EXPLORE CULTURE
Challenge
Every three years, Local Authorities make agreements with central Government about the services they will provide to local communities and the success of Local Authorities to provide these services is measured through a set of 35 national indicators.
National Indicator 11 is Engagement in the Arts, and Essex County Council have been set the target of increasing participation across the region by 3% by November 2010.
Essex County Council and their partners challenged Sumo to develop a two year marketing campaign which will encourage more people to take part in cultural activities and make people aware of what constitutes participating in the arts.
Idea
Our research showed us that Essex has a vibrant cultural landscape with nearly 1,000 arts organisations. But whilst residents of the county have plenty of opportunities to experience art and culture, it isn’t always easy to discover what’s on.
Our solution was to create ‘Explore Culture’, a new website that brings together the rich mix of cultural activities happening in the county. In particular, the website helps visitors to discover something new with the Explore Machine, which suggests cultural activities based on an individuals’ likes and dislikes. It includes a series of blogs by users who volunteer to try new events and venues.
The website is supported by a county-wide marketing campaign which promotes the website as a source of information on cultural activities, and through a series of arts trails and leaflets covering a broad range of activities, collected into engaging titles like ‘The Great Outdoors’ and ‘Music and more’. Users can also enter their own trails, recommending the places they most enjoy around the county.
To keep the campaign budget tight, we worked with partner organisations to piggyback marketing activities wherever possible.
Response
The success of the campaign will be measured by a series of Mori polls, ending in November 2010.