Marketing Communications Campaigns for a Tourism Region in UK

Participants happy with the campaigns

Students Satu Aholin, Jenni Ojanen, Sara Sahlakari, Victoria Mather and Roberto Chavez Molina from Tampere University of Applied Sciences, School of Business and Services participated in March in an advertising and marketing communications project, organized by Southampton Solent University from UK. Hampshire Cultural Trust had given the assignment to project teams.  The coordinator of the team from Finland was Senior Lecturer in Marketing Pirkko Varis.

Jenni and her team members

The aim was to raise the profile of Hampshire as a destination for world class culture and to encourage visitors to the venues managed by the Hampshire Cultural Trust. Hampshire has many notable heritage destinations alongside those managed by the Hampshire Cultural Trust, including the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, the home of Jane Austen in Chawton, the Titanic heritage in Southampton with its SeaCity Museum and the magnificent Winchester Cathedral.

Working on the assignment

Prior to travelling to Southampton market surveys including focus group discussions were conducted in five countries, the results were presented in the beginning of the week and the findings were used in the planning process. Special lectures were given by experts in marketing communications and advertising. Staff members of the universities worked as coaches for the teams. The programme included also a visit to Winchester.

Caroline Barfoot and guidelines for pitching

Over 30 university students representing the fields of marketing, advertising, media, international business and tourism from Belgium, Finland, Germany, Spain and UK worked in multicultural teams and developed marketing communications campaigns to promote Hampshire as a cultural destination across Europe. The teams combined traditional marketing tools with digital and social media in their marketing communications campaign proposals.

The winning team with the advertising agency representative

Academic Leader Caroline Barfoot from Southampton Solent University together with her assistant Florian Francois really had made a lot of effort for planning the activities of the week.  There was a balanced combination of lectures, teamwork and visits in the programme and also time for some parties and having fun together.  Thank you Caroline and Florian for a great experience!

Best presentation team with Caroline Barfoot and the agency representative. Victoria on the right.

Text: Team from Finland

Photos: Richard Berry, Southampton Solent University, UK