2013 Precedent The DREAM Day Out

Destinations sector
The DREAM day out

Digitally promoting and enhancing the attraction experience
MEANINGFUL IDEAS,
INTELLIGENTLY DELIVERED.
Contents
3 Preface
4 About the report
5 The customers DREAM experience
7 The marketers DREAM experience
9 Desire Creating the right awareness
15 Research Exceeding expectations online
23 Engage Providing a brilliant customer experience
29 Attend Continuing the digital journey
35 Memories Maintaining digital engagement
40 Three of the best
43 Your digital presence is a big part of the experience
44 Basics
45 Refinement
46 Selecting the attractions
48 Helping clients realise the DREAM
54 Our contributors attraction experiences
55 About Precedent
56 Contact us
Preface
As a company we tend to concentrate our research efforts on sectors where

we have an established client list and where we feel we can add real value.
Our guiding principle for many years has been that we dont do anything
unless it will make our clients more successful.
Having worked on many destination websites and digital properties for
organisations such as The Royal Yacht Britannia, Newmarket Racecourses,
The Museum of London, the Wildlife Trusts, The Waterways Trust, St Andrews
Links The Home of Golf and the Perth Arena (to name a few), we are aware
of the challenges currently faced by the marketers who aim to increase footfall
and build brand recognition in the digital space.
The decision to produce this report was driven by the collective enthusiasm
of our staff across all our offices in London, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Worthing,
Melbourne and Perth.*
Mark Sherwin
In effect it is rooted in and around the countries and cities in which we, the Commercial Director
Precedent team, live and work. We are a diverse lot in terms of age, ethnicity, family
Ive been involved in transforming
units and interests outside of the digital world. There was a time, particularly for
businesses using digital from the
some of our older digital evangelists, when we were somewhat unusual in as much
very early days of the web. Ive
as we were early adopters of digital communications. We were perhaps more likely
worked with over 100 clients
than most of the population to get online to find somewhere to go for a day out,
as diverse as The London Stock
more likely to recruit friends and family to come along with us electronically, and
Exchange, Mercedes-Benz, MTV,
more likely to share our subsequent experiences online too.
The British Heart Foundation and
Of course this has changed, and nowadays almost everyone is likely to engage with The Museum of London.
their friends, family and colleagues online. Most importantly, nowadays people are
Whilst Im excited by the
more likely to form their initial impression of a brand online rather than as a result
capabilities of the web, Im more
of a physical interaction.
excited by the opportunities this
Recent industry reports have shown that an active digital presence of any kind affords businesses to change the
increases footfall and revenue for attractions. In its Visitor Attraction Trends way they do business. I established
reports of 2011 VisitEngland noted that gross revenue increased by 7% among Precedents digital capability,
those offering digital communications compared to just 2% among those not created our strategic consulting
offering the same. offer and now help organisations
craft work programmes that will
The same report observed that those attractions that increased their
deliver real results.
marketing spend increased their visitor admissions by 8%, compared to just
2% for those who decreased their spend.
With these figures in mind it seems obvious to us that an exemplary strategic
* See page 54 for some of our contribu-
approach to digital communications can only serve to increase the revenue
tors attraction and travel experiences
generating possibilities of any attraction. While traditional media marketing
will clearly play an important role in brand awareness efforts for the foreseeable
future, the cost and temporary nature of these activities along with the difficulties
associated with measuring their effectiveness, is potentially eclipsed by the more
permanent and sustainable opportunities provided in the digital landscape.
We hope that this report will serve as inspiration to you all as to how you might
approach your digital communication and marketing activities holistically and
strategically in order to further your business objectives.
Mark Sherwin
Commercial Director
A DREAM day out | @Precedentcomms | Precedent 2013 Page 3

About the report
Looking for the DREAM day out

This reports central premise is that today, more than ever, digital communications
and engagement plays a crucial role in not just recruiting visitors to an attraction,
but also in ensuring that they have a satisfying and rewarding experience; one that
they will want to talk about and share with their family, friends and peers.
In it we have identified many elements of best practice, taken from a review of over
200 attractions digital properties in the UK and Australia. The hope is that anyone
involved in the visitor attraction business can use, or adapt these, as part of their
own marketing efforts.
It offers a number of ways of looking at the customer recruitment to retention
process based upon the concept of the DREAM day out facilitated, reinforced,
shared, augmented and experienced in a digital environment.
I would encourage you to use the questions and comments that follow in the
next section to question the efficacy of your own digital landscape. Then why Adrian Porter
not identify some of the improvements you might make from the best practice Head of Strategic Research
examples, or from our experts hints and tips.
Ive been looking at websites and
In the conclusion to the report we offer a summarised view of the actions you writing reports on them since
might take towards optimising your digital attraction experience. Its a view that is 1996. I once calculated that I must
not unachievable, but one which requires commitment and understanding of the have looked at around 30,000 of
strategic and tactical dependencies of creating a visitor-focused, holistic digital them, and still counting. I work
experience around the attraction marketing cycle. as a senior consultant for clients
across our key sectors providing
advice on all things digital. A lot
The DREAM day out of my time is spent combining my
sector knowledge with research
The report is framed around the concept of providing the visitor to an attraction
into digital trends to produce our
with a DREAM digital experience represented by the cyclical journey in our model
reports. The aim is to keep our
(below). Traditionally, perhaps, each stage of this journey is seen by marketing
clients, and all of our staff, ahead
teams as discreet, and to an extent each is facilitated by a mix of traditional media
of the game.
as well as digital channels. The problem with this approach is that there are clear
fractures in the cycle where marketers are uncertain of the success of their efforts.
However, a focus on digital offers the marketer the opportunity to more closely
monitor the success of their communications, and while the nirvana of end-to-
end customer tracking is perhaps a little way off, marketers who focus on joining
up and adding value to the customers digital journey will reap the reward
of perpetually generating the desire that will see their footfall and revenue
maintained and increased.
DESIRE
MEMORIES RESEARCH
ATTEND ENGAGE

