Overlooked and undervalued

The county of Staffordshire has much to offer visitors from action-packed days at theme parks such as Alton Towers to the dramatic landscapes of the Peak District. But as a tourist destination, it had been largely overlooked. Public and private sector organisations, collaborating in a destination management partnership, were determined to put Staffordshire on the map.

More to explore

Our brief was to give the county a strong and unique identity that would sum up the sheer diversity of what it had to offer and to develop a marketing strategy not just to attract visitors to an individual leisure destination, but encourage them to explore the county more widely. Winning the constructive involvement of a wide variety of stakeholders was key to successful implementation.

Capturing the vibrancy

To capture the diversity of the Staffordshire offer, we created a core proposition of ‘a world of possibilities’, which guided the creation of a vibrant playful identity, featuring some of the many activities that could be enjoyed. This was flowed through into a range of lead applications and a three-year marketing strategy to grow the brand. Described by Mark Kerrigan, Development Director of Alton Towers, as “the boldest and most exciting thing I’ve seen” in his 14 years in Staffordshire, the identity has formed the backbone of a range of initiatives from special events to a discount card to promote the sheer enjoyment to be had in the county.