Insight
Essex County Council restructured and re-branded the provision of its country parks and heritage places. The team that look after the county’s parks is called Explore Essex.
The brief: “We need to gain editorial coverage on Explore Essex’s new brand. At the same time, we want to boost awareness of our country parks and heritage places to boost visitor numbers.”
Implementation
We decided to take a fresh and engaging approach to help bring the country parks and heritage places alive to Essex-based residents, especially families.
Working in co-operation with country park rangers, we created 101 things to see and do across Essex. A photoshoot was set up with youngsters undertaking different activities in brightly coloured branded sweatshirts.
A launch release was drafted, detailing the 101 things to do, and was issued with engaging images from the photoshoot.
All activities were shared on the Explore Essex website and promoted across social media.
Impact
All local newspapers and online channels covered the launch and provided links for families to sign up to the challenge.
A councillor was interviewed live on BBC Essex to launch the campaign and talk about the 101 things to do in the county.
The challenge got off to a great start. Families joined together to take part in the initiative. Rangers at Explore Essex sites also enjoyed the challenge and could support the campaign with activities at open days.
Explore Essex has also worked with Big Wave PR to help promote its new car parking ticket and prices. The agency has also created mini campaigns to encourage more visitors to the county’s parks.
www.explore-essex.com
“Thanks for your hard work and great idea, it’s worked well.”