The customers DREAM experience
The customer experience cycle

The model on page 7 shows the whole visitor attraction experience from a An attractions ability
person having the initial desire for a day out, through to attending the venue,
to remembering and talking about the fine time that was had. The cycle might to attend to the demands
complete in a matter of days, or even a number of months. of all of these comments
The questions and comments are familiar to anyone who has instigated a day out will play a pivotal role in
with friends or family, and each can be addressed or anticipated through digital
communications, online functionality or engagement. A brands ability to attend ensuring that its brand
to the demands of these comments plays a pivotal role in ensuring that the whole is positively referred to
experience not just of the day out, but of the brand behind it is positive for all
those who attend. and endorsed.
If attention can be paid to the detail of each stage of the cycle then the ensuing
goodwill and word of mouth recommendations will benefit the destination in the
short, medium and long term. Some of the key digital motivations, stimuli and
actions of each stage are outlined below:
Desire
Stimulated by an email, a post on a social network, or just looking over the
shoulder of someone on a computer.
Research
Initiated by a search of either the web or a social network. Continued when
influenced by the online brand promise, and pursued when the digital
property matches the promise.
Engage
Infers a commitment on behalf of the potential attendee resulting in an
action, which must be facilitated. The relative ease of accomplishing this
action, whether it be booking tickets, downloading a map, making an
enquiry or sharing information about the attraction with others, will have a
proportionate effect on converting the researcher and his or her friends and
family into attendees.
Attend
Adding value to the visitors experience both implicitly and explicitly by
ensuring that expectations are met on arrival and potentially enhanced, or
augmented subsequently.
Memories
Keeping the experience alive and ensuring that visitors continue their
relationship with the brand, as well as sharing it with others through
continued online engagement and sharing opportunities

Does your digital presence meet the needs of your
customers? Use this model to question your own
digital landscape.
Look at this Mum,

Julie went to this I was talking to Jane
place on Saturday and she said that
Next time we
should take the Hey listen
whole family to this
Can I show
my friends DESIRE Ok, Ill take
the pictures? a look
MEMORIES RESEARCH
This place
Wheres the looks great,
gift shop? you can do this
and that
Please put away

your phone and I like the idea
take an interest but what
about granny
and the kids?
Ok, what shall How much is

we see first? it really going
to cost?
ATTEND ENGAGE
Itll be easy So who do we

to get there Ok, Ive booked invite along?
it. We are going

The marketers DREAM experience
The marketers experience cycle

The questions posed in the model on page 9 are directly related to those that Understanding the
potential customers need the answers to in order to ensure their DREAM
experience. In short, if you give them what they want and need then they are likely effectiveness of your
to be satisfied. Fail at any stage and a customer is potentially lost. digital landscape is
For every stage of the customers digital experience cycle the brands marketing essential to adding
and PR departments will have their own questions around the value that can be
added to the customers digital experience, and how this can be measured and value to the customers
improved. Of course the aim here is to increase footfall, maximise revenue from experience and your
add-ons, and encourage repeat business and word of mouth recommendations.
bottom line.
In an ideal world it would be possible to follow an individual customers
engagement with the brand across this whole cycle both on and offline.
However, as we know, without very expensive expertise and software this
is rarely achievable. What is possible, however, is a range of quantitative and
qualitative measurement leading to a deeper understanding of what is working
and what isnt, and subsequent refinement and development of the offer.
Desire
Measure and monitor SEO performance for a range of search terms
across search and social platforms
Track likes, followers and views on social platforms
Research
Evaluate core proposition and messaging with target audiences
Compare and test seasonal value propositions against those
of key competitors
Explore the quality and appropriateness of key content
consider variant testing
Engage
Set goals in analytics software, monitor and evaluate success
Set KPIs for downloads, enquiries, content shares, online ticket
sales and up sales
Conduct user-testing to identify black spots and improvements
Attend
Establish unique offline digital touch points, such as tags
Incentivise further digital engagement
Use apps to encourage and measure engagement with the venue and beyond
Memories
Use buzz monitoring to evaluate and measure success
Intervene on social networks and monitor success of different
intervention types
Monitor uploads and shares on established networks

Can you answer the questions posed, and do you have the
mechanisms in place to measure an subsequently improve
the digital experience of your customers?
How do we get What is our value

more people to proposition and
our website? brand promise?
How do we
make them want What is the single
to come again? best thing we offer?
What can we do
to make them
DESIRE How do we
appeal to a
return online? broader range
of visitors?
MEMORIES RESEARCH
How do we How do we
get visitors to keep things
talk about us? fresh and
appealing?
How do we What is the

capture value to us of an
endorsements online booking?
and referrals?
What would be How do we

the value of an increase footfall?
app to us and
the visitors? ATTEND ENGAGE
How can we
How can we
ensure smooth How do we up-sell all the
flow through the know if our value-adds
experience? digital presence online?
played a part in
them coming?

Desire
Creating the right awareness
Desire isnt just about making people want to visit its about setting the right
expectations. People are even more sceptical of advertising when being misled can
result in an entire day wasted, so be creative and inspiring but always with a firm I want to go somewhere
rooting in what you really can deliver for when reality rears its rain-soaked, poorly
lit, and un-airbrushed head.
thats worth not just my
money, but my hard-earned
Naturally, you want to make potential visitors know you and desire you, but in
todays age of user reviews and sites like TripAdvisor, its also your opportunity to
time off too.
set accurate expectations that will ultimately result in more satisfied customers, Visitor
referrals on social media, and greater brand trust.
Key things to consider:

Segmenting your audience and tailoring your messages to fit are both essential
steps in any kind of marketing, but because the web is a crowded space without
defined borders, lateral thinking is also needed to grab new users and lure them
along the online journey. The key is first deciding what you are and what youre
not as a destination. Are you family-friendly or sophisticated? Is the day stressful
but fun, or relaxing with no thrills? Then agree your specific audience segments to I want to attract visitors
target, but remember the devil is in the details. Jenni, our Strategy Director, and wholl arrive and rave
I are both working professional women in our 30s, but our differing hobbies and about us, and discourage
tastes mean well never bump into each other on a Saturday outing. the visitors who definitely
While these decisions can be difficult to agree internally, sticking to them will make wouldnt like us from even
it easier to craft effective calls to action and figure out where to promote them on picking up the phone .
your own site and beyond.
Attraction

