Place Marketing presentation

1. Addressing Swindon’s
image
Jane Stewart – The Brunel
Julia Falcon – Forward Swindon

2. - Industrial town
- Continues to enjoy strong growth
- One of the most affluent areas in UK
- Perceptions of Swindon are poor
- Town’s image has significant impact on all business
sectors: property, recruitment, retail, tourism
Swindon Background

3. - Easy rail and road links across to London and South West
- Diverse, healthy economy & plenty of employment
- One of the 10 fastest growing towns in the UK
- Surrounded by The Cotswolds, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire
- Good mix of housing & choice of environments
- Strong retail mix
Strengths

4. - No “standout” attributes/ USP
- Lack of “ownership” by local community
- “Satellite” town layout
- No obvious “heart of town”, decaying car parks, unpleasant
pedestrian access routes
- Lack of leisure attractions, cultural offering & amenities
- Gateway driving routes are unattractive with bad signage
Weaknesses

5. - Investment in retail and leisure mix
- 16% of the residents are new to Swindon = a fresh audience
- Positive lifestyle proposition
- Rebrand the town as a dominant regional destination
- Utilise the “growth” aspects to Swindon in affirmative marketing
- High speed rail link
Opportunities

6. Current (confusing) situation
…..plus all the individual businesses, shopping centres, hotels, attractions
Multiple contact points & marketing sources..

7. Place Marketing
This is not about a new logo
This is not about a TV campaign or a new advert
Or a photo-shoot, or media stunt
This is about fundamentally changing how people feel about, see,
perceive, talk about Swindon

8. What do we actually
mean
by place marketing?

18. Joined up campaigning for
Swindon

32. Each activity connects Swindon
people & companies with our
targets

33. So what happens
next?

34. Any questions?