London tourism targets UK regions amid inflation crisis
The Media Plan
London’s promotional agency has begun targeting regional media audiences across the UK in a bid to market to domestic holidaymakers during a cost-of-living crisis.
London & Partners’ £2m campaign will run across TV, video-on-demand (VOD), radio and social throughout the Summer and aims to target UK travellers outside of London and the Home Counties to visit and “supercharge” the capital’s recovery post-pandemic.
The ads also bear in mind the ongoing cost-of-living crisis and Covid concerns amongst UK consumers by highlighting activities for every budget, including free or low-cost, alongside Covid-secure and outdoor experiences.
It builds on the “Let’s Do London” domestic platform which launched in 2021 and follows an international push in May 2022.
Wavemaker handled the media planning and buying and has leveraged insights including demographics, distance to London, and income to identify the regional audiences most likely to visit London.
The WPP agency’s strategy also took into account “contextual moments” like the school holidays to showcase London as “the best choice for domestic travellers” during peak summer periods.
Ed Sellier, strategy lead at Wavemaker UK, explained to The Media Leader: “We have prioritised our communication based around some key audience parameters: how far people must travel by train, how many potential visitors there are to reach in each region, how viable is it for households to afford a trip to London amidst a difficult economic climate, how much value day-trippers spend per trip, and how much value overnighters spend per trip.”
“This means our communication will show up in places like Bristol, Birmingham, York, Manchester, Edinburgh, or Glasgow with messaging around leading motivators for a trip to the capital: museums, attractions, culture or cuisine, to name a few,” he added.
Sellier also said that as there was a lot of disruption to families that would typically travel abroad, the campaign by London & Partners would appeal to Brits across the country.
He commented: “To inspire London as a destination we are tapping into emotional drivers that would make a trip to London more appealing than the alternatives of staying local or going coastal. This is borne out of the universal appeal of culture, cuisine, and world-leading attractions that London offers and is a message delivered to key metropolitan areas across the country.”
“Let’s Do London” was commissioned by the London Tourism Recovery Board, supported by the Mayor of London and key tourism stakeholders, and creative was by M&C Saatchi.