Lindsays tips and opportunities
Get the desire element right and youll garner good reviews from satisfied visitors
and prevent scathing reviews from those who were probably incompatible for your
destinations offering in the first place. The tips Ive assembled show how to use
targeting as the foundation from which to build creative digital campaigns, manage
social media, and establish advanced SEO.
Match your marketing to your Give visitors a real reason to

user reviews. Develop your use social media. Use social
Lindsay Herbert messages in line with the things media as a platform for letting
Head of Digital Marketing people rave about when they your current visitors show off
write about you online. Once during their time with you.
Theres nothing I love more than they match, link between them For example, take photos of
sparking an Ah Ha! moment, to prove the honesty of your people enjoying themselves that
and thats why I work in digital. advertising and demonstrate they can access free from your
With so many tools, channels that you care what your visitors destinations Facebook page.
and techniques, the potential say about you. People will tag themselves, their
for creativity and ingenuity in friends will like and comment
solving problems and providing Test real users to build on the images, and youll
opportunities is limitless. accurate personas. You need organically grow awareness
to know your targets online and desire with new groups.
Ive been creating Ah Ha!
habits and real-life routines to
moments for nearly a decade,
inform how you can best reach For advanced SEO,
reaching audiences around the
and incentivise them online. brainstorm beyond travel
world, starting in Canada where
Use focus groups with carefully planning. Create desire in
I specialised in destination
recruited participants to advance of someone actually
marketing and now as Head of
uncover traits among segments planning a day out. Use your
Digital Marketing at Precedent,
who arent already engaged personas to brainstorm topics
where my work spans as far as
with you. Then create personas that your target audiences
wanderlust itself.
(typically a one or two-page are likely to be interested in.
profile of a typical user) Opportunities will exist for
to inform decisions on all sparking desire from a related
future marketing. hobby or need. You can then
use a site like the Google
Seed and give away your Adwords Keyword Tool to
content to relevant sites. reveal opportunities in the form
Beyond building links, content of forums, blogs, and other sites
seeding can build affinity with to create the link building and
new audiences. Find sites content seeding strategies.
frequented by the audiences
youre targeting and offer Find non-competing allies
their owners free use of your to create link building
existing assets or if the site opportunities. Beyond
is popular, create bespoke promotions and offers, you can
content for them. The seeded request links to be added to sites
content shouldnt read like a where knowing about you will
promotional piece for your benefit the users of that site (e.g.
destination, but it will help adding links to Cardiff Castle on
grow awareness and visibility sites that rank highly on Google
if credited to you. searches for British history).

Getting the basics right
SEO and messages Leeds Castle, England
On arrival at Leeds Castles home page the historic building is described as
The loveliest castle in the world. It is no surprise to see this claim repeated in the
attractions description in Googles search results, but it is also repeated often on
its TripAdvisor reviews, suggesting that either the claim is founded, or it has been
adopted by enthusiasts. Either way its appeal is somewhat compelling. As can be
seen, the attraction has used an XML site map feed to Google to offer a variety of
link options to the potential visitor. This helps the researcher in their quest for
information and also allows Leeds Castle to present the variety of their offer to
different visitors. Used more proactively these site maps can be adapted to feature
current promotions in line with other offline activity.
Google Search Leeds Castle

www.google.co.uk /search?q=leeds+castle

Comprehensive coverage on visitors channels of choice
Ashmolean Museum, England
The Ashmolean Museum is a prolific user of social channels, all of which are very
well integrated and consistent. Although in some instances followers, pins, circles,
etc., are modest in number, there is no doubt that the museum will eventually
come onto the digital radar of any member of the art and archaeology community.
The museum has fostered relations with like-minded institutions and is very good
at updating its channels, keeping them current with exhibition information and
also interacting with visitors and facilitating them in recording their visits. The
sentiment across all of its channels is remarkably positive, and likely to impress
anyone thinking of paying them a visit.
Ashmolean Museum
www.pinterest.com/ashmoleanmuseum
The museum uses Pinterest to provide an interesting mix of graphics, from

user-generated photos curated from around the web, to promotional banners
and pictures from collections. Note also the collection of images of men with
moustaches posted in November to coincide with the Movember prostate
cancer awareness campaign.

A collection of tweets from the Museum that illustrate the diversity of its followers,
its attention to the social space in the form of replying to queries and retweeting
mentions, and the appropriateness of its own tweets. They include tweets or
retweets from a coin enthusiast, satisfied visitors, other museums, and the local
community around Oxford.
Ashmolean Museum
www. twitter.com/ashmoleanmuseum
Ashmolean Museum
www. facebook.com/ashmoleanmuseum
The Ashmoleans Facebook is as similarly busy, diverse, and interactive to its

Twitter feed. The cover photo always seems to feature an image from its most
recent exhibition, and there are frequent (but not intrusive) updates. The
interaction featured on the next page is typical of the tone and friendliness
of the museums online team.

Ashmolean Museum
www.flickr.com/photos/
ashmoleanmuseum
Further channels employed and integrated into the Ashmolean digital landscape
include Foursquare, YouTube and Flickr. In all cases the museum fosters links
to others digital properties, and ensures that all of its properties are populated
appropriately and sympathetically. In the example above the Flickr photo stream,
Treasures of the Ashmolean Museum is not in fact an official channel, but is rather
a group of enthusiasts who have accumulated nearly 2,000 photographs of the
museums exhibits. The resource is linked to by the museums official Flickr page.

Research
Exceeding expectations online
Despite the desire for a day out being created, and irrespective of the
communication or recommendation that generated it, those who are
organising a day out are likely to research their options, and this will
inevitably be conducted online.
In the first instance the researcher will be influenced by the brand promise.
They will ask what the appeal of the attraction will be to them personally and to
whoever will be coming with them for their DREAM day out.
The criteria by which they will judge the suitability of an attraction will ultimately
vary and will often be personal, which means that it is incumbent upon marketers
to understand their visitors and all of their likely requirements. It is worth I want to know what to
remembering that it is often an apparently mundane snippet of information
that will sway a person into choosing your day out over another.
expect, and that I can get
my companions excited
Ahead of this, however, the digital property needs to match or exceed the
promise that was made to the researcher by their referrer. It needs to excite,
about our day out.
intrigue, interest and confirm to them that the attraction will fulfil their Visitor
expectations and those who will accompany them.

As Dan mentions in the following section of this report, a user-experience strategy
is key to the success at all stages of the cycle, and this stage is no different. However,
that old expression about never having a second chance to make a first impression
is so important at this stage, so do not assume that your interpretation of the
brand proposition will necessarily resonate with your customers. Test it and I dont want the visitor to
re-test it at key seasonal moments to ensure that it is attractive to your audiences.
If you are using a multi-channel and cross-media marketing strategy it is look any further once they
particularly important to ensure that your message is consistent across your have landed on any of my
spectrum of activity, since your potential customers initial awareness of you digital properties.
will be via their channel, or technology of choice.
Attraction
Your key objective at this stage should be to move visitors into your conversion
funnel as quickly as possible. However, decisions for a day out are rarely made by
individuals alone, so it is important to enable the researcher in their recruitment
endeavours. Consider whether the information provided offers a variety of views
of the attraction that meet the needs of not just the researcher but also those who
will accompany them. You might discover an angle of approach that opens up your
attraction to a completely new audience.

