Summer Town Trails in Kendal
Since we just love a challenge at Felltarn Friends and lack the ability to say ‘no’ to any brief that finds its way to us, when the Kendal BID team came up with an idea for 4 Summer Town Trails, we got straight to work!
We’d already completed the Easter Trail for Barrow BID so had an idea of what would be involved for the Kendal Trails project, but we wanted to extend our services and take on more of the project management right from the get-go; speaking to the BID members face to face to explain the concept before signing them up to take part in some way.
Well! With so many businesses wanting to have something in their window for kids and their families to look out for on their way round, we quickly realised that we needed a range of different visual images to be discovered: some to tick off, and some to show the trail route, as well as an additional concept… the Trail Treat!
Some businesses would welcome additional footfall inside their premises, not just looking at something in the window, and so we came up with the Trail Treat idea which gave each participating business the option to give away a little something to the kids. Everything from pens to sweets, portions of chips to special offers on a family photoshoot were included in the Trail Treat scheme, it was an idea that really took hold all over town.
The Summer Town Trails design was to have an ‘umbrella’ theme to link in with 3 bright, eye-catching art installations in the town centre, all made of umbrellas suspended in the air. Each trail featured 10 umbrellas to find and tick off on the map, with a unique picture in each. Other posters marking out the trail route also included an umbrella.
Before the launch date (mid-July) Felltarn Friends designed flyers to promote the Summer Town Trails and distributed them to all primary schools in the South Lakes area. The flyers were also placed on counter-tops, in busy cafes and community hubs such as the Tourist Information Centre.
It was quite a job to organise which pictures were going to which businesses – who needed what? But we got everything perfectly arranged and handed out in time for the launch, including leaflet holders for the trail maps. Not only that, but we went around the trail routes with our own children just to double check everything worked, that we had all the pictures in the right place and that the Trail Treats really were the best incentive ever for getting out and about around Kendal! Kids’ test: PASS!
While all this was going on, we were also busy across social media using the banners we’d designed to share the Summer Town Trails information on Facebook and Twitter. We always enjoy interacting with people online, letting them know where they can pick up the trail maps, explaining the trail concept and that there are loads of trail treats to collect along the way! Social media is a great way to engage people and spread the word!
The BID manager and board were very pleased with the planning, design, implementation and outcome of the trails project. Statistics from the Visit Kendal website showed an increase in visits to the site during the first month of the trails up by almost 500% on the previous period, with 3400 visits to the trail pages.
Below is a more detailed look at what’s involved in the Summer Town Trails process – and just to reiterate, we do it all for you!
Kendal Summer Town Trail
May 2017 – Initial Brief from Kendal BID:
Plan and design 4 Summer Trails for children around the BID Zone.
To run from mid-July until mid-September 2017.
Give all businesses within the BID Zone an opportunity to participate.
Utilise the “Kendal Branding” designed in previous BID initiative.
Link in with 3 town centre umbrella installations.
Trail maps to be FREE to participants.
Kendal BID initially contacted Felltarn Friends with a general idea for a Children’s Trail around Kendal. A map required designing in a fun and interactive style to engage with local families and visitors to the town. The objective of the trail would be to boost footfall around the entire BID zone and encourage interaction between the general public and a wider range of businesses than they usually visit.
After a very enthusiastic brainstorming session, it was decided that Felltarn Friends would create 4 children’s trails on 2 separate maps, varying in distance to provide something for toddler age upwards to age 10 or over.
As Kendal BID were to undertake the installation of 3 beautiful, bright, eye-catching umbrella displays in town-centre locations over the summer, Felltarn Friends were asked to incorporate the umbrella theme into the trails to reinforce the attractions.
Phase 1: Information Gathering and Planning.
Contact all BID members to gather numbers for participation.
Offer advertising opportunity.
Plan routes to include all interested businesses.
Give all BID members opportunity to devise a Trail Treat.
Throughout June, Felltarn Friends contacted every BID member to request their participation in the Summer Trails. By ‘participation’, it simply meant authorising a picture to be placed in the window of the business. Each picture would be no larger than approximately A5 in size, and either be an umbrella symbol to find and tick off a list, or a poster denoting the route of the trail.
The business owners had the option to participate or not, and were also given the opportunity to place a free advert for their business on one of the trail maps (first-come-first-served basis).
Felltarn Friends proposed an additional feature – the ‘Trail Treat’. Again, this was optional, but allowed each business the chance to engage with trail participants with a unique special offer of their choice. Trail Treats ranged from 20% off a photoshoot at Paul Holland Photography, to free lollies at Todds of Kendal, a high-five at Costa, a pen at NatWest Bank and a portion of chips or soft drink at Fish Express. In total, 42 businesses across the BID zone offered Trail Treats across the 4 trails.
