England’s Northwest

Vision

Address and challenge negative perceptions of the Northwest, filling the information gaps with inspiring facts and hidden gems to encourage visitors.

Ideas

Create intelligent advertorial solutions, ‘Short Stories for Short Breaks’ styled as a travel journal and based on firsthand accounts of Stuart Maconie, the BBC Radio 2 figurehead and UK’s biggest selling travel writer.

Fifteen stories delivering personal renditions, creating an emotional connection to the Northwest. The stories were used to create a 128 page perfect bound book as a call to action, press ads in key press publications (Sainsbury’s Magazine, The Times, The Guardian, Observer), and a strong online presence including downloadable podcasts and competitions.

Victory

• 50,000 visits to website
• 11,000 book requests
• 98% of readers said they would definitely visit the Northwest
• 53% had visited the Northwest as a result of the campaign
• 77% have made more than one trip
• 99% agreed or strongly agreed they would like to see more of this sort of information on the Northwest region
• Return on investment 110:1
• 38,200 trips to the Northwest of England and a visitor spend in the area of £7,514,000

stuartstories.co.uk