Jennis tips and opportunities
Of course it is incredibly important to concentrate your efforts on the overarching
proposition to your target market, or your understanding of the decision makers
in any group, but what about the proposition to those who are likely to accompany
them the children, the older people, the disabled, or potentially the just plain
indifferent? In my opinion it is often the messages and provision of information to
these other groups that drives the conversion which will ultimately occur on your
website, but might have been instigated by an informed conversation in a living
room or a pub. Here are some tips on how you might begin to increase visitor
numbers and drive them down your conversion funnel.
Jenni Williams
Director of Strategy and
Regional Director, Cardiff Test your propositions and Package content for visitors.
the content that underpins them It makes sense to you to have
Its the people that make digital with a variety of different visitor your websites mirroring the
interesting for me. types. What is your proposition way that you conduct business.
After more than 12 years working to disabled people, for instance? Tickets over here, the venue
as a strategic consultant, and Could it be improved, or indeed, explained over there, and the
now as Director of Strategy at could it be a USP? shop at the end. But does it
Precedent, I still enjoy learning make sense to your visitors?
about what people want Why not consider carefully what
Challenge yourselves by
from their online experience. your visitors want to see the
asking how you could represent
Understanding audience whole package, tailored to their
your attraction to those who
behaviours is fascinating, needs. This doesnt necessarily
might think its only for others,
especially as they are always mean creating new content, just
or its going to be boring.
changing. Understanding who an bundling it up in packages aimed
Think of ways in which you can
audience is, what inspires them, at say, families, groups, schools,
elicit reactions such as well I
and what motivates them is at the the elderly, the enthusiast etc.
didnt know that, or actually
heart of what I do. How we can that could be good. Come up
use that knowledge to help our with ways to confound the Use testimonials and social
clients transform their business assumptions that might exist confirmations to persuade your
using digital is what makes it easy outside of your stereotypical audiences. They want an answer
to come to work every morning. visitor/audience. to the question are people like
me doing this too? Feedback
social posts from others who
Monitor social channels might have said Im thinking
in order to understand how of going, or I went and it was
you are doing both in the real awesome into this stage of the
world and in the virtual world. cycle as positive affirmations
Identify any interactions in to the undecided.
which you can intervene to
add value to the conversation,
Engage with visitors. While
or clarify any misconceptions.
your primary aim will be to get
Unless you are offering
visitors to engage with you fully,
something of value or benefit
backing up the primary calls to
to individual conversations,
actions such as book a ticket
avoid intervention.
with secondary social actions
such as Follow us, Like us, etc.,
will increase engagement and
chances of conversion.

Making the first impression
Knowing your audiences and ensuring that their first online experience of you
matches their expectations is key to encouraging further investigation, and,
ultimately, attendance. Your aim should be to ensure that website visitors can
instantly picture themselves and their companions at your venue. It is then
incumbent on you to excite, intrigue, or interest visitors about the experience
they are likely to have with you.
Playing to their strengths Brighton Pier, England

The six different messages presented in a loop on the Brighton Pier home page
make the most of what they quite rightly call an iconic seaside location at the
beginning of the presentation. This broadly appealing statement immediately
sets the scene for the attraction, which is followed by a set of messages designed
to resonate with all the attractions core audiences, from families to the elderly.
Brighton Pier
www.brightonpier.co.uk
Its all about the experience Eureka Skydeck 88, Melbourne

In essence the Skydeck has one experience to offer a view over a city! However,
it makes the very most of this asset with a compelling brand promise, a series of
well-crafted supporting messages, excellent photography, and a persuasive video
that encapsulates every aspect of the experience on offer. Skydeck is selling an
experience, and experience is a word that is never far from the copy it uses on its
website, printed material and the narrative of its videos
Eureka Skydeck 88
www.eurekaskydeck.com.au

Making the attraction more attractive
Despite a recommendation from a colleague or friend, either electronically
or in person, everyone has different interests and different ideas about
what a DREAM day out might entail. Essentially, everyone wants to see for
themselves. Similarly, an attraction of interest to the senior person in a
household might hold little sway when suggested as an option to a younger
member of the family. This can be a particular problem for attractions with
seemingly niche appeal, such as museums and historic places, and to an extent
the academic nature of some of these attractions can be off-putting to all but
the most interested hobbyists.
Making assets out of assets The British Museum, England

Not all institutions have the breadth and depth of resources available to the
British Museum. However, the museum has interpreted elements of its collection
in a way that has far broader appeal than a simple picture and potted history of the
piece in question.
Part of the British Museums website offers a large number of videos, each of which
reveals a feature or story around an individual exhibit, or themed collection of
exhibits. Essentially these videos are virtual exhibits telling a story, or provoking
consideration of an object, in a way that could not easily be created in the physical
world. However, what they do is generate enormous interest and anticipation in
actually seeing exhibits in the flesh.
Opportunity
Why not link your assets to trails,
competitions and themed routes
around the venue, or your digital
landscape?
The British Museum

www.britishmuseum.org/channel/
object_stories

Ensuring that the children are catered for, the British Museum has a section aimed
at getting kids to pursue their interests. Children can begin to explore and learn
about exhibits that are categorised into themes likely to appeal to them. Ultimately,
the children will want to see the object that they have learned about online in the
real world.
The British Museum

www.britishmuseum.org/explore/young_
explorers/discover/museum_explorer.aspx
Making assets out of assets The Geffrye Museum, England

The Geffrye offers a dedicated Kids Zone aimed at getting youngsters interested
in how people lived in days gone by. This section of the main site offers a number of
animated interactive and printable activities that gently introduce children to the
subject of the museum and its assets. Engaging children in this section of the site
ahead of a visit is likely to ensure that the day is enjoyed by kids and parents alike.
The Geffrye Museum

www.geffrye-museum.org.uk/kidszone

Can you see yourself? Rottnest Island, Perth
Being able to imagine yourself and your companions having a great time is all part
and parcel of the decision making process. Rottnest Island has left little to chance in
this regard by including as part of its digital landscape a comprehensive virtual tour
of the islands attractions. Potential visitors can view very high quality 360-degree
photography of the islands highlights, which always include people enjoying
themselves. As in the example below there is an element of the unbelievable about
the imagery used, suggesting heavily staged photo-shoots. However, there is also
an aspirational quality to the tour as well as supporting information and, where
relevant, links to book tickets.
Rottnest Island
www.rottnestisland.com

