Elected Member Briefing - Love Local, Eat Local, Buy Local Campaign

About this Briefing Note

Report by: Emily Queen, City and Town Centre Management Officer

Date: 6 November 2024

Subject: Perth - Love Local, Eat Local, Buy Local Campaign 

Responsible Officer: David Littlejohn, Strategic Lead

Details

Purpose

This Briefing Note outlines an exciting new campaign designed to showcase independent retail across the whole Perth and Kinross region.

Background

As we move towards the final quarter of the year our attention is firmly turned to Christmas and the retail opportunity this presents. One of our key objectives this year is build a campaign that lays strong foundations in the festive season; but also enables us to build the 'Perth City' destination message and content for year round use.

As such, we have created an exciting campaign that will kick start a fresh approach to showcasing independent shopping in Perth city centre and surrounding towns as we move forward into 2025.

Briefing Information

Theme: Perth, the home of independent shopping

Focusing on the streets of Perth city centre, and the shops that populate them, this campaign will showcase our city's unique selling point - namely, the amazing independent retailers that bring Perth to life.

We know our strength lies in the 'off the High Street' nature of our compact city centre; side streets, lanes and vennels, making up so much of what we have to offer. By highlighting these important thoroughfares and the shops within them, we will demonstrate why Perth is the place to be for locals and visitors who love to shop differently.  

Using the city centre as the hook, we will build on this to provide a platform for independent businesses across the area.

Leveraging the city centre as a focal point, we will expand this initiative to provide a platform for independent businesses throughout our towns and villages in Perth and Kinross covering Auchterarder, Blairgowrie and East Perthshire, Highland Perthshire, Kinross-shire, Crieff and Strathearn.

Marketing and Promotion

The following features will be used on Perth City and Towns and provided free of charge to all businesses:

• Perth and Kinross Business Directory. Refreshed to allow for better navigation of towns and villages, the Business Directory is open to all businesses across the area and is free of charge to list and update. Business Directory - Perthshire.
• 8 x blogs focused on the streets of Perth and the independent businesses and cultural attractions.
• 12 x one minute video reels for use within the blogs and across social media.
• Map of Perth City Centre and its independent shops - retailer handout and download from website.
• 4 x newsletters to the 20K strong mailing list.
• Chaotic Scot visit featuring a two-day short break focused on Christmas Shopping in Perth - 91K Instagram following, 79K Facebook Following, 16K TikTok following + newsletter to her 10K strong database.
• 10-week Facebook / Instagram campaign including new content on streets, shops, area wide business directory, and Perth & Kinross as a Christmas shopping destination. 
• 8-week Radio Tay campaign - Air Time, Presenter Talk Ups, Digital.
• 3 x Digital Courier Advertorial -  Christmas Events, Markets and Shopping Experiences in Perth and Kinross, shop Independent in Perth and Kinross this Christmas, Perthshire Artisans - a focus on makers across the area and reinforcing the UNESCO status
• 7 x Courier Full Page Ads.
• 10,000 x city centre maps with over 120 shops and eateries listed.

Placemaking - Perth City Centre

• Advertising boards around the old Debenhams and McEwens buildings will showcase the city centre map and each individual street. Over 120 shops, restaurants and cafes are listed, with QR codes linking back to website.

Competitions to gather data and drive digital traffic

• Win a shopping break in Perth - Perth City and Towns website main competition.
• Win £250 of vouchers for an independent retailer of your choice - Radio Tay. 
• Scotland Wide Bauer Radio Advent Calendar Competition "Presents Under The Tree" - Win a £150 Perth Gift Card.

Audience

• Local residents
• Day visitors in a one-hour drive time
• Short break, Christmas shopping tourists.   

How you can support

Encourage your constituents to sign up for the free business directory listing. We will be driving traffic to these web pages via digital ads and newsletters.

Additionally, we kindly ask you to share our social media posts with your contacts and on your own social media channels and community groups. This will help amplify our reach and support local businesses. For more information and to sign up, please visit Business Directory - Perthshire