MODERN MARKETING FOR AN ANCIENT CITY
MODERN MARKETING FOR AN ANCIENT CITY
Introduction
Belfast is one of the world’s most ancient cities, its location at the mouth of the River Lagan having been continuously occupied since about 2,000 years BCE. There are good reasons for this. Courtesy of the Gulf Stream, the site has a mild climate that seldom gets above 65 degrees F. or below 35 degrees F. Its northern latitude gives it one of the world’s shortest winter, and longest summer, days at the biannual solstices. It rarely snows. The city is ringed by low mountains that create a microclimate to support plant growth. The Lagan flows into Belfast Lough, an inlet that provides easy access to the sea, which is why Belfast eventually became a major shipbuilding city.
Analysis
Belfast History and Future Tourism
Throughout its long history, Belfast has been populated by a wide range of peoples, among them indigenous tribal groups of the Bronze Age, seafarers from the North, Druids, Christian monks seeking converts, Anglo-Norman invaders, Celts bearing trade goods, and Scots Presbyterians sent by King James to hold territory for the English. While many people today think of Belfast’s population only in terms of Catholic and Protestant, the truth is that Belfast has always been a center of commerce, culture, and cosmopolitanism. These and other attributes have made Belfast a contested city (Doyle, 2009, p. 87). Different peoples at different times and for different reasons have fought for space, wealth, and control of its assets (Connolly, 2013, p. 13). The Troubles are not unique, rather a part of Belfast’s long history of struggle, work, and sometimes reward. Now, in the 21st century, factional struggle is giving way to accommodation in response to social, political, and economic imperatives. Admittedly, the current peace is uneasy (Meulemans, 2013, pp. 13-17). This is why a city redevelopment and marketing strategy must take into account the challenge of including everyone in its target population, from students, to tourists, to young city workers, to the elderly, and the poor families of Shankill and The Falls (Cunningham and Byrne, 2006, pp. 47-49). The best way to do this is to position Belfast as a city that everyone can be a part of, and everyone can enjoy.
Current Tourism and City Marketing Resources
In assessing the strengths of Belfast, the focus will be on those characteristics that are now underutilized in the city’s marketing, rather than on some of the things that are already in place and being exploited (Brown, et. al., 2013, p. 1252). For example, the Titanic Quarter is a strength of sorts. However, it is also an attraction that required a great deal of investment with unpredictable, long-term ROI. It mostly benefits one-time tourists. Some locals might go to see it once or twice, but it is doubtful that they will make repeated trips (Yildiz and Akbulut, 2013, pp. 298-299).
A similar criticism can be made of the Falls Road walking tours. Once seen, the murals are of little interest, particularly to people in the community, who lived through The Troubles and probably don’t find much pleasure in reminiscing (Skinner, 2015, p. 3). This is not to say that the walking tours aren’t valuable from a historical perspective; just that they are not a sustainable marketing asset. In addition, Derry and other cities in Northern Ireland (NI) have similar offerings, so this “dark tourism” does nothing to make Belfast distinct from other NI destinations (Joseph, 2004, pp. 3-7).
Resource Gaps and Opportunities
1) Retired People
Retirees from the US, Japan, and Europe now make up a large segment of the international tourism market (McCartney, 2015, p. 10). Most of these people travel in groups on tours booked through college alumni organizations, nonprofit groups such as AAARP (American Association of Retired Persons) and National Geographic, and specialty travel companies like Roads Scholar (formerly Elder Hostel).
Lifelong learning conferences, tours of prehistoric ruins and city sculptures, music and cultural offerings, and Belfast’s parks and gardens should be promoted through these outlets. Also included should be special Gaeltacht Quarter events where older travelers have opportunities to meet local residents and learn something about real life in Belfast today.
2) Genealogy
There are many descendants of Scots-Irish people in the US, Canada, Australia and other countries who are interested in genealogy and tracing their ancestors.
Since Belfast was a large port of entry and embarkation for many in the Scots-Irish diaspora, the city could organize its immigration records and make them available for inspection by visitors. It might also put them online, as the Scots have done on the Scotland’s People website, and then offer tours and travel discounts to those who wish to see the places where their ancestors lived before emigrating.
