Christmas 2010 Evaluation

Introduction The following slides provide a summary of the evaluation of “Manchester Magical Christmas” by MHM commissioned by CityCo In addition, the subsequent results achieved by “Manchester Magical Christmas” campaign is detailed including information on the: -Christmas Lights Switch-On -Spinningfields Ice Rink (and Lodge) -Christmas Markets -Piccadilly Gardens -New Years Eve Fireworks

Background For Christmas 2010, MCC along with CityCo, Marketing Manchester, Manchester Arndale, Manchester Markets, Piccadilly Partnership, GMPTE and other major transport providers and city centre retailers, used a partnership approach to co-ordinate and promote a programme of Christmas events alongside retail and travel, in the interests of attracting more people into the city centre on the run up to Christmas. In 2010 there were five anchor events comprising the city centre’s Christmas celebrations. These events were: -The switching on of the Christmas lights -Spinningfields ice rink -Manchester Arndale Grotto -A family friendly fair in Piccadilly Gardens -Christmas markets throughout the city centre The events was supported by a major promoting Christmas in the city centre with campaign including a widely distributed promotional flyer, coordinated outdoor, radio campaigns, and online activity through Visit Manchester.

Background The key objectives of the Christmas campaign were to: -deliver an attractive programme of quality events in the run up to Christmas -attract visitors into Manchester city centre from a 60 min travel time -attract visits from the higher spending (ABC1) socio- economic groups into Manchester city centre -attract visits from families into the Piccadilly Gardens area of the city centre -move people around the city and encourage them to take up the retail, culture, leisure and hospitality offer within the city centre -deliver increased visitor numbers and economic impact in Manchester city centre in the run up to Christmas

Research Summary

Methodology Primary research: 352 surveys conducted in Piccadilly Gardens, with a further 612 being carried out across the following 5 locations: Spinningfields Ice Rink: King Street Exchange Square Albert Square Market Street The survey gauged levels of awareness and attendance at the Christmas events, as well as responses to the marketing campaign and some basic economic impact data. Secondary research: Various data sources including footfall counters, retail transactions and press evaluation figures.

Awareness of Campaign 57% of visitors in Piccadilly Gardens and 47% of people elsewhere in the city centre said they had seen the ‘Manchester’s Magical Christmas’ Campaign compared to 18% of people in 2009 who were aware of the ‘See What Manchester’s Made Of’ campaign. Awareness of images was highest at King Street and Albert Square, and lowest on Market Street

Awareness of Campaign (by Channel) Posters, particularly on public transport, were very important in raising awareness of the Christmas events, with word of mouth also crucial Visitors who used the leaflet and the Visit Manchester website found these effective in planning their visits. Awareness of the radio adverts increased year on year, from 7% in 2009 to 12% in 2010 among Piccadilly Gardens visitors and up to 19% among visitors to Spinningfields Ice Rink and King Street. The number of unique hits on the Visit Manchester website’s Christmas landing pages increased from 48,442 in 2008 to 112,854 in 2009 to 191,215 in 2010 – a rise of 67% y-o-y

Awareness of Events There was an extremely high awareness of the Manchester’s Christmas events among people throughout the city, with the Christmas Markets achieving 94% awareness of people in Piccadilly Gardens and 95% elsewhere in the city centre.

Usage of Events The Markets were the most popular event to attend with 80% of those surveyed intending to visit On average, visitors in Piccadilly Gardens expected to come into the city centre 3.49 times to go to a Christmas event in the run up to Christmas. Visitors elsewhere in the city centre expected to come into Manchester 2.99 times specifically for a Christmas event.

Attendance of Events * Approximately 1.3m visitors in 2009 *

Visitor Demographics: Composition 24% of visitors in Piccadilly Gardens and 41% of visitor across the rest of the city centre were visiting in a family group. Family groups were especially prevalent at Spinningfields (60%) and Market Street (41%). Highest proportion of couples could be found at Spinningfields (33%) and Albert Square (31%).

Visitor Demographics: Age Just under 1 in 5 visitors to the city centre locations were aged under 16 compared to 8% in Piccadilly Gardens.

Visitor Demographics: Location Majority of visitors came from the North West. Approximately 10% came from elsewhere in the UK and 2% came from overseas. Around 23% came from within MCC, compared to 29% in 2009 meaning that in 2010 a higher proportion of people came from outside of MCC

Visitor Demographics: Reason for Visit Christmas shopping was the most common main reason for visiting the city centre for approximately a third of people 31% of people at in the 5 city centre locations said that a Christmas event was their main reason for the visit, compared to just 13% in Piccadilly Gardens. People in Piccadilly Gardens were more likely to be living or working in the city centre as their main reason for the visit. People on Market Street were more likely to be Christmas shopping (65%) than at Spinningfields Ice Rink (15%). In turn, people at Spinningfields Ice Rink were more likely to be there specifically for a Christmas event (54% main reason) than at any of the other locations.