With over 140 businesses requesting participation in the trails, it was then possible to plan the trail routes and decide where to place the umbrella symbols for children to find.
Phase 2: Design.
Children’s Summer Town Trails to be in a recognisable ‘Felltarn Friends’ style.
10 umbrella pictures to find in windows and tick off on the map.
Highlight all eateries open during the day.
Highlight play areas and picnic places.
Include advert for Swipii (previous BID initiative)
Include activity page on reverse.
Include advert for Kendal Gift Card (previous BID initiative) and weekly competition to win one.
A map of the BID zone was designed from scratch and the trail routes plotted out. Our distinctive Felltarn Friends design style featured in the Summer Town Trails maps.
The Kendal Branding (a previous BID initiative) was included on all the trails to ensure design continuity not only for these trails but also to tie in with other initiatives in the town and strengthen the message that Kendal has lots to offer.
Phase 3: Print and Distribution.
3000 (1500 of each map – 2 trail routes per map) to be printed.
Locate approx. 30 locations to be pick-up points (in and outside the BID zone).
Distribute trail maps to all pick up points.
Replenish pick-up points regularly throughout the duration of the trails.
The initial print run of 1500 copies of each trail map (A3 folded to DL size) was covered by the project fee. The BID provided leaflet holders and approx. 30 mostly BID members – shops, cafés, hotels and visitor centres agreed to be ‘pick-up points’.
Felltarn Friends organised getting the relevant umbrella pictures into the correct windows for the Summer Town Trails, as well as the Trail Treat signs.
A local printer in Kendal was selected, and once delivered, Felltarn Friends joined forces with the BID manager to get the Summer Town Trails maps out to all the pick-up points for the start of the summer holidays.
After just 2 weeks, it became clear that a second print run was required, and a further 3000 trail maps were produced.
Felltarn Friends and the BID manager worked together to coordinate the replenishment of the pick-up points to ensure all were kept well stocked.
PR and Marketing:
Advertise the trails prior to launch across the South Lakes region.
Design flyers for school children.
Design banners for social media.
Design flyers for businesses to place on countertops.
Advertise in local publications.
Administrators for the Visit Kendal website were given relevant information to create new pages and downloadable versions of the trails. A direct link was set up to use on advertising material.
Flyers were designed by Felltarn Friends and distributed to all primary schools in the South Lakes region, and to businesses across the BID zone and further afield to place on counter tops.
Kendal BID Manager sent out a Press Release to local publications, including an image of the flier artwork. Articles appeared in the Westmorland Gazette newspaper and Local Choice magazine.
A social media campaign was launched across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, utilising hashtags that were also advertised on the trails and flyers.
Local bloggers picked up on the trials after their launch and independent articles and posts were produced, as well as regular activity across social media platforms in the form of post shares, photo uploads and discussions.
Feedback and Testimonials:
The number of children’s Summer Town Trail maps needing to be replenished in each of the pick-up points showed an average total of 1000 maps per week over the 9-week duration of the trails, split relatively evenly across the 2 maps.
Verbal feedback from trail participants to Felltarn Friends and BID businesses was all positive. Parents were happy that there was something fun for children to take part in, and with 4 different children’s Summer Town Trails it meant they could come back time after time. The umbrella theme and link to the displays was commended, as was the trail design style.
BID businesses were inundated with extra footfall from the trails to the point that they ran out of their Trail Treat giveaways! Business owners and managers commented on the obvious increase in shoppers, browsers and awareness of their business. The Summer Town Trail concept in general was commended as a very good way to promote what Kendal has to offer throughout the BID zone.
Felltarn Friends have since been commissioned to create a Christmas Trail for Kendal BID, and have had interest from other BIDs regarding trails for their towns.
So, what do we do? A summary:
First, we need a simple brief from you regarding the theme or objective you want to focus on. Has there been some recent regeneration of an area or a new feature to promote?
Next, we liaise with businesses within the BID area to give each one the opportunity to take part – asking them if they’d be happy popping something in the window to look out for on the trail, place an advert on the trail map, or provide a special offer for trail participants.
Then it’s time to get creative and design the trail! The Felltarn Friends style is quite distinctive and instantly recognisable, yet we produce something bespoke and unique with each project.
Once you’ve approved your trail design, we send it to print, or send you the artwork to print yourselves, the choice is yours.
We’ll design and your flyers to be distributed to local schools, cafés and community hubs.
We can help with social media marketing too by designing the graphics for an advertising campaign for your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and website.
Also – include a selection of adverts on the trail map to promote additional services, projects and incentives in your town to get people into the BID area.
Get in touch!
Contact Amy amy@felltarn.co.uk or 07846805602 and have a chat about how we can help you achieve a higher footfall and an increase in business awareness around your BID zone.
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