Creative Strategy

Handpicked Britain Creative Strategy

Rosie Olivia March

Contents 1. Synopsis

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2. Branding

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3. Content

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4. Photography

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5. App Development

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6. Manufacture

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7. Storage

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8. Distribution

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9. Launch Event 10. Promotion

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a. Public Relations

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b. Media Advertisement

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c. Guerrilla Marketing

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d. Digital Presence

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11. Timescale 12. Budget

20-21 22

a. Promotion Budget

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b. Launch Budget

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c. Production Budget

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d. Manufacture Budget

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d. Budget Summary

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13. Progression

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14. Summary

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15. References

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1. Synopsis

Handpicked Britain wants to change the way tourists explore a city, providing them with the opportunity to live like a local. This is going to be done by creating a range of alternative guide books for towns and cities up and down Britain. The aim of the company is to give tourists a real feel for a city; showcasing local eateries, bars, creative venues and public art work. The focus of the books is to steer consumers away from mundane chains and direct them towards exciting independent businesses.

A pocket sized guide book will be created for each city in the collection, alongside an interactive mobile phone and tablet app, social media platform and an online blog; with the first guide in the collection being ‘Handpicked Liverpool’.

This document outlines everything that will need to be considered before Handpicked Britain is launched. All aspects of this business venture, including the logistics, will be carefully considered and planned in order to guarantee the success of the brand.

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2. Branding

The branding of Handpicked Britain will be minimal, without being clinical, with the focus being on imagery and photography. To ensure Handpicked Britain has a strong brand image, the company will work closely with Mercy; a Design Agency, Literature and Arts Collective based in Liverpool and London. Mercy develops and designs branding and marketing campaigns for arts, music, retail and lifestyle brands.

Strong branding will set the collection apart from its competitors and ensure that it is recognised and remembered. Mercy will be responsible for creating all the graphic design elements of the brand, including the logo, publication and marketing material; producing a consistent brand image through all aspects of the business.

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3. Content

Each city featured in the collection will have a travel pack which will consist of a paper back travel guide, mobile phone and tablet app and online blog. Each part of the collection will be able to be used on its own, and becomes enhanced when used together. The first guide to feature in the collection will be ‘Handpicked Liverpool’, which will be the prototype for future cities.

An essential part of the production is choosing what venues will be featured in the publication. The aim of the collection is to inspire tourists to explore a city like a local; therefore it is paramount that the places selected are chosen by locals. Local artists, photographers, graphic designers and others who work in creative industries will be contacted and asked to give suggestions of what is featured; with a second opinion taken from local art and design students. Using social media as a way to contact consumers, the brands Facebook and Twitter pages will also be utalised to ask for suggestions. Using a wide range of sources to gather the publications content should ensure that there are a variety of locations featured, and therefore the end product should appeal to a diverse target audience.

Each of the venues will be contacted via email or telephone to find out if they would like to be involved in the collection, and if they would, a meeting will be arranged to discuss the next steps. The location will need to be photographed and a short piece written about the venue and its ethos to the featured in the guide. Permission will not be required for any of the photographs that will be taken outdoors.

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4. Photography

The paper back guide book will be filled with high quality, full colour photographs, with the majority of venues having a double page spread.

The photography is a vital part of the book as this is how it will be illustrated, so a team of professional photographers will be hired for this task. The photographers will be responsible for shooting the interiors and exteriors of a large number of buildings, as well as all of the selected public and street art, with a brief asking them to capture the locations in an unusual and interesting way.

Once all of the photographs have been taken, time will be spent with a graphic designer from Mercy, editing the images and choosing which ones will feature in the final publication. Digital software including Adobe Photoshop will be used in the editing process of the photographs in order to enhance the images. Care will be taken to ensure the original photographs are not significantly changed, and that everything that has been changed about them are things that can be done in a photography dark room.

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5. App Development

To go alongside the city guide, a mobile phone and tablet app will be produced to help users explore a city in more depth. This will be able to be updated regularly with any new additions to the city. The application will be designed and created by Bluestorm Solutions. Their expertise originally lay within the advertising sectors, which will them to provide first class marketing for the software. The app will have to be produced following Apple’s guidelines in order for it to be sold on App Store, ensuring the concept is unique and marketable.

The app will use the phone’s GPS and will provide a map to take the user directly to each hidden gem within the city. It will be fully functional and compatible with Android and Apple devices. It will work with social media, allowing the user to ‘check-in’ on Facebook and tweet about where they have been.

