Christmas 2013 Campaign

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Media Channels TV Radio OOH 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

Media Channels Press Advertising Print distribution 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.

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.

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, Ireland and Russia E-mail marketing to 4,350 international Travel Trade contacts.

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.

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