Working in partnership with my client, my team and I combined a diverse range of research and insight from expert sources and identified that we would need to focus on three key areas:
The creative campaign was initially to help build confidence about safe shopping, and carried a strong public health message. Research showed that big corporate messages wouldn’t engage the public or build trust, so instead we created an accessible brand persona which the community connected with, opting for hand-drawn illustrated communications with a friendly tone of voice. The campaign was so successful that we were asked to extend this into linked campaigns as the pandemic progressed: ‘support local, shop online’ (during lockdown) and then ‘following government guidance.’ The friendly and less corporate imagery was well received by the local community and was shared widely online by brand ambassadors.
Based on our success RBWM asked us to extend the activity in March 2021. We used the same recognisable image style to create the ‘Don’t Let Your Guard Down’ campaign with on-street artwork. This highly recognisable campaign was picked up by national and international media.
Vital to the success of our strategy was creating communities around the high streets of RBWM, and providing the digital landscape to enable these communities to create and share content to support local business. DigiKind created an infrastructure of social media channels, a web hub, and branded hashtags, which we continued to populate with relevant content in the form of weekly blogs, interviews with successful local businesses, and our campaign messaging. We ran ‘placemaking’ activities to further engage the local community, and turn Instagrammers into true brand ambassadors. We also created an online directory of local businesses to remind locals what a wealth of services are on their doorstep.
Our strategy worked. Our content inspired the local community who got on board in droves, and thanks to our platforms we were able to share over 5000 pieces of user generated content creating a true digital ecosystem.
Supporting local businesses
We identified that campaigns and communities alone were not enough to give the high street businesses the boost they needed. For our strategy to be sustainable and resilient in the long term, the businesses themselves needed support via training, development and ways to network with one another.
We started by offering free digital training in the form of easily digestible ‘lunch and learn’ online courses: five hour-long sessions suitable for time-poor businesses. Following their success we supplemented this with inspiring Breakfast Briefings which showcase world-class entrepreneurs, and networking events to ensure businesses can share their solutions with each other. We delivered training to over 120 businesses in just four months (bringing our total trained to 200). We also provided one to one digital strategy expertise to those businesses who really needed help.
In 2021, RBWM asked DigiKind to partner with them on developing their ‘Additional Restrictions Grant Innovation grant scheme’, whereby local businesses who met the criteria could receive a grant to help them reinvigorate following the lockdown. Through the grant scheme we enabled over 50 businesses to receive £800,000 in grant funding.
Success for the Royal Borough
Results from the delivery of the campaign included:
Over 5,000 UGC posts on Twitter and Instagram
We connected with businesses, their customers, non-profits, leaders in the community, the media…and brought them together around one cause: to champion their high street
We achieved national and international recognition from the media, to include Sky news, BBC, the Guardian, and the Times
Footfall increased by 315% in Windsor over a year (2020-21) * Currently at 16% increase monthly
During this time, 30 new shops opened in Windsor and five in Maidenhead
Campaign email open rate of 55% – far exceeding the industry average
91-95% positive sentiment score on our branded hashtag #MyRoyalBorough
Our organic engagement and impressions rose steadily month on month by 10%
We delivered training to 150 businesses over a four month period
We enabled over 50 business to access 800,000 in grant funding
* according to Footfall report (May 2021)
“Would just like to say what a breath of fresh air MyRoyalBorough is. Fun, informative and engaging. Building a great supportive local community, not just for businesses but also for those who visit, live and work in the borough. 1st class.”
Terri Watson, Store Manager at Paperchase