Re-branding Berwick: A bridge too far?

DOUGLAS SHEPHERD who was born and raised in Berwick-on-Tweed takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the £50,000 project to find a new 'brand' for his historic home town

Some lucky marketing company will soon be handed £50,000 by Berwick Town Council along with a set of instructions aimed at turning the old town into "a visitor destination". The successful bidder will certainly have a rich tapestry on which to demonstrate their skills, no doubt all couched in obscure branding jargon.

Pardon my ignorance but I could have sworn this former Scottish royal burgh was already a magnet for tourists who flock to Berwick each year and sample a menu of delights from magnificent sea views to Elizabethan defences: from sandy beaches to a magnificent Georgian town hall complete with museum and cell block: with three iconic bridges spanning a magnificent salmon river.

This was the place where L S Lowry, one of the finest British artists of the Twentieth Century chose to spend his annual holidays back in the 1950s and 1960s. A series of paintings depicting Berwick views which he knocked off during his vacations is testimony to his love of the place.

But apparently the wonderful natural appeal of the town which passed from Scottish to English ownership and back again some 14 times is no longer enough to pull in the tourists in satisfactory numbers. So a detailed brief has been drawn up for the forthcoming branding exercise.

A notice inviting potential bidders to submit their blueprints for success declares: "The project is a package of mutually supportive measures which will, collectively, help to redefine the town’s visitor offer, promote new visitor product developments, enhance the town’s current events programme and refresh visitor hospitality enabling Berwick to deliver a high quality visitor experience".

And: "The project will add to and develop the current events and activities programme in Berwick by creating a range of opportunities, events and products, developed by businesses and the local community, in celebration of Berwick's distinctive heritage, culture and environment. This will be achieved by working with and developing the tourism and associated business sectors. The project will promote training, skills development and attainment in the tourism and hospitality sectors and invest in visitor information provision."

The comprehensive "Berwick Welcomes Visitor" package outlined in the contract notice published on the Scottish Government website continues:

Fresh Perceptions – The project will establish a Berwick destination management function and launch a new destination marketing approach with refreshed visitor information services, targeted advertising and campaigns to drive visitor numbers, footfall and spend to the town within the context of the wider strategic approach to Tourism marketing in Northumberland and the Scottish Borders.

"A refreshed events programme – The project will develop an extended visitor season through centrally co-ordinated product development / trails celebrating the town’s character, distinctiveness and location. Business development initiative – The project will deliver local training and skills attainment to support business and community enterprises to fully engage with and realise the economic benefits of the refreshed visitor economy.

"Wayfinding and Signage – The project will contribute to the delivery of a refreshed and enhanced visitor wayfinding scheme which will re-orientate and improve the way visitors experience the town upon arrival, connecting key tourism sites and the retail heart of the town to public transport hubs including the Railway Station. Branding Development - Recommendations should produce a simple and clear lead message which identifies and promotes the town’s distinctive character. The development of a series of marketing and promotional guidelines, with recommendations for imagery, text stylisation, template copy, straplines etc, and a suite of refreshed marketing approaches should be developed utilising the promotional media identified."

Apparently the branding exercise is intended to lead to a renewed visitor information service, a refreshed marketing campaign and a refresh of existing tourism focused marketing materials.

Across the town local partners and businesses use a variety of marketing materials and promotional media. It is anticipated that the findings and recommendations of the ‘branding’ exercise will specifically address each area with proposals for further development/optimisation. In shaping the Berwick ‘brand’ local partners will look to the appointed consultancy to understand and reflect the geographical position of the town at the English/Scottish border; surrounding regional attractions and markets across Northumberland and the Scottish Borders; and the town’s history, heritage and cultural distinctiveness.

There's plenty more where that came from. As the contract notice says: "Recommendations should identify and reflect competition for visitors and identify opportunities for joint working approaches with organisations/attractions which would result in a net gain for the Berwick visitor economy. Recommendations from the ‘branding’ exercise should produce a simple and clear lead message which identifies and promotes the town’s distinctive character."

I wonder what L S Lowry would have made of it all? And I wonder whether the town of my birth really needs a £50,000 makeover or a new 'image' at it's time of life!