The app will be given out free of charge to 100 users via the ‘App Store’, this will provide Handpicked Britain with the opportunity to recieve feedback and make any changes before the application is launched.

There is a yearly fee of £100 in order for a paid application to be sold via the App store, along with a set percentage of the profits made.

A trial version of the app will be available to consumers for free. This will contain a small selection of venues and locations featured in the book, still providing the same interactions with social media and use of GPS. A charge of £4.99 will then be charged for an upgrade to the full application. This will be charged for each individual city guide.

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6. Manufacture

The printing of the books needs to be done to a very high standard in order for the finished product to look professional and appealing. The books will be square, with dimensions of 210 x 210 mm, printed on a recycled material, with a card cover. This means that they will be light weight and easily transportable.

The publication will be around 100 pages, with full colour print throughout. It will be printed on 100gsm recycled white matt paper with 250gsm matching cover and it will have a saddle stitch finish.

To begin with, ‘Handpicked Liverpool’ will have 1000 books printed, which is a medium sized run for a commercial book. If the publication is then deemed a success and the demand for it is high, there will be an opportunity for a second run; potentially with improvements and new content.

The ethos of the Handpicked Britain brand is to support local businesses, not large chains, so it makes perfect sense for the books to be published by a local firm. The first run of books will be printed at Print Factory, a family run company, established over thirty years ago, based in Liverpool City Centre.

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7. Storage

Storage will have to be considered for when the books have been printed, as there is no guarantee that they will be sold straight away.

Warehouse space is available in various locations around the city.

Medium sized storage spaced will be organised for the eight weeks following the books manufacture, which can be extended or shortened if and when necessary. The company used will be ‘The Big Yellow Storage Company’.

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8. Distribution

Handpicked Britain is a new company, and is therefore small and unestablished and doesn’t have an in house sales force. This means that in order to get the books into shops around the city of Liverpool, they will need to contact the wholesalers and retailers in order to sell to them directly. This will cut costs and avoid middleman mark up on the product.

The internet can be used to contact the retailers, as well as phone calls and direct visits.

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9. Launch Event

To celebrate the launch of ‘Handpicked Liverpool’ a launch event will take place at the beginning of April 2014. The location of the event is going to be one of the venues that is featured in the publication; Leaf on Bold Street. This is a unique, independent teashop and bar, situated in the heart of Liverpool City Centre. Leaf’s ethos echoes that of Handpicked Britain, focussing largely on creativity, so therefore is is the ideal location for the event.

‘Leaf’ will provide the catering for the event; complimentary wine, beer or elderflower cordial will be available for all guests, alongside a selection of savoury nibbles. Alternative drinks will be available at the bar. To create a relaxed ambiance for the event, a local acoustic singer Greg Oldfield, will be performing on the night.

The venue has a capacity of 240 people when all of the furniture is in situ, and as furniture is removed, the capacity increases, therefore the room will be set up in response to the amount of RSVP’s received for the event.

Amongst the list of invited guests will be; local artists, photographers and graphic designers, local independent business owners, university and college tutors and a number of other people who are involved in the creative sector. It is also important to invite a number of people who could potentially be used to promote the product, such as bloggers, website hosts, radio presenters, curators and art critics. These guests will be sent printed invitations for the event. In addition to sending out printed invitations, selected people who work within creative industries will be invited via email in order to reach people a wider range of people. Although the event will be invite only, invitees are welcome to bring a guest along.

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10. Promotion The marketing, advertising and promotion of ‘Handpicked Liverpool’ will play a large role in helping the book reach its target demographic.

There are a number of marketing methods that will be used in order to get the publication noticed and create hype around the brand.

10a. Public Relations The marketing, advertising and promotion of ‘Handpicked Liverpool’ ‘Aurora Media’ are a full service agency, located in Liverpool city centre, who provide clients with public affairs advice, PR strategies, design creative, branding concepts and digital media solutions. This is the company that will be responsible for devising a PR strategy for ‘Handpicked Liverpool’. A press release will be written and sent around to local newspapers, radio stations, art galleries and creative websites.

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10b. Magazine Advertisement The Double Negative is a Liverpool based online creative magazine, whose readers are similar to that of Handpicked Liverpool’s target demographic. The publication features the latest in arts, design, film and music. They say that their readers come to them for their features, new artists, cultural life and critical analysis. Reaching out to around 1500 and 2000 readers per week, it is the perfect place to advertise Handpicked Liverpool.