Making it easy to visit
A key consideration for any organiser of a trip out is how easy it is going to
be to get there. Anything that attractions can do to make it easier for the
organiser to feel comfortable with the travel requirements will impact on
the likelihood of them moving to the engagement stage.
Presenting transport options Warner Bros. Studio Tour, London

Warner Bros. have all the transport options covered for those considering a trip to
their attraction. If driving, the researcher does not even have to leave its site to get
directions, the attraction has integrated Google Maps into its Getting Here page.
Opportunity
Why not add a link to Doodle, a free
calendar site that allows you to
invite friends to an event and find
the most mutually available date?
www.doodle.com
Warner Bros. Studio Tour

www.wbstudiotour.co.uk/en/your-visit/
getting-here

Making the journey fun Sovereign Hill, Melbourne
Knowing how to get to an attraction ticks one of the boxes on every organisers list,
but keeping the kids amused along the way is often one of the main challenges for
parents. Sovereign Hill offers a collection of resources from a variety of sources
aimed at doing just that via their Pinterest pages. Not only is this a great resource
which might allay any fears over the journey length for those travelling with
children, but their collection of graphical and photographic pins also add a further
persuasive dimension to the visitors online experience of the attraction, as well as
being another route to creating awareness of the attraction.
Sovereign Hill
www.pinterest.com/sovereignhill/
Sovereign-hill

Engage
Providing a brilliant
customer experience
The moment that a potential visitor engages with a brand online is the point at
which customer service begins to be judged. This is the most crucial stage of the
digital customer experience cycle, since if the brand fails to deliver, previously
I want to do this quickly
engaged individuals are likely to return to the research stage and begin to compare and simply, with no
and contrast you with your competitors. This stage is all about making it easy for surprises and clearly
a potential visitor to become an attendee. The most obvious place for marketers presented options.
to concentrate their efforts is on their e-commerce interfaces, but every aspect of
digital engagement needs to work simply and intuitively to minimise drop out and Visitor
maximise satisfaction levels.

A user experience strategy should underpin each stage of the cycle, but at this
Engagement stage it is of utmost importance. Irrespective of the current success
of any digital engagement, it can be improved.
Often brands have an inside out rather than an outside in approach to viewing
their offer to their customers, which leads them to making assumptions that I want the visitor to
may not be correct. To really understand what will push the buttons of your understand everything
customers you need to engage with them, walk in their shoes and watch we have to offer, and take
them using your website, app or social pages. This is important whether you
are developing something new, or looking at a digital property that already exists. full advantage of available
A philosophy of measurement and continual improvement needs to be adopted options and add-ons.
which, if fully embraced, is guaranteed to deliver digital success.
Attraction

Dans tips and opportunities
I cannot emphasise enough how important it is for you to have a solid
understanding of what your customers want, what you want to achieve, and
how you are going to measure it both at this stage of the cycle and at the previous
research stage. Here are some tips that will help you to optimise your digital
properties whether you are creating something new, or refining an existing
property, so that they deliver to your business objectives:
Establish metrics that will Dont miss the opportunity

Dan Baker show you how successful you to build awareness by offering
Head of UX Australia are being and align these to a a social update option for
holistic view of your conversion customers to tell their friends
I love standing in other peoples
funnel, which should take that they are going for a day out
shoes and trying to experience
into account offline activity at your venue via their social
the world from someone elses
and social channels, as well channel of choice.
perspective.
as mobile options. Associate
Years ago I studied architecture these metrics with established
and developed a sense of how a revenue streams. Engage with customers early,
place space, form and function test often, amend, fix and re-
can influence perceptions and test. It doesnt need to cost the
Use analytics to provide a earth to test your conversion
behaviours. And I quickly came
narrative around how real funnel, particularly if you use
to appreciate that its not just the
people are using your digital lo-fi prototypes. Five people will
place that informs the experience
properties, then do something. highlight improvements that
its about the journey to it,
Avoid analysis paralysis. could be made.
through it and onwards too.
I carried this thinking through
to the online domain, where Ive Good form design. Funnels Articulate the incentive.
been designing digital experiences invariably involve some kind All aspects of the conversion
for the past fifteen years. I work of form completion to book, or funnel should lead to the
closely with our clients and their buy something. Use good form customer doing what you want
customers to understand the design principles by removing them to do. Ensure that you
journey and destination from unnecessary fields. Dont force articulate the incentive for them
their point of view, designing people to create an account. taking an action by emphasising
digital services and products Use white space, big buttons, how easy it is to do, why they
that are useful, usable and leave and make the benefits of should do it now, and what is
a positive impression. completion clear. in it for them.

Its an experience, not the weekly shop
Considering the number of attraction websites that we looked at to produce
this report, it is somewhat surprising that we were only able to find a few
examples of good form design and UX, particularly with regard to buying
tickets. The clear and obvious reason for this is that the vast majority seem to
have bought (or have been provided with) off the shelf e-commerce solutions
that have received the minimum bespoke technical customisation or design
treatment to make them fit for purpose, or at least on-brand.
Excellent fulfilment Go Ape, England

In view of the comments above we decided to feature the Go Ape website in some
detail to illustrate the principles that we believe deliver a superior user experience,
increase the chances of conversion and completion, and maximise the opportunity
to up-sell.
The interface to the right of the Go Ape home page immediately focuses customers
Go Ape
attention on the decisions they will need to make to book tickets. It also sets
www.goape.co.uk
expectations by mentioning availability. Note the tone of the questions that
facilitate the interface. They are personal and infer that the site visitor is in charge
of the process, and they begin to build a sense of anticipation of a great day out.
Without leaving the home page, visitors can see the availability of the experience
they require. Impressively, the options change depending on the venue required,
and the interface colours change state to indicate the selections made.

Again, the visitor is in control of the process via a clear and simple interface
displaying the availability of time slots, as well as a constant reminder from their
monkey friend of what they have booked so far, along with the option to change
any of their selections.
Opportunity
Why not offer a small discount to
anyone who tells their friends and
family they are going via email, or
social channels?
Before proceeding to the checkout, visitors are provided with a summary of their
booking and the option to add further products. Big buttons, simple options, and a
clear indication of cost is provided as the visitor adds products to their experience.

