Case Study: #DestinationRedhill event activates Redhill town centre
Redhill Business Guild deployed The Chain Agency’s digital marketing campaign for town activation in conjunction with the opening of The Light. Below is a copy of The Chain’s case study on the event.
The Client
The Redhill Business Guild was established in 2016 to represent the collective voice of the area’s businesses and to promote collaboration and mutual promotion amongst them. (https://redhillbg.org.uk/). Redhill as an area has been named as one of the best places for commuters to live, lying at just a 30-minute train to London Victoria and an hour from Brighton; and being in close proximity to the idyllic Surrey Hills. (https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/property-news/redhill-surrey-town-named-one-18877706) However, the town has little to no evening/nighttime economy and has not exactly been a destination for visitors or people looking to go out in the town.
The Task
The grand opening of ‘The Light’ – an entertainment complex consisting of a cinema, climbing walls, bowling alleys, an arcade, a restaurant and bar, and other activities – was due to occur on the 16th and 17th June 2023. The Redhill Business Guild realised that the opening of The Light was the perfect opportunity to promote Redhill as a destination beyond just the hosting of this entertainment development. Starting on the 1st June (just over two weeks before the unveiling!) the Redhill Business Guild, with the help of The Chain Agency, launched #DestinationRedhill with the goal of exactly that – making the public aware that Redhill is in fact a destination through promoting the variety of businesses it has to offer and igniting a buzz around the area for the opening weekend.
The Solution
To successfully activate the town centre of Redhill, The Chain Agency enlisted the participation of The Belfry, The Harlequin, The Light and 49 other local businesses, encouraging their support for the #DestinationRedhill campaign by displaying and distributing promotional leaflets and posters, sharing social media posts and extending their opening hours to the evening. Any special offers that the businesses were offering were shared on the Business Guild’s social media platforms and website. Google, Facebook and Instagram ads were created and deployed to highly targeted members of the public who were within reasonable travelling distance to Redhill. Organic and appealing content was also consistently uploaded to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and TikTok to create excitement and anticipation in the run up to the grand opening.
To engage the general public during the duration of the campaign, we launched the #DestinationRedhill competition by placing selfie boards in hotspots around the town centre for people to take pictures with and upload to social media using the attached hashtag. The prizes included: £100 vouchers for The Belfry shopping centre; Cinema tickets plus free food and drink at The Light; tickets to The Harlequin; £100 M&S vouchers and £100 Redhill Business Guild vouchers.
The Chain reached out to local organisations and received comms support from Reigate and Banstead Borough Council comms team, BBC Radio Surrey, Reigate and Banstead Business (Economic Prosperity Team), We Love Reigate Facebook Group and Reigate Business Guild.
Over the opening weekend on the 16th and 17th June the following businesses agreed to extend their opening hours:
• Redhill Market street food vendors stayed open till 9pm. (Khao’s Thai Food, Nieshe Caribbean Food, Mazar City Afghani, Wael’s Falafel and Shaun’s Lekker Kitchen South African).
• Subway Redhill extended open hours till 9pm.
• SH Hardware extended open hours till 7pm and offered all customers a 5% discount from their total bill.
• The Junction pub offered all customers a free drink with every purchased meal.
• Movie Mug stayed open till 8pm and offered all customers a 10% discount on all purchases between 5pm – 8pm.
• Busy Beans café stayed open till 9pm.
The charity group ‘Autism Allstars’ held an interactive cosplay demonstration in The Belfry shopping centre from 1.30-6.30pm with a selection of movie characters and two actors from the Star Wars franchise signing autographs. The Harlequin Cinema and Theatre agreed to organise an outdoor stage for a variety of music acts to perform on Saturday 17th for the public.
Results and Feedback
The opening weekend was a huge success. Thanks to the efforts of The Redhill Business Guild; the local businesses of Redhill and The Chain Agency, the town was buzzing with a vibrant and eclectic atmosphere.
Footfall in The Belfry shopping centre was +14% compared to the same week last year and 12.5% on the previous week. The weekend footfall was especially high with Fri/Sat/Sun up 17% on the previous week with all three days being the busiest respective days of the year-to-date.
The Belfry car park usage was also up 20% on the previous year and up 13% on the week prior.
Fri/Sat/Sun saw 260 cars validated in The Light for free parking with an average dwell time of 3hrs 45mins reflecting the cinema/leisure use. This starkly compares to the average normal use of the week prior being 1hr 40mins.
49 businesses took part in the campaign.
The #DestinationRedhill hashtag was used on 514 separate posts whilst the campaign achieved 2,385,302 impressions from the paid ad campaigns and 255,556 from organic resulting in 2,640,858 total impressions.
The feedback from the local community was overwhelmingly positive, with many commenting that they had never experienced such a bustling atmosphere in Redhill, and that the campaign made them excited for what the future could hold for the town.
“#DestinationRedhill had such a vibe when I was in town yesterday and I’m really excited to see this amazing little town, full of potential, get a new lease of life!”
“Redhill town was bustling today. Was so nice to hear a band playing and how good were they! More of this please… makes such a difference and what a fab atmosphere.”
“Just what Redhill deserves”
“It’s great to see that the town centre is getting a much needed facelift!”
“I can confirm we’ve had 27,000 visitors into the Belfry over the last two days. Which were the busiest Friday + Saturday of 2023 so far! Delighted The Light is now open and thank you for #DestinationRedhill”
Conclusion
The #DestinationRedhill town activation campaign was a sure success – especially when one considers that it launched just over two weeks before it culminated in the opening weekend. It is vital that anyone looking to activate a local area and provide interactive content, collaborate with the local community and incentivise the local public to partake. Every area has a different demographic and core ethos – therefore each needs their own bespoke strategy for on-ground activation.
To find out more about the campaign you can contact The Chain Agency here https://www.thechainagency.co.uk/talk-with-us