There are several options available for advertisement within ‘The Double Negative’ for the brand to consider. The first is an advert placed at the top of an email newsletter which is sent out weekly, reaching 3,581, costing £200 per week. There is an option large banner than is featured on the websites homepage and various articles, costing £300 per month or on the side bar of the website (an option which is currently being utilised by Liverpool John Moores University, Fact and Tate) for the same price of £300 per month. The final advertisement option is a large main headline banner on the websites homepage, which will also feature on various top articles and on the ‘Artist on the Month’ page.

In order to reach a guaranteed wide range of people, the email newsletter option will be utilised for four weeks prior to the book launch, in order to spread word of the release. Alongside this method, the brand will advertise in the side bar of the website for one month before the launch and two months after, to ensure the book isn’t simply forgotten about after the launch.

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10c. Guerrilla Marketing Guerrilla marketing is an advertising strategy in which low cost, unconventional means are utilised. Sticker art and reverse graffiti are two of the ways that the ‘Handpicked’ brand is going to promote the product. They are both perfectly legal and very effective alternative ways of marketing, and will hopefully create a buzz around the brand and get it recognised.

Sticker art, also known as sticker bombing or sticker tagging, is a form of street art where an image or message is publically displayed using stickers. Hundreds of stickers can be printed at a very low cost, and stuck anywhere and everywhere in order to be noticed. The stickers will read ‘#HandpickedLiverpool’, and will be placed near various pieces of street and public art around the city, this will be in connection with the trending function on Twitter, and will hopefully make people want to find out more about it.

Reverse graffiti, also known as clean tagging or grime writing, is a method of creating temporary images on walls or surfaces by removing the dirt. This can be achieved on a large scale by use a stencil and high powered washer. This can be done on various pavements on route to the street art in Liverpool.

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10d. Digital Presence The key to reaching a broad range of potential readers is to have a strong online presence. The easiest and most effective way of doing this is by using social media. Both ‘Handpicked Britain’ and ‘Handpicked Liverpool’ will have their own Facebook pages, where they will post up to date photographs and statuses about new art work and events within their location. A Twitter page will also be set up, under the username ‘@HandpickedBrit’. All related tweets posted in the prior months to the launch will be signed off with ‘#HandpickedLiverpool’. This relates to the sticker art, so when curious people look up what the hash tag is all about, they will be directed to the brands social media sites. Twitter will also be used to interact with selected art galleries and local businesses that utilise the site, in order to reach out to as many people as possible.

The final social media platform that will be set up is a Pintrest account, where lots of primary and secondary photographs of interesting art work that reflects the brand can be uploaded, creating themed ‘pin boards’.

All of the social media pages will be very visual based, to reflect the photography lead collection of books.

The social media will be set up and managed by ‘Aurora Media’ for one month prior to the launch; it will then be taken over by the brand itself. This is in order to utilise their expertise in connecting with as many people as possible; ensuring that all comments and tweets are responded to efficiently, and consumers remain engaged with the brand, continuing to ‘like’ and ‘follow’.

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11. Timescale 1 Month

2 Months

Production

-Hire photography team -Get quotes from a graphic designer -Book proof reader -Research Liverpool’s art -Purchase SLR camera -Contact venues

-Photographs are taken -Photographs are edited

Manufacture

-Get quotes from printers and publishers -Arrange Meeting to discuss -See sample book and paper types -Distribution contract discussed

-Distribution contract finalised

Launch

-Research and get quotes from venues -Invitations Designed -Go to venue to see space

-Invitations sent to print -Acoustic singer hired -PA system hired -Deposit Paid -Guests invited

-Meet with PR Company to devise PR strategy -Social Media pages set up

-Advertisement designed -Magazine advertisement paid for -Social Media continually managed

promotion

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3 Months

4 Months

5 Months

-Book captions are written -Phone app discussed as -Book is proof read progression -Final Photographs are chosen -Book design is finalised

-Book is launched -Process begins again within another city.

-Book goes to print -Storage Arranged

-Books are delivered -Books in storage

-Distribution begins

-Catering organised -Public liability insurance for the event organised -Guests invited (via email and post)

-Final guest list assembled -Set up venue for event -Event takes place -E-reminders to guests

-Flyers given out to local businesses -Magazine advertisement paid for -Guerrilla Marketing begins

-Press release written and -Social media sites are fully utilised. sent out.

-Advertisement in online magazine

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12. Budget The following is a breakdown of costs that will be occurred during the production, manufacture, launch and promotion of Handpicked Liverpool.