Impressively, the visitor is provided with a picture of their day out so that they can
add their extra experience into the timeframe of their day, ensuring that no clashes
will occur.
Clear and simple forms are used to collect payment and delivery details from
the visitor along with a similarly straightforward display of the cost of all of the
activities they have booked. Visitors are also promised confirmation of their
booking and an itinerary to share with their pri-mates.
Go Ape
www.goape.co.uk

Lets book it now!
We have all been in a situation more often than not provoked by a word
of mouth exchange or throw away conversation when we are put under
pressure by our peers, partner or children, to do something different.
What do you do if you are sitting in the park, or on the train from work,
or at the nursery? If you are provoked into action, the chances are you
will reach for your phone.
Making it easy for people caught in a situation such as this to quickly evaluate and/
or book tickets for a day out is an essential part of any marketing plan. Below we
have featured home page screens from attractions that have recognised this fact
and rationalised their web presence into a dedicated mobi site to offer potential
visitors enough information and functionality to instantly satisfy the demands
of their pressure group.

Attend
Continuing the digital journey
Everything that has gone before now comes into sharp focus for your new
customers. Was the parking easy to find as promised? Is the attraction map
useful? Do they feel in control? Surprises are fine at this stage, but only pleasant
ones. Anything like unexpected charges, maintenance closures, long queues,
or even not having a vegetarian option in the restaurant can affect the visitors
enjoyment of the experience.
I want to see and do
Organisers like to be prepared, so the less time they need to take orientating everything that we planned,
themselves and their companions the more satisfying their experience is likely
to be. Satisfied customers are much more likely to spend in the gift shop, relax in
nobody should go away
the cafe and engage with you again. If they, your staff and the attraction itself are disappointed.
digitally prepared, visitors are also more likely to continue to engage with you
Visitor
either at the venue, or shortly afterwards.

Digital provision should not stop at the entrance gate. It is incumbent upon
attractions to embrace digital not just through putting a website link on posters
and tickets, but by actively encouraging digital engagement at the venue. You
should have two principal aims. Firstly, to use digital to enhance the visitor
experience, and secondly to produce quality user-generated content that will feed I want the visitor to
into the Memories and Research stages of the cycle. At the venue, and increasingly
ahead of attending it, this will principally be facilitated through smart phones, so feel positive throughout
your primary consideration should be to develop a mobile strategy. their visit, and take full
advantage of all the
experiences and facilities
on offer.
Attraction

Johns tips and opportunities
There are four options when considering a mobile strategy, each of which delivers
different levels of functionality and large variations in the user experience. In
my opinion the very least you should aim for is a mobi site, which is to say a site
designed to work on a mobile phone capable of running a web browser. The other
three options are a responsive site (a site designed to respond and deliver coherent
content irrespective of the device used to access it), a framework app (an app
developed once to work across multiple devices and operating systems), and a
native app (a feature-rich app developed to make optimum use of the OS of one
particular brand of phone).*
Irrespective of your mobile approach, here are some ideas as to how you might
John Campbell begin to join up the physical and virtual customer experiences.
Head of Mobile and
Regional Director, Edinburgh
I have been involved in working Change your telephone Digital tickets allow you to join
with organisations to identify number. Is the telephone up individual digital journeys
and deliver really beneficial number you use on your website from your website or app to
solutions to their businesses the same as on your printed the venue. Taken a step further,
for over 25 years. I really enjoy materials, advertisements, and in conjunction with an
working with organisations to Facebook page, etc? Change incentive such as a discount at
optimise their use of todays them. Many people will research a cafe, they could help you to
technology and planning for you online, but phone your really understand how people
tomorrows. I have worked idea call centre to book tickets and use your venue. Ultimately,
storming and delivering projects make enquiries. By having a if built into an app you could
for finance organisations, leading different number on each of even understand the route
commercial clients, utility your properties you will be able taken around the attraction by
companies, charities, education to track the success of your individual parties, the food they
and tourism. various initiatives. consumed, the gifts they bought
In 2000 I stepped out of the and the people they interacted
digital world and established Print your print outs. In the with during their visit.
a leisure company providing first instance check that any
outdoor activities to the tourism information intended to be Quick link signage.
markets of France, Spain and printed will print simply and Throughout the destination
the UK. More recently I have effectively on a standard printer. visitors should be encouraged
worked closely with the Royal Restrict output to a single A4 to share their photos, opinions
Yacht Britannia and St Andrews page, and ensure that the design and videos through signage.
Golf Links to help increase works in black and white. Offer Ideally, quick links or QR codes
visitor numbers through creative uniquely coded vouchers that to the destination brand site and
thinking and optimal integration visitors can print out for use at associated pages, as well as clear
of their digital channels. your venue so that you can track social tags, should be used to
their end-to-end use. encourage interaction with the
attraction online.
* For more information download our white paper, Incentives. Sharing any asset
Optimising Mobile through a social network Wifi. Offering free wifi within
and tagging the destination an attraction will increase social
www.precedent.co.uk/our-reports
should be part of any incentive sharing while the visitor is on
campaign. Incentives such as site. The relatively low cost of
in-attraction perks and price this installation creates a space
reductions for future visits build where visitors can share their
a reason to engage. experiences directly.

Enhancing the experience
Book a panda Edinburgh Zoo, Scotland
A short but pertinent case study from Edinburgh Zoo, which recently secured
the loan of two giant pandas from China. The national interest generated by the
arrival of these universally loved beasts means that the Zoo has had to manage
the expectations of its visitors and ensure that its prime exhibit remains an asset,
and not a source of disappointment and frustration. To its credit, the zoo has
reacted to demand by offering free tickets to see the pandas directly off its home
page. Of course, there is nothing new in promoting a new attraction from a home
page. However, it is worth considering how the most popular attractions from any
venue might be best used to generate interest and an aspirational anticipation of
experiencing it.
Edinburgh Zoo
Note how Edinburgh takes full advantage of the
extended revenue and promotional opportunities
offered by the pandas providing a combination
of merchandise and further distribution
opportunities associated with their top assets.
www.edinburghzoo.org.uk

A map visitors can use Natural History Museum, England
The Natural History Museum offers floor plans of all of its space for download from
its website. The plans are of a very high quality, can be printed in black and white,
if required, and use their own print dialogue interface to ensure good results. Not
only are these a useful tool for visitors, they are also a great distraction on route to
the museum. It is interesting to wonder how much the museum saves by not having
to provide visitors with maps it has printed itself.
Natural History Museum

www.nhm.ac.uk/resources-rx/files/muse-
um-floor-plans-2012-107008.pdf
Dont mention queue times