Visitor Satisfaction Visitors to events gave very high satisfaction scores with people in Albert Square giving the highest satisfaction rating, with 96% rating the Christmas event they had been to that day as good or excellent The lowest satisfaction ratings were on Market Street, which also had the highest proportion of visitors not going to a Christmas event that day. Even on Market Street, 86% of visitors rated their Christmas event that day as good or excellent

Economic Impact Average visitor spend for Piccadilly Gardens was £49.22 generating £1.58m for Economic Impact for Manchester Spend data was not collected for the other events but assumptions can be made given the visitor number: -Piccadilly Gardens: £1.58m -Manchester Markets:£49.3m (2009 figure) -Spinningfields Ice Rink:£2.06m (est.) -Arndale Santas Grotto:£0.26m (est.) -Christmas Lights Switch-on:£0.58m (est.) -TOTAL£52.78m (est.)

Other Findings 28% of vistors came by train compared to just 17% in 2009 with car use declining PR value of media coverage of the campaign in 2010 was £218k Over 30% of visitors expected to spend more than 5 hours in the city compared to just 18% in 2009 Increase in retail turnover up 6.72% in Nov and 5.2% in Dec compared to 2009 against a decrease nationally Footfall also increased year-on-year

RESULTS: Christmas Lights Switch-On

Christmas Lights Switch-on 12 November Audience: 12,000

Christmas Lights Switch-on Web Analytics – Christmas Press Release on manchester.gov.uk

RESULTS: Spinningfields Ice Rink (and Lodge)

Spinningfields Ice Rink 11 November 2010 – 3 January ,500 skaters 2.4% increase on 2009.

Spinningfields Ice Rink Ticket Breakdown Adults: 34.4% Youth: 9.5% Children: 15.2% Family: 16.5% Senior: 0.23%

Spinningfields Ice Rink Ticket Breakdown Students: 12.75% Schools: 4.22% Groups: 5.26% Foster Care Offer: 172 family tickets Skate Lessons: 17

Spinningfields Ice Rink Ticket Breakdown by Postcode

Spinningfields Ice Rink Web Analytics – spinningfieldsicerink.com Visits: 50,520 Unique Users: 42,117 Page Views: 157,632 Average Page Views: 3.14

Spinningfields Ice Rink Web Analytics – spinningfieldsicerink.com Average Time on Site: 2 mins 5 secs. Bounce Rate: 37% New Visits: 76.8%

Spinningfields Ice Rink Web Analytics – Spinningfields Ice Rink page on Man.gov.uk 68% of visits came from the Spinningfields Ice Rink homepage advert.

Spinningfields Ice Rink Web Analytics from Quaytickets.com 2,639 visits to Spinningfields Ice Rink section of quaytickets.com 2,358 visits referred from Spinningfieldsicerink.com Other referral sites include Facebook, visitmanchester.com, manchestertheatres.com

Spinningfields Ice Rink Analysis of Traffic to Quaytickets Ticket Booking Lines Spinningfieldsicerink.com: 89.5% of calls Leaflet: 3.8% of calls Press: 1.2% of calls Outdoor: 1.1% of calls Foster Care Offer: 76 calls (2.2%)

The Lodge - Spinningfields Ice Rink Very difficult to measure footfall as entry was free. Estimated 56% of visitors to the Ice Rink visited The Lodge 89% of visitors rated The Lodge as excellent or good New Year’s Eve: 400 people.

Spinningfields Ice Rink Customer Feedback 61% of visitors have visited the rink before 91% of visitors rated the experience as excellent or good Sample: 162.

Spinningfields Ice Rink How visitors found out about the rink

Spinningfields Ice Rink Other attractions visited

Spinningfields Ice Rink “I was very impressed with the staff, keeping everyone under control and helping those who fell up promptly. All very organised and yet it was a busy session.” “I think the Ice Rick is a Brilliant Idea! Feels like you’re almost in New York!” “Excellent service, very welcoming and my children loved it.” “Great ice rink and really loved the Lodge was so cosy!” “It has a wonderful Christmassy atmosphere.”

Spinningfields Ice Rink “It was very good, excellent value.” “We had a hilarious time at the rink, and coupled with the Christmas markets, it made for an excellent evening out with friends on two occasions. I wasn’t quite doing the Bolero, but after a couple of mulled wines, I’d managed to get from one end of the rink to the other without my face hitting the ice! Hopefully, the rink will be back this year!”

RESULTS: Christmas Markets

Christmas Markets 18 November – 21 December No official measurement for : 1.3m visitors 2009 Economic Impact: £49.9m

Christmas Markets In 2010, King Street hosted a new Christmas Market King Street Footfall Figures (CityCo): November 2010: footfall: 672,808 November 2009: footfall: 325,710 (106.57% year on year increase in footfall) December 2010: footfall: 886,659 December 2009: footfall: 420,428 (110.89% year on year increase in footfall)

Christmas Markets Web Analytics – Christmas Markets Opening Times on manchester.gov.uk

RESULTS: New Years Eve Fireworks

New Year’s Eve Fireworks 31 December, Spinningfields Audience: 5,000 Two additional ice rink skate sessions were full. The Lodge: 400 people.