Presentation as part of the Communications workshop, day 3 of NAAONB conference 2012

1. Communications on
a landscape scale
Shane Harris
Tourism & Communications Manager

2. • “People will protect
nature because they
want to, not
because they have
to.”
– ‘branding biodiversity’,
Futerra

3. Communications – why bother?
• If people don’t know
about our special
animals and
plants…
• If people don’t value
our special
landscapes…
• Will they care when
they’re threatened?

4. Outline
• Branding – on a
shoestring
• Newsletters – print vs
electronic… a case study
• Social media –
conversations with new
audiences
• Crystal ball –
challenges we face
• Final words

6. Branding… history
• Pre-2007
– confused identity
– lack of consistency
– levels of conflicting identity
– Geopark/AONB status
– = dog’s breakfast!
• Jan 2007 launched
Logo and Branding
Guidelines
– consistent approach
adopted
– family of communications
– belonging

7. Branding… developing story
• Changes in Geopark
logos
• End of landscape scale
projects
• ‘Landscapes for life’
branding guidelines
– AONB Family push
– Framework to work
together
– Need to support &
integrate
• Time for a refresh!

8. Branding… the refresh
• The challenge:
– implement ‘Landscapes
for life’ brand guidelines
– highlight Geopark status
– retain a ‘local’ North
Pennines feel
– Consistent approach
across all Partnership
communications – print,
posters, letterhead,
website, email
signatures…
– very limited budget

9. Branding… the refresh
• The solution:
– Landscapes for life logo
on front
– retain ‘landscape rip’
– single ‘hero’ image
– title/sub-title colour block
– local area logo on back
cover
• Issues:
– loss of local identity?
– partial implementation?
– team resistance

10. Branding… website
• 2011/12
– opportunistic refresh
– CMS change
– full implementation of
‘Landscape for life’ brand
guidelines

11. Branding… letterhead etc.
• Branding refresh
included:
– Letterhead
– Compliments slip
– PowerPoint slides
– Email signatures
– Poster template
• Consistent ‘look and
feel’ across all
communications

12. Branding… thoughts
• Necessary evil…
– consistent look and feel
– unified identity
– reinforces messages
– Landscapes for life –
‘together we’re stronger’
• Used local designer…
– realistic costs (£1,290!)
– lots of ‘hand holding’
– needed clear vision
– time to develop: 6-8mths

14. Newsletters… case study
• Two paper editions of North
Pennines News a year
• Design, print & distribution
costs
• c£5K per edition (26p each)
• Advantages:
– Reach 14,000 households
– No opt-in
– Profile/prominence
• Disadvantages:
– Cost
– Carbon
– Time consuming

15. Enewsletters
• First done Jan 2011
• £500 set up – thereafter £20
flat fee + 2p per email
• Per year
– 4 enewsletters (1,304)
– 4 Sustainable Tourism Enews (513)
– 2 Volunteer Ebulletins (292)
• Costs per year £356.72
• Advantages:
– Cost savings
– More immediate/adaptable
– SEO
– More engaged
audience/subscribers
• Disadvantages:
– Reduced reach
– More ephemeral

16. Enewsletters vs Printed newsletters
• Transition from traditional to
new media…
• Print being gradually
replaced by electronic
• Currently - One edition of
North Pennines News per
year and a variety of
enewsletters
• Cost savings of c£4K per
annum
• Ultimately…

18. Social media… overview
• “Content isn’t king,
Conversation is King.
Content is just something to
talk about.” Source: HitRiddle
• facebook – More than 901
million (1bn by end 2012,
14% of world population)
• twitter – 555 million (10
million in UK)
• Google+ – 170 million
• Pinterest – 11.7 million
• Linkedin – 150 million

19. Social media - twitter
• Microblogging
– tweet content – care required!
• About what you are doing
• Joined Aug 2010
– 2,060 ‘followers’ currently
• Themed campaigns
– Bike Week 2012 – 12K+
– Green Tourism Week 2012:
• 39RTs, 19k/118K reach
• Potential
– Yorkshire Dales 8K, ANPA
15K, RSPB – 29K

20. Social media - facebook
• Building loyalty/ informal
conversations
• Joined February 2011
– 320 ‘likes’ currently
• Images/video clips
popular
• Potential:
– Yorkshire Dales 3K,
ANPA 2.5K, RSPB 23K

21. Social media – the future?
• Here to stay!
• Free but consumes time…
– willingness to engage
• Challenge is to integrate
effort across platforms
• Responding to new kids on
the block?
– Pinterest
• Third of all traffic to
www.greentraveller.co.uk
arrives via their blog (500K
unique vis per mth)
– SEO – increasingly
important?

23. The future…
• Mobile technology
– apps, mobile-friendly websites
• Social media
– conversation rather than broadcasting…
• Reducing resource
– time and money
• Transition from traditional media to new
media
– When will print die?

24. The future
Alongside this…
• Ever more important to:
– engage and win support
– crowded market place
• ‘We are family’
– must speak with one voice across the AONB Family
– desirable to work with other Protected Landscape
categories…

25. Final words
• Communications must:
– reflect our QUALITY
landscapes
– encourage people to
VALUE them
– and INSPIRE everyone
to care about and take
action…
– … to CONSERVE and
ENHANCE them