3) Solstice Celebrations
The growing interest in spiritual practices such as Wicca and the move away from traditional, organized religions have caused many people in nations to celebrate alternative holidays like the Summer and Winter Solstices.
Belfast has Neolithic ruins such as the Giants’ Henge, plus a mild climate that facilitates outdoor activities year round. It may be worthwhile to offer solstice travel packages, perhaps combined with hiking opportunities, to people looking for ways to mark non-traditional holidays. An added advantage of this and other countryside activities is that it removes people from the industrial city, balancing the gritty, urban experience with a pastoral, rural one. Another positive result of this arrangement is that it reduces traffic in highly used tourist areas and spreads travelers’ spending around to the outer areas.
4) Water Sports
Although Belfast has a strong presence in sports like football, the rivers and seashores around the city are underutilized at present.
Offer kayaking holidays to attract sports tourists, as well as locals. Kayaking can be done in fresh and salt water and is easily combined with bird watching, fishing, hiking, photography, and related activities to create interesting experience packages. These trips might also provide job opportunities for local people who know the territory and are already engaged in these activities for their own pleasure.
5) Revitalize Decaying Industrial Structures
Not every development project has to create brand new spaces or dedicated quarters. Perhaps there are some existing, abandoned structures in Belfast the can be revitalized and repurposed.
For example, in New York City, an old, elevated railroad bed that once moved livestock in and out of the city’s meatpacking district was redeveloped into an elevated, urban park called The High Line. Located in the post-industrial area of the city’s westside, it is free to walk on and has become a major attraction for both locals and tourists. Recently, the well-known Whitney Museum of American Art moved from its cramped, uptown quarters to a brand new building adjacent to The High Line, which is proving to be an anchor for the redevelopment of the entire neighborhood (Jones, 2012, pp. 176-177).
The High Line stands in stark contrast to New York’s South Street Seaport development, which was completed in the 1980s, was popular for a time, and then became a novelty enclave visited mostly by tourists with children. Shortly after its corporate owner-developer went into bankruptcy, the Seaport was hit by a hurricane in 2012 (Venkatesh, 2013, p. 195). Now great portions of it are under renovation. Even when the Seaport comes back online, it is likely to remain attractive mostly to tourists, as it is not sufficiently varied to sustain local interest. This is what could very well become of Belfast’s Titanic Quarter and is the main reason that this SWOT analysis does not see that Quarter as an unmitigated strength.
6) Fashion Week
Irish linen is world renown and is arguably the standard for top-quality linen products. Located in County Down, the Thomas Ferguson company is one of the last major linen producers near Belfast (Parker, 1995, p. 33). At the same time, Irish fashion designers are experiencing increased recognition around the world, with their designs sold in high-end shops in Paris and Milan, as well as in the trendy shops of Galway and boutiques of Dublin. Belfast might build on its history as the center of the linen trade by partnering with Ferguson and selected Irish fashion designers to host a Fashion Week similar to those in New York and Paris. Such an event would attract local people as well as contribute to job creation and tourist traffic.
Since the climate is conducive to an event like Fashion Week taking place at any time of the year, Belfast could choose a time that does not directly compete with Fashion Weeks in the parts of the world. In this way, it might establish itself as the fashion center for distinctive seasonal or linen clothing, as well as home goods.
Winners and Losers of Current Tourism
The winners of increased tourism in Belfast would be local businesses, people looking for employment, international hospitality chains, Belfast economy and Belfast brand name.
Local businesses would get tourists who would spend in their shops and help them increase their revenue. Employment rates will decline as tourism industry will provide employment and entrepreneurship opportunities. Hospitality chains would be attracted to the growing tourism and several brands would open their hotel services in the city. With the growing tourism in Belfast, the city would attract investors who would be able to make a return on their investment as the city retains its popularity. The big losers would be the environment of Belfast as it would be polluted with the increasing tourist population.
