How local authorities can work with marketing agencies to target, reach and persuade people entitled to grants and assistance. Andrew Berry Ray Groves Private Housing Manager, Managing Director Environmental Health, PRG Ltd Eastbourne Borough Council Eastbourne 1
• We’ll look at two real-life case studies involving four local authorities • Why and how the local authority appoints marketing assistance • How the local authority defjnes what it wants to achieve • How marketing agencies think differently to local authorities • How the take-up of grants and assistance has proved the value of marketing The experience we’ll share with you 2
• It’s more demanding than you might think! • However we underspent – we made good progress from zero, but the glass could • In Year One we planned a programme to spend £1.5m on housing renewal procurement and informing people that the funding is there for the taking be viewed as half-full or half-empty. We wanted it full! • New Private Housing Renewal Policy with new types of assistance in place, • A big pot of money and a big challenge • From 2001 to 2005 we’d had next to no funding £1 million by GOSE/the Regional Housing Board for private housing renewal • In 2006/07 Eastbourne Borough Council became one of 22 local authorities allocated Who wants to be a millionaire? 3
• The product was strong – so why wasn’t it being taken up? • More than a quarter of the EBC website is dedicated to environmental health,including private housing: eastbourne.gov.uk/privatehousing • We had run some marketing activities ourselves • In our 2007 house condition survey, we asked about awareness of our housing service • Less than 30 percent knew about our service Giving away money is harder than you think 4
• The hard facts had told us our message wasn’t getting out there • And the message had so many things to tell – a complicated offering, even to us, with 17 different types of assistance! • We were realistic: we didn’t have the time or the expertise for marketing • We considered enrolling low-cost help from universities • Others suggested we needed professional help – and they were right • Eastbourne Borough Council is now confjdent of meeting the target for 2008-9 and beyond – with more marketing options still up our sleeve Call in the professionals! 5
• Before we show you how we did it . . . we did it twice • PRG was subsequently also appointed to market the East Sussex Energy Partnership • Eastbourne, Rother, Wealden, Hastings • Two urban areas, two rural areas, total population 419,574 • To improve energy effjciency in homes and help lift people out of fuel poverty • Grants for loft insulation, cavity wall insulation, renewable technologies, such as solar • In four months, marketing has generated more than 1,300 referrals • Months lost in procurement process . . . but on target to spend/commit to spend budget • For both EBC and ESEP the marketing methodology was very similar, the creative approach very different. We’ll show you both That’s not all, folks! 6
• We sent an outline brief to three competing marketing agencies • We visited each agency to brief them in outline • We provided the agencies with our Private Housing Renewal Policy • We disclosed the funding available for Renewal, but not the marketing budget • We gave each agency equal opportunity to meet with offjcers with questions • We visited each agency to be presented with their “pitch” • We chose the best according to strength of proposal and value • Then we defjned the marketing budget and the agency cut the cloth to fjt Appointing the marketing assistance 7
• Marketing is team work between the client and the agency • Your objectives are ours • We listen carefully, we work with you to refjne our campaign when it is in progress . . . but we start from a different viewpoint • That’s the viewpoint of the sceptical target audience and the barriers they’ll throw in your path • Even when – indeed, especially when - you’re giving things away, people will suspect there’s a catch! Same aims, different vision 8
• Outsiders have advantages • Allowed to be bolder in questioning the established thinking • Better positioned to see the wood for the trees • A more realistic view of how newsworthy or exciting your proposition really is • Experience of what works and what doesn’t • And what works is a mixture of science and art Start things going forward by taking a step back 9
• PRG is a full-service marketing agency with expertise in most marketing channels: • Established 27 years • Based in the seaside town of Eastbourne designers • Staff of 20: former journalists and editors, marketing strategists and planners, graphic - Graphic design, website creation, website search engine optimisation - Publishing, from leafmets and newsletters to books and magazines • National, regional and local campaigns - Advertising, in print, online and outdoors - Direct mail, in print and by email - PR, to generate positive media coverage • Private sector and public sector clients How do we know what works? 10
• Strategy is the foundation upon which everything else is built • Who the target audience is • How to reach the target audience – the best mix of marketing channels • Facing up to the barriers between us and the target audience • Identifying the key messages to communicate – to be remembered • Identifying the secondary messages to communicate – to break down those barriers The science 11
• Creative execution is not just art for art’s sake (graphic designers are not marketers!) • Strategy shapes the key messages • Strategy shapes the visual and written language and the tone • We are all bombarded by high-quality (and low-quality) marketing messages every day • Essential to achieve consumer appeal, not a Council feel • The creative output has to stand out and has to engage The art 1 2
• Eastbourne Borough Council audience: unemployed; low income; aged over 60 • East Sussex Energy Partnership audience: low income families with children under 16; aged over 60; in fuel poverty – and discounts for able-to-pays • Not quite the most deprived (who are more likely to be in social housing), but approximately the 10th to 30th percentiles • Demographic research confjrmed exact neighbourhoods to target The science in our case studies 13
in winter, solar in spring/summer) shop windows) in Eastbourne, Hastings, Rother and Wealden • This data infmuenced the types of publications selected for print advertising (e.g. Friday-Ad, parish magazines, retirement supplements) • This data determined the streets to include in direct marketing • This data shaped the exact location of outdoor adverts (bus stops, low-cost supermarkets, (postcards and information booklets) • Take-up levels/budgets for varying types of Housing Renewal assistance shaped the priorities and what we emphasised • Seasonal weather shaped the emphasis of ESEP communications (thermal insulation The science in our case studies (2) 14
• Lack of awareness • Assumption that assistance is only for Council-owned properties • Scepticism that it’s too good to be true • Fear of diffjcult form-fjlling • Fear of disruption during works • Resistance (to Eastbourne Housing Renewals loans) from family members who will inherit the property • Potential confusion and lack of trust (ESEP) because of other insulation schemes being promoted • Pride The barriers in our case studies 15
• Housing Policy key words: - Secure - Warm - Safe - Decent • Varied types of assistance: - Empty Property Grant - Warm and energy effjcient homes - Safer homes - Adaptations - Repairs - Healthy The possible key messages - Eastbourne Housing Renewals A lot to communicate! 16
• Keep the main message simple (a challenge with 17 types of assistance!) • Repeat the main message consistently • Mustn’t be patronising • Must engage by standing out and entertaining • Must be supported in the sub-text by secondary messages that overcome the barrier perceptions • Must have a call-to-action (freephone number) • Ideally one word or phrase with variable following-text Arriving at one key message 1 7
• Relates to the reader/viewer: You • Arouses selfjsh curiosity: What do I deserve? • Engages with humour and pokes fun at pretentiousness: Similar to L’Oreal’s ‘Because I’m worth it’ / ‘Because you’re worth it’ • Easily remembered • Affjrms deserving entitlement Key message establishes the campaign theme - EBC • For EBC Housing Renewal: Because you deserve it! 18
• Real people make it believable • Real people emphasise the fun-poking at glamorous/pretentious models • Photos are more memorable than words • A few words are more memorable than many Creative execution - EBC 19
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