12a. Marketing Budget Item

Price

Quantity

Total

Magazine Advertising: Email Newsletter Website Side Bar

£200 £300

2 weeks 3 months

£400 £900

£36 £18/£3

200 1

£36 £21

Flyers Business Cards

£141.60 £86.40

500 500

£141.60 £86.40

Online Presence: Social Media Social Media Management

£0 £45/day

3 sites 30 days

£0 £1,350

£500/day

10 days

£5,000

Guerilla Marketing: Sticker Bombing Reverse Graffiti (Stencil & Detergent) Printed Material:

Aurora Media:

PR Strategy

Total: £7,935

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12b. Launch Budget Item

Price

Quantity

Total

Deposit

£150

1

£150

Mid-week Venue Hire

£75

1

£75

Acoustic Singer

£150

1

£150

PA System Hire

£100

1

£100

£12.95 £2.95 £2.85

50 80 80

£647.50 £147.50 £142.50

£2 £2

20 20

£40 £40

£101

1

£101.00

£57.60 £0 £0.60

100 500 100

£57.60 £0 £60

Drinks:

Bottle of Wine Bottle of Beer Elderflower Cordial

Nibbles:

Crisps Nuts

Public Liability Insurance Invitations:

Printed Invitations Email Invitations Postage (First Class)

Total: £1,711 23

12c. Production Budget Item 3 Photographers Branding App Development App Store Graphic Design Proof Reader

Price

Quantity

Total

£9/hour

12 hours

£324

£250

1

£250

£1200

1

£1200

£100/year

1

£100

£400

1

£400

£12/hour

1 hour

£12

Total: £2286

12d. Manufacture Budget Price

Quantity

Total

£7.20/unit

1000

£7,200

Delivery

£0.00

1000

£0

Storage

£5.54/week

8 weeks

£44.32

£0.00

1000

£0

Item Printing

Distribution

Total: £7,244.32 24

12e. Budget Summary Grand Total: £19,176.32 The total outgoings before any profit has been made is £19,176.36.

Each book will be sold for £14.99, meaning that after the first run of 1000 books, a total revenue of £14,990 will be made. If the book is then deemed a success and sells out quickly, a second run will be produced. £14,400 will be reinvested and 2000 books will be printed.

If successful, this will result in a total revenue made of £30,570; £11,393.68 of which is profit. After the 1279th book is sold, any sales made is pure profit.

An investment of £1300 will be made to produce the first version of the mobile phone app. After 260 have been purchased, the company will then begin to make a profit, with a small percentage being paid to the service provider, ie the App Store.

If the marketing and promotion of the brand is executed to the highest standard, Handpicked Britain see no reason why they should not be making a profit within their first year of trading.

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13. Progression Looking to the future, Handpicked Britain hopes that the first book in the collection is deemed a success so that plans can begin to be made for further books to be launched. The next book in the collection is going to be ‘Handpicked Bristol’; which will focus on the street art and sculptures within the city of Bristol. If the marketing campaign for the first book is successful, it will be mirrored for the future launches, with the opportunity to alter it if and when necessary. Once Handpicked Britain becomes established, the focus upon marketing will be reduced, as ‘word-ofmouth’ and the brands reputation will become forefront.

A website will be created for the company, which will be updated regularly with news, photographs and articles. The website will feature information about all of the cities in the collection, as well as cultural places that have yet to be used. The website will be created by a Mercy Design Agency in order for the finished product to mirror the aesthetics of the brand.

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14. Summary This document has fully explored real expectations of everything that needs to be considered in order to produce the first book in the ‘Handpicked Britain’ collection.

The budget has been created using quotes gathered from companies in Liverpool and the surrounding areas. They give a rough idea of how much the book is going to cost to produce, manufacture and promote, however, the final cost may differ. The book is set to be launched in April 2014 and by this time; the costing may have risen.

For full details, please refer to the ‘Creative Concept’ and ‘Marketing & Promotion’ documents.

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15. References Page 9 (2013), Leaf on Bold Street [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www. thisisleaf.co.uk/#/on-bold-street/gallery/[Accessed 21 January 13].

(2013), Leaf on Bold Street [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www. peterguy.merseyblogs.co.uk/leaf-on-bold-street-730200127.jpg [Accessed 21 January 13].

Page 12 (2013), The Big Yellow Self Storage Company Logo [ONLINE].

Available at: http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/accommodation/ bigyellowstorage [Accessed 17 January 13].

Unless otherwise stated, photographs that have been used are my own.

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