Our marketing campaigns present Scotland to national, international and global markets with the aim of supporting sustainable growth and enhancing the economic benefit of tourism to Scotland.
In recent years our campaigns have shone a light on Scotland as a visitor destination, using the latest insights and technologies to get our message across. Here is an overview of each:
Spirit of Scotland
Campaign launch: 2016
Core Audience: UK, US, Germany and France
Spirit of Scotland was our biggest ever global campaign for Scotland, creating one incredibly strong universal identity with jaw-dropping imagery and stirring content, that evoked the emotion, spirit, and mystical qualities of our destination.
Our consumer research indicated that demonstrating Scotland’s spirit is one of the most evocative ways that we can express what makes Scotland worth visiting.
The campaign included targeted TV, digital and print marketing activity. We distributed our content worldwide through social and digital channels, capitalising on our refreshed consumer website and revitalised email marketing activity.
With an advert that featured a specially commissioned soundtrack, performed by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra plus stunning cinematography, the campaign aimed to truly stir the soul. Using the full range of marketing activity, we inspired more potential visitors than ever before. At a regional level, it encouraged people to search for more information on specific locations throughout Scotland.
‘Scotland, a Spirit of its own’ was the base layer that everyone could build on - the success of generating incremental visits to Scotland and growing the Visitor Economy rests on how we all work together to show our enduring ‘Spirit’.
Meet the Scots
Campaign launched: 2015
Core Audience: North America, Germany, France, Australia and the Middle East
This campaign was based on the 'Meet the Scots' concept, which used a group of 23 'Scots' ambassadors who each represented a different theme associated with Scottish tourism such as food and drink, Scottish culture and the activity or event sectors.
Using segmentation, we were able to identify that our international audiences seek genuine experiences whilst on holiday and would relate to these themes. Including real people in our campaign helped to create the authenticity that would appeal to these audiences.
At its core the Meet the Scots campaign featured an online calendar where each month was introduced by a different Scot and associated with a theme such as Celtic January or Whisky May. The aim of this content was to increase the uptake of touring holidays, promote all areas of Scotland and encourage repeat visits.
It was a multi-touchpoint campaign with a significant bias towards online promotion, which was aligned with a strong PR programme and supported by e-newsletter communications, social media promotions, brochure fulfilment and an intermediary marketing programme.
Industry partners for this campaign included United, Qatar, CIE Tours, Lufthansa, KLM, Germanwings and DFDS Seaways, with Scottish tourism businesses also supported, through the content and PR programme.
Brilliant Moments
Campaign launch: 2013
Audience: UK
The Brilliant Moments campaign highlighted the personal experiences of the people visiting Scotland and celebrated the many events of 2014, the Year of Homecoming. The aim of the campaign was to encourage a sense of immediacy and inspiration, and to communicate that Scotland is closer than you think.
The campaigned was aimed at Scots who love travelling but had not seen enough of their own country, and those in England who always wanted to come to Scotland but just hadn’t got around to it.
We ran extensive marketing activity including inspiring TV adverts, direct mail, radio, outdoor adverts, sales promotion, print advertising, e-communications and PR, all with the Brilliant Moments theme.
Brilliant Moments continued into 2015, the Year of Food and Drink, with three new TV adverts made up of well-loved scenes from previous adverts as well as brand new scenes. The three adverts were set to a new version of the emotive track Senses by Paul Mounsey and featured a voiceover from Neil Oliver. The adverts played on television screens across the UK and reached new international audiences through social media and e-communication.
We worked with a number of transport partners to amplify the campaign reach and coverage, including British Airways, Caledonian Sleeper and Virgin East Coast.