Agenda item

            (Mr. J. McGrillen, Director of Development, attended in connection with this item.)

            The Director of Development submitted for the Committees consideration the undernoted report:

“1     Relevant Background Information

         On the 15th November 2013 SP&R Committee approved £275,000 funding towards a Christmas animation campaign and up-weighting of the Christmas marketing campaign.  The funding breakdown was:

1.     to provide £150,000 towards an Animation Programme, to include the outline areas and the arterial routes;

2.     to provide funding in the sum of £50,000 for additional advertising and public relations for a pre-Christmas campaign; and

3.     to provide a sum of £75,000 towards advertising and post Christmas activities for the period January-March 2014.

The marketing and animation campaigns ended on the 2nd December.

At the meeting on the 15th November committee agreed to;

‘provide a sum of £75,000 towards advertising and post Christmas activities, to be determined in consultation with the business community for the period from January until March 2014’.

Final evaluations of the pre-Christmas animation and additional marketing will be available late in January and will be brought back to committee for consideration.

2       Key Issues

         In line with the Committee’s decision regarding financial supporet for a post Christmas campaign, the following proposal was received from the Chamber of Trade on the 20th December 2013.

         Marketing Proposal

         A Spring campaign is proposed, highlighting the abundance of attractive opportunities after the inevitable post-Christmas lull: to visit shops with new season merchandise, enjoy family outings to the city’s great and many attractions, festivals and events, bars and restaurants and generally enjoy quality time in and around Belfast.  

         With Easter falling later-than-usual in 2014 the kick-start to the season can’t wait until mid-April or it will most certainly result in lost business opportunities (particularly given 2012 and 2013’s poor performing first quarters).  Therefore extra marketing support and a targeted campaign is considered critically important at this time for city businesses to stimulate and encourage footfall and spend from both local residents and visitors from the wider region.  Building on the momentum of previous campaigns, this will serve to keep Belfast, and all it has to offer, at the forefront of people’s minds, promoting positive images and confidence, combined with strong call to action messages that uplift and differentiate the destination from all other competing offers.

         Key platforms identified to communicate this message are:

         TV (UTV) – this will deliver mass awareness to the NI population with overspill into the ROI market for no additional cost.

         Radio (Downtown, Cool FM, Q Radio, Citybeat, U105, Talksport) – selected to ensure a broad cover of demographics across NI

         Outdoor - targeting arterial routes in and out of Belfast, plus across major towns and cities across Northern Ireland.

         Online – digital advertising across broad appeal websites

         Proposed timings:

         Late February / March, extending into April

3       Resource Implications

3.1    Financial

         Total cost of the campaign is £75,000.

         The proposed campaign breakdown of expenditure is follows;

4       Equality and Good Relations Considerations

4.1    There are no Equality and Good Relations Considerations attached to this report.

5       Recommendations

5.1    It is recommended that Members agree:

         That Visit Belfast delivers the additional campaign up to the value of £75,000 finishing in April in line with the request from the Chamber of Trade.”

            The Committee adopted the recommendation and agreed that a meeting be arranged between the political party leaders and the Chamber of Trade to commence discussions on future support for City Centre retailers.