Barriers to Future Development
For tourism, the obvious weakness of Belfast is its reputation for violence, a hangover from the era of The Troubles. Although the Good Friday accord suspended open conflict, there is no assurance that the long-standing animosities of the region won’t flare up again, since it is doubtful they have disappeared altogether (Shirlow and Murtagh, 2006, p. 7). Looking beyond tourism to local engagement, Belfast has several other weaknesses. They include unemployment and the locals’ lack of the skills needed to work in services industries. Segregated housing patterns persist, with sections of the city more or less off-limits to “others.” This breeds lack of skills for interacting with people different from oneself, such as when Catholics and Protestants find themselves working together in, for instance, a hotel or restaurant (Nightingale, 2012, p. 38).
A complex city administration and burdensome bureaucracy make it difficult for entrepreneurs and start-ups. Local have difficulty finding and using employment, job training and other resources (Morrison, 2013, n.p.). Efficient public transportation is limited, which means people need cars to get around, which in turn creates problems with traffic and parking. The city can be difficult to navigate for tourists and locals alike. Quarters and attractions are not well connected and signage is poor (Courley, 2012, p. 27). Brownfields, abandoned buildings, peace walls, and other physical features of the landscape are depressing, reminding people of The Troubles and the poverty that still exists in some sections of the city (Nagle, 2009, 238).
The current Belfast brand is weak in that it does not convey any of the underlying values of the city and its people. Belfast is a city with a history of industry, hard work, sacrifice, striving, creativity, and often success. It is also a city of conflict, but with that comes the foresight and character required to work with one’s opponents to resolve differences (Bollens, 2012, p. 46). It is in the process of healing and becoming a model for how contested cities can forge a more cohesive future.. None of this rich variety and growth, both personal and aggregated, is communicated by the B brand. This is a huge missed opportunity. For tourists, it is a major inconvenience to switch from the euro to the Irish pound when crossing from the Republic into NI. Obviously, the UK is not going to change its currency to accommodate one city, but perhaps Belfast merchants could accept the euro as well as the pound. Alternately, it may be possible to create a smart card similar to the Octopus card used in Hong Kong (Lee, 2010, p. 93). Then, tourists can preload the card in whatever currency they choose and spend electronically while in Belfast, or even throughout NI.
Belfast’s Tourist Appeal and Core Assets
The Queens and Gaeltacht Quarters
Academic centers in the Queens Quarter could be strong partners for the city in developing scholarly conferences for academics around the world; lifelong learning workshops for locals, people from around the island of Ireland, and elder travelers; and summer study programs for foreign and local students, as well as city residents (Ryan, 2014, n.p.).
Several scholars at Queens University are studying political devolution processes (McManus and Carruthers, 2014, pp. 80-81). This might be an opportunity to develop international conferences to study constructive ways to break up empires and decolonize areas of the developing world. The experience of the British Empire is highly relevant to this area of study and offers an academic distinction for Belfast.
The Gaeltacht Quarter is predominantly a Westside neighborhood where the Irish language is spoken. This gives it the advantage of being an authentic attraction, rather than a staged and scripted showcase like the Titanic Quarter (Lorton, 2012, n.p.). The city has an opportunity to employ local, Irish speaking people here, and to involve them in a participatory planning process that results in authentic ways to share their culture with tourists, as well as with other city residents who are less familiar with Gaelic culture and the Irish language.
2) The Cathedral Quarter
This center of arts and culture appears to be doing a good job of providing entertainment and cultural offerings for tourists and locals alike. An examination of the employment patterns in this quarter might reveal ways to hire more local people and to train them for positions in arts management and hospitality. The goal here should be to increase local participation and build out existing attractions that demonstrate strong support from visitors and city residents (Pasquinelli, 2015, n.p.).
For example, Belfast’s annual film festival is already an ongoing concern that is capable of attracting repeat audiences each year, since the films that are exhibited are always new. There is also a budding film production industry in Belfast, with the very popular HBO series, Game of Thrones, being shot on location in the city. Consideration should be given to how Belfast can be marketed to film production companies in the US, England, and India so that this industry can grow and employ more local people (Mehta, 2009, p. 201). Job training programs for locals to learn the skills of film production, such as lighting, sound engineering, and set construction, should also be developed.
