a short breaks destination.

3. Target Audiences • ABC1 families and couples interested in short breaks and day visits • LGBT couples and individuals interested in short breaks and day visits • Same sex friend groups interested in short breaks and day visits • International couples and families interested in short breaks in Europe.

4. Geographical split • Regionally – wealthy areas including Lancashire, Cheshire and Chester and towards Liverpool • Nationally – London & South East, Birmingham, Yorkshire & Humberside and North East • Internationally – Germany, Spain, Ireland and Russia.

5. Timings • Mid October – End December • Majority of activity will happen in November • The media plan will be weighted 20% October, 60% November and 20% December.

6. Creative & Key Messages • Building on the success of the Christmas characters used in 2012 • Creative developed to feature more Manchester content (for a less aware audience outside the region) • Strong messaging, positioning Manchester as an exciting place, with a unique Christmas offering, on a scale that cannot be seen anywhere else in the UK • Focussing on the events, shopping, culture and nightlife – a vibrant city to visit for a short break • Call to action - visitmanchester.com/christmas

7. Media Channels • TV • Focussed on Granada and Central West regions • 30 second ads (extended from 2012) • 2 weeks in each region, starting 18th November • Radio • Yorkshire and across the North West • Promotional activity also being considered • OOH • Transport hubs incl. rail stations and regional airports • Shopping malls • Local 48 sheets, 6 sheets and digital

8. Media Channels • Press Advertising • Local, regional and national (incl. Weekend supplements, lifestyle & travel magazines) • Print distribution • 500,000 leaflets • Different format to previous years • Distributed via press inserts in key publications, solus door drops (affluent post codes), leaflet racks across the North West.

9. Digital Marketing • Visitmanchester.com/christmas • Paid search advertising on Google and Facebook • E-newsletters to our database of 80,000 national contacts and 90,000 international • E-mail marketing to rented external list of 200,000 new contacts • Tweets (40,500 followers) Facebook posts (12,200 likes), blog mentions (4,000 readers) • Facebook app to get people to submit images of Manchester at Christmas.

10. International Activity • Working in partnership with Manchester Airport, airlines and originating destination airports • Marketing campaigns will include digital, outdoor, PR and travel trade activity • Priority countries: Spain, Germany, Irelandand Russia • E-mail marketing to 4,350 international Travel Trade contacts.

11. PR • Targeting couples, LGBT and family sector with the media • Travel and feature editors from our target regions will be invited to the city on press trips • Scheduled 15 press trip itineraries for campaign partners, 1st week of Christmas Markets • Partner inclusions in monthly ‘What’s On’ e-newsletter to 500 contacts across the UK.

12. Questions?