Chessington World of Adventures, England
Chessington provides a very useful mobi website, which combines the ability to
find out about the park and book tickets with functionality and information of use
while the visitor is actually there. Simply, but cleverly, on arrival at the site the user
is asked whether they are actually at the park, or elsewhere? For those not at the
park the site offers the basic information required to appreciate the attraction and
book tickets. For those at the park the site offers the times of shows and reminders
of a number of on-site offers, as well as quick links to the attractions Facebook
and Twitter pages.
The innovative aspect of the site is that it also offers the Q-times for the parks
rides. Using a HTML5 function which allows a web browser to access geo-location
information on a smart phone, the queue times are displayed, but only to those that
are in the park. The rather clever rationale behind this functionality is presumably
that Chessington does not want those who are outside the park to decide not to
enter as result of seeing how long they will need to queue for its popular attractions.
Chessington World of Adventures

www.mob.chessington.com
www.mob.chessington.com/#/on-park/
on-park.aspx

The native app experience Thorpe Park, England
One would expect a premium attraction such as Thorpe Park to be ahead of the
game when it comes to offering an enhanced experience via peoples personal
devices. To an extent this is the case, since the attraction has developed a native
app that ticks many of the boxes we have mentioned previously. However, the
app is only available for the iPhone and iPod Touch, which rather illustrates the
limitations of the native app, and its reach.
We would hope that the attraction is aware of the devices being used by the majority
of its visitors and has reacted accordingly. However, we must also expect that it will
be rolling out an Android version of its app in the near future too.
This said, the app utilises many of the features of the contemporary smart phone
as illustrated and described by the attraction itself below. Impressively, the app
has the potential to track the journey of individual visitors from arrival to
departure and beyond.
Opportunity
Apps are often promoted
separately on websites, almost as
an afterthought. Why not offer
them at the point of purchase.
Build features into them that will
be unobtainable to those without
them. Offer a standard and VIP
app you could even charge for the
VIP download if the incentive was
compelling enough?
Park Info Park Map

Information on Thorpe Park, including: opening Interactive Park Map that shows your exact location
times, upcoming events and directions to the Park. in relation to the rides, food and retail units, cash
www.thorpepark.com/plan-your-visit/ points, toilets and lockers... all via the iPhones GPS.
thorpe-park-official-app.aspx www.thorpepark.com/plan-your-visit/
thorpe-park-official-app.aspx

Ride Information
See all the extreme thrills waiting for you, as well
as videos and photos to really get the adrenaline
pumping.
www.thorpepark.com/plan-your-visit/
Live Queue Times

Keep one step ahead of the crowds!
Offers
Exclusive discounts and promotions to the Park as
well as at the retail and food units.
Insane Fun
Find the Fathead game, THORPE PARK Quiz,
random facts, queue line games and more.

Memory
Maintaining digital engagement
At this stage of the cycle it is tempting to assume that the job has been done, but of
course this is the point at which the visitor becomes the attractions most valuable
asset, as well as being the point at which the visitor is likely to disengage. It is
therefore important to maintain your engagement with your customers to ensure
that the engagement cycle is closed and reopened with either new visitors in the
short-term, or the same visitors in the long-term. This is where visitor data and
the digital assets previously generated by them need to be used sympathetically I want to cherish and share
and positively.
my memories. They fix me
In the time immediately after experiencing your attraction visitors are likely to in time creating a rock for
want to recall the highlights. If the digital connection with your brand is still strong
me to return to.
through successful engagement at the venue, then this is the time to facilitate the
recollection of their positive memories and help them to associate these with your Visitor
brand and your digital properties.

Irrespective of the success of encouraging the creation of user-generated assets
at the venue, digital keepsakes will still be carried by visitors on their cameras
or phones. The challenge with these devices is to solicit some sort of further
engagement with the destination through the asset and in support of the attraction.
Incentives are likely to play a key role in this aim, either in the form of the visitor I want the visitor to
accessing a memory that they have previously not seen, or in the form
of competitions and promotions. become an ambassador
through their positive
In short, there are two approaches to be adopted. The first is to strike while the
iron is hot by facilitating the visitor in immediately reliving and sharing their memories of their
memories on the day of their attendance, or shortly afterwards. The second is experience.
to use your accumulated knowledge of the visitor and their engagement with
you and the venue to re-engage with them at a later date. Although these are in Attraction
no way new marketing approaches, digital offers a number of different ways in
which these engagements can be more personal and targeted when compared
to traditional mailing lists and e-mail newsletters.

Rufus tips and opportunities
The tips provided below are all scaleable, which is to say that the level of
sophistication employed to execute them can vary from the general and manual
to the bespoke and automated. Clearly the level to which individual attractions
attempt to remain engaged with their visitors post-visit will vary and rely heavily
on the availability of resources. However, in my view it is essential that an effort
is made to at least monitor the success of your initiatives. For the resource rich
this might mean a dedicated team using sophisticated software, but for the less
fortunate should at least mean a dedicated individual using free online tools.
Rufus Spiller
Creative Director, Melbourne
Take a photo. Taking a photo Personalise your message.
I have been a digital creative of everyone that attends your Depending on the depth to
since 1998, working with a venue can be a great way of which you have tracked an
portfolio of international engaging with them after their individuals interactions with
clients including Opodo, attendance. Offering a space you, it should be possible to
Wyndham and Edinburgh on your website or one of go further than just putting
International Festival Fringe. your social platforms where a persons name at the top of
visitors can see themselves and an email. You should be able
Starting off in Aberdeen my subsequently share the photo, to understand their personal
career has visited Glasgow, or post photos of their own to preferences with regard to the
Edinburgh and, most recently their social pages, will generate way that they attended and used
Melbourne. This has allowed further assets and broader your attraction, and tailor your
me to work doing what I love; awareness of you. message to them accordingly.
evangelising about creative The level of detail that you
digital thinking, developing choose to employ will be
inspirational design teams The physical digital souvenir. dependent on the sophistication
and working with clients to Consider offering digital of your tracking. However, basic
explore digital possibilities. keepsakes, such as USB drives classifications of visitors and
and digital photo albums, which communications relating to
Alongside my day job as a
not only might contain visual seasonal or promotional
Creative Director I am the
memories of the attraction, activity that fit their profile
founding director of the
but also the incentive for are easily achievable.
design talks series called
visitors to digitally share
LongLunch which brings
their own memories.
design luminaries to Monitor the buzz. All
Scotland, and I have been attractions should be
a course mentor for two monitoring what is being
Edinburgh design colleges. Re engage on key dates. If
your data capture is efficient it said about them in the social
should be possible to re-engage space. Apart from providing a
with previous attendees on general impression of customer
the anniversary of their visits. satisfaction levels, monitoring
While the simple approach can offer the opportunity to
would be to send an email with intervene in conversations
a promotional bent, it should be where misconceptions can be
possible to send them a link to a addressed. More importantly
memory of their visit hosted on (in the context of this stage
a social channel. of the cycle), past visitors can
be encouraged to share their
experiences, post favourable
comment and upload assets.