3) The Botanic Garden and Other Parks
The Belfast Botanic Garden is one of the premiere gardens in Europe, yet little is done to promote this asset. It includes the Palm House, one of the oldest, and most elegant, cast iron and glass structures in the world, designed in the 1830s.
Every July the city hosts Rose Week, when thousands of visitors come to the International Rose Garden in Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park.
The city also has many parks, eco-trails, gardens, water features, and woodlands. There may be opportunities to create themed day trip packages for both tourists and locals to explore the city’s horticultural offerings (Jacobs, 1985, p. 52).
4) Public Sculpture
Belfast has some interesting public sculptures that can be explored through a self-guided tour or in group walking tours. One interesting piece is the Monument to the Unknown Woman Worker, created by Louise Walsh in 1992. Located on Great Victoria Street in the city shopping district, the sculpture was commissioned by the city as a monument to the prostitutes of a nearby red-light district. Walsh rebelled and instead sculpted a monument to the thousands of unknown women who provide unpaid labor in the form or housework, or who labor in low-paid, low-esteem jobs (Doherty, 2016, p. 31). Works like this, and the stories behind them, are likely to be of interest to a sub-section of the tourist market, as well as to local residents. Local people might even be trained as tour guides.
5) Neolithic and Iron Age Sites
Giants’ Henge, Cave Hill and several other pre-historic sites lie near to Belfast. Meanwhile, many visitors to Ireland venture into NI only to see Giants’ Causeway, a unique artifact of a deep sea volcanic eruption that took place in ancient times. They then turn around and head back to the Irish Republic, without seeing much more of the north. Belfast could quite easily promote tours to its local archeological sites as extensions of a visit to the Causeway.
6) Music Scene
The city already has a thriving music scene, offering everything from opera to symphonic, to traditional Irish music, to modern rock. Its Grand Opera House is considered one of the great examples of a theater done in the oriental style of architecture. A host of great names in rock music have written and/or dedicated songs to Belfast, including native son Van Morrison, U2, Elton John, Snow Patrol, Simple Minds and The Police. Elvis Costello’s haunting tune, Shipbuilding, notes the irony of the 1982 Falklands War bringing back prosperity to shipbuilding cities like Belfast while at the same time sending the working class children of those cities off to die in the ships their parents built. The marketing strategy for Belfast should make this contemporary, highly popular music scene a central part of its strategy for involving locals and attracting visitors.
7) Linen
Belfast was once famous for its Irish linen mills and there is still an industrial flax harvest in Northern Ireland. In fact, there is still a high-quality type of linen made from 100% flax that is know as “Belfast Linen.” There remain near Belfast a few makers of Irish linen in the traditional way. This may be a heritage that can be exploited in some way, such as developing Belfast into a center of fashion.
8) Geography and Climate
As previously noted, Belfast has an excellent, mild climate that allows a wide range of activities to take place year round. Its temperatures support gardens and outdoor activities and its hills offer good hiking trails, archeological sites, and thriving flora and fauna.
One little known feature of Belfast’s geography is that there are nine rivers running around and under the city. While the Lagan has come to be identified with Belfast, the Farset, a tributary, is the river that the city was named for. (The Irish Béal feirste translates to “the mouth of the Farset”.) There are also the Blackstaff, the Knock, the Loop, the Connswater, and several others, all of which, like the Farset, run beneath the city today. Some, such as the Connswater, emerge at various points in the city and are today having their banks restored to become more visible—and much cleaner—assets of a renewed city.
Strategy
Vision
The vision of the strategy is to build an effective tourism framework that helps in making Belfast one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe and overtime in the world.
Objectives
The core concept of the strategy recommended in this paper is to take the idea of Belfast as a contested city and get beneath the details of a particular struggle, in this case The Troubles, to highlight the reasons Belfast is coveted (O’Dowd and Komarova, 2009, p. 4). It is a unique city, inspiring passion and offering treasures like no other city in Ireland.