Preserving the memory Manly Sea Life Sanctuary, Sydney
The Manly Sea Life Centre captures a photo of every visitor that takes one of
its Shark Dive Xtreme experiences. In keeping with many other attractions
the physical photos are available to purchase at the venue. However, the attraction
also selects one photo each day to post on its Facebook page and presents the top
ten shots each month on its website. This section of its site is a key part in the
Research part of the cycle, while its Facebook page attracts on average ten likes
a day from people who are made aware of their friends escapades.
Opportunity
Combine the photographic
extra with the opportunity to
create a greeting card to be sent to
a relative, or friend via a site such as
Moonpig. You could even provide
a video booth where families could
send real-life messages to friends
and post them on their social
channels.
www.moonpig.com
Manly Sea Life Sanctury

www.manlysealifesanctuary.com.au/
shark-dive-xtreme/#photos
Sea Life Facbook page

www.facebook.com/sharkdivextreme

Keeping up interest
Providing a reason to return V&A Museum, England
The V&A Museum is dedicated to making its collections available digitally as a way
of engaging with fans even when they cannot attend in person. Many of the apps it
produces are standalone resources in their own right, and relate directly to current
or past exhibitions. As with the physical exhibitions for the Museum, there is also
a charge to download the apps, and this gives them value they are powerful tools
which raise awareness of the museum and invoke nostalgia for another visit.
Potentially more effective, and of more general interest, is the museums Calendar
Tablet App, which is a monthly guide to whats on at the museum. Features of the
app include a calendar function to discover whats happening in the museum on
a day-to-day basis, including talks, tours, activities and free events. There are also
videos and Q&As about high profile temporary exhibitions. Information about
galleries and a plan your visit function are also available.
The free app is available on iPad and Android tablet platforms and is updated
monthly, making it a fantastic reminder of what is on offer at the museum and
a real stimulation to provoke visitors to return in person.
V & A Museum
www.vam.ac.uk/page/v/apps

Combining tickets, experiences and digital media
National Football Museum
The National Football Museum provides buyers of its premium Football Plus
tickets with the opportunity to review and compare their performances in various
challenges that the tickets allow them to enjoy. Each ticket has a unique code that
visitors can use to log into the Football Plus+ section of the attractions website.
Once inside visitors can also view and socially share photos, video and audio
taken as they performed various tasks, such as penalty shoot-outs and saving
shots at goal.
This feature is part of the sites Join In section, which also includes a page
displaying the attractions TripAdvisor rating and most recent comments,
as well as an invitation to leave a review.

www.nationalfootballmuseum.com/
join-in/my-football-plus
Overall, the museum is well regarded on the TripAdvisor website. An interesting

post is featured below. The five-star review is somewhat priceless in as much as
it is from a top international contributor, who by his own admission does not like
football, but still found the attraction entertaining and creative.

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/
Search?q=national+football+museum

Three of the best
Here we feature three destinations that manage to close the DREAM cycle. While
there is always room for improvement, the examples below illustrate ways in which
these attractions have clearly thought about creating digital completeness.
Eureka Skydeck 88, Melbourne

In the same way that the Eureka Skydeck is geographically rooted at the forefront
of the Melbourne skyline, the attraction digitally positions itself firmly at the heart
of the citys social calendar and as the must see experience on the Melbourne
tourist map.
Socially, the attraction promotes Melbourne and the broader Whats on calendar
of the city, and as a promoter and commentator on the city it ensures that its name
and proposition is known. Add to this a website that compels its visitors
to experience what Eureka has to offer, and the arguments for disregarding
its charms diminish rapidly.
Reaching beyond their reach Compelling proposition Minimum data requirement

Keeping an eye on whats happening on Twitter Evocative imagery allows potential visitors to Simply presented online ticket purchasing with
puts the attraction in conversations about whats picture and almost feel the experience on offer. no long forms, meaning there is no need to enter
happening in Melbourne, building awareness. This, coupled with excellently written copy, makes more data than seems necessary. Tickets are
Here its Russell Brand and the Australian Open. a visit almost inevitable for any interested party. delivered via email.
www.twitter.com/Eureka_Skydeck www.eurekaskydeck.com.au/buy-tickets
A simple app adds to the experience We all love Melbourne The Skydeck positions
An app that provides a map, photos and a simple
audio guide to the attraction from selected viewing
Promoting the city, facilitating those with fond
memories of it, and talking about whats going on
itself socially at the heart
points is available from iTunes. in it allows the Skydeck to engage in conversations
with a wide variety of different individuals.
of Melbourne, creating
www.facebook.com/eurekaskydec an online awareness that
is only surpassed by its
physical presence.

Natural History Museum
As a national institution that maintains a public engagement programme, and,
broadly speaking, seeks to promote and advance our knowledge of the natural
world, it is of little surprise to see the Natural History Museum featured here.
The museum has numerous audiences, from the smallest children to the most
eminent academics, but the cycle of engagement is of equal relevance to each
of these audiences, the museum, and all those in between.
In pursuing its mission the museum clearly sees its digital assets as being of equal
importance to its physical collections. As a result some of the plethora of digital
initiatives developed by the museum are featured here as inspiration to those
with perhaps more modest resources.
Tracking and engaging Augmented exhibits Access to experts and each other
The museum pays close attention to those that it Seeing exhibits in a wholly new interactive way helps The museum offers forums for those interested
follows on social channels. A dinosaur enthusiast the museum to increase repeat footfall and attract in numerous natural history topics. Communal
has his snow dinosaur retweeted by the museums a new, potentially more high-tech audience. identification of various natural discoveries
team, potentially reaching a whole new audience. www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/darwin-centre- ensures engagement with both the casual and
www.twitter.com/GAZmonkeyboy/ visitors/attenborough-studio/interactive- confirmed enthusiast.
status/292633126562299905/photo/1 film/index.html www.nhm.ac.uk/natureplus/thread/8832
The impressive aspect Taking memories home digitally Tagging success

As an iconic London landmark it is no surprise
of the NHMs digital The NaturePlus initiative provides a way for visitors
to collect digital content while visiting the museum that the museum attracts a lot of attention on
presence is the way that using a