Market Positioning
Belfast will be positioned as a city that has a proud past and a bright future. Like the many peoples who have settled there, the city has thrived on inventiveness, muscle, and determination. People here work hard and play hard. They love sport, music, conviviality, and a good pint at day’s end. Industries come and go. The world changes and Belfast changes with it. The city reinvents itself to thrive in whatever new reality presents itself. It’s been that way since the beginning. Today, Belfast is a global city—the economic engine that connects Northern Ireland to the world (Rea, 2013, p. 18). It embodies both glamor and grit. It was once worth fighting over. Now it is worth coming to terms with old adversaries so this unique city can reinvent itself once again. That’s why the brand is Belfast—Like No Other.
Brand or Public identity
The strategy is to build a brand name for Belfast on the basis of its current marketing sources and future projects. By running ad campaigns on social media and television, the city of Belfast will target customers from developed countries that have the purchasing power to visit and enjoy the scenic beauty of Belfast. Apart from building a positive brand name in the market, Belfast will also aim to change its public identity and overcome barriers that can hinder Belfast’s progress as one of the major cities in Europe. By changing the public identity and creating effective policies, Belfast would be able to overcome its global image of a city made of brawlers and drunkards to a city of history, heritage and traditional and modern beauty.
Key resources, themes, products and market segments
It is not necessary to reinvent the wheel. Belfast already has many assets in place that can be more fully utilized to increase tourism and develop job opportunities. The guiding criterion for the recommended events that follow is opportunism, or how to squeeze more benefits out of the things that Belfast already has in place. Some of the important segments are maximizing the quarters and capitalize on current interests.
Organizational structure
Key Projects
Create Belfast Fashion Week. Modeled on the fashion weeks that take place in New York, Paris and other world cities, Belfast Fashion Week would highlight garments and home goods made of linen, in recognition of its textile heritage. This is the only brand new, significant activity in this marketing plan, and although starting a Belfast Fashion Week would require a good deal of effort and planning, it could yield many benefits, including new hotel construction, new business development, and many employment opportunities for local residents.
Create a public-private partnership to stage Fashion Week. Involve regional linen manufacturers, Irish fashion designers, investors, and retailers.
Attract new hotel construction and related hospitality services.
Partner with Belfast’s emerging film production industry to create a behind-the-scenes documentary and with the BBC to generate media coverage before, during, and after the event.
Capitalize on Current Interests. Many people today are interested in genealogy and alternative spiritual practices. Belfast could capitalize on these trends.
Offer tours of nearby Giants’ Henge and other Iron Age sites, particularly during pagan holidays like the winter and summer solstices.
Make birth, death, marriage and baptismal records easily available online, as well as the passenger manifests of ships that departed from Belfast.
Offer “family history” tourism packages for visitors who wish to locate places where their ancestors lived.
Introduce Creative Sports Packages. The climate and natural environment of Belfast make it relatively simple to offer sporting opportunities that go beyond the usual football matches. These include:
Hiking and kayaking excursions from a base camp in Belfast
Cycling, including an annual Belfast Road Race that makes use of the existing quality cycling routes around Belfast Lough and throughout the region.
Maximize the existing Belfast Marathon, slated for May 2 in 2016, by offering travel and lodging packages for family and friends of the runners.
Maximize the Quarters. Since the city already has made significant investment in the Quarters, they are the focal point of the marketing efforts. There are, however, more benefits to be gleaned from each quarter, particularly the Gaeltacht and the Queens Quarter (Carden, 2012, n.p.). Most of those benefits are gained from creating cultural and educational programs intended to attract tourists and business people, and through those generating employment opportunities for local residents. These include:
Academic conferences
Lifelong learning programs on the Irish language and culture
Themed walking tours, including the current Troubles murals tour, but expanding to encompass public art and sculpture, botanic gardens and parks, period architecture, and literary places such as Lilliput Cottage, the home of Jonathan Swift. London, Dublin, and other cities have done such tours with great success (Alkayat, 2014, p. 29 and Dickson, 2014, n.p.).
Build on the activities in the Titanic Quarter by offering lectures and presentations on topics related to the Titanic, such as the fashions worn for dinner at the captain’s table and the music that was played on board by a live orchestra (Cameron, 2011, p. 15 and Johnston, 2010, n.p.).
Responsibilities
The responsibility of developing an effective framework for marketing the city of Belfast lies with the CMO (Chief Marketing Officer). The CMO will design the marketing plans and responsibilities of evaluating and implementing the plan will lie with the Belfast City Council. In the long run, the offices of the Lord Mayor of Belfast, Aldermen, High Sheriff and Lord Lieutenant have a major role to play in making sure tourism activities and projects are successful and effective in attracting tourists from all over the world.
Marketing Campaign
Product related Segment
Television Advertising Campaign will be made of institutional branding spot. The visuals are quick-cut shots of compelling scenes in and around Belfast—a busy, colorful outdoor market, hundreds of runners leaping off the starting line of the Belfast Marathon, the Opera House lit up at night, Giants’ Henge at sunrise, a street musician, traditional Irish dancers, a close up of a gorgeous Rose Week display, perfectly plated food in a gourmet restaurant, breathtaking landscapes along the Antrim Coast. Also, the television ads will highlights the industrial changes that have taken place in Belfast over the years. The visuals are a mix of vintage photos and current scenes of the same places and subjects. For example, an old photo of the Titanic being launched dissolves into a current photo of the Titanic Quarter. A similar treatment is applied to other photos, such as scenes of harbor traffic then and now, whiskey distilleries in the 19th century and today, and photos of a 1930s movie or stage star wearing a dress of Irish linen paired with a young man of today wearing an Irish linen dress shirt.
Facebook ads are very cost effective and allow advertisers to target people according to their interests, as identified by each person’s activity on the social media platform. These ads will be designed specifically for young people who are fit, enjoy outdoor activities, and have a documented interest in international travel.
Each ad consists of a single, bold photograph with big, colorful images. Examples include:
the smiling faces of a couple drinking pints in a warm, friendly looking Irish pub
a long shot of a line of hikers going up Cave Hill, with the sun in the sky overhead
a young man waving to the crowd as he runs past, with a Belfast Marathon number pinned to his singlet
Three people in colorful kayaks, paddling along the shore of Belfast Lough.
Marketing Communication
The television ads will have a voice-over for this spot is a man who says: “We built the great ships of the world, including the Titanic. We wove the linen that dressed celebrities and heads of state. We made the best whiskey your grandad ever had and the finest cigars Churchill ever smoked. We’re the workers of Belfast, in Northern Ireland, and we’re still here, still making great things. Come and see. Belfast—Like No Other.”
The Facebook campaign will have this copy line on ads: “Have fun and be fit in Belfast—Like No Other.” The copy is a live link which, when clicked, takes the user to Belfast’s Facebook page. Here, potential tourists can see more compelling photos of the city, find links to Belfast videos on You Tube, read about special travel deals, and sign up to get email offers for discounts on travel, excursions, lodging and meals at participating Belfast businesses
Marketing Partners
Television Advertising Campaign and Facebook Advertising Campaign will be run. The TV ads will be a series of 10 second ads on the BBC International and CNN International. They are targeted to travelers in the US, Canada, Australia, and Europe.
Relationship to above strategy
These ads will be designed specifically for young people who are fit, enjoy outdoor activities, and have a documented interest in international travel. They are the target audience for this campaign, which is further focused on young adults between the ages of 21 and 29 who live in Europe or the United States.
Conclusion
As detailed above, the value proposition that underlies this strategy for Belfast is that this is a city with much more to offer than meets the eye. While the city owns its history of violence associated with The Troubles, it also owns a prouder past exemplified by ingenuity and hard work, as well as a present in which those basic characteristics come to the fore to shape a new, vibrant Belfast. This city is made up of people who refuse to give in to hopelessness or fear. It is a city in the process of resurgence, with lots to see, do and experience. Belfast is complicated and exhilarating, cosmopolitan and provincial, traditional and forward-looking. It is like no other city. Come and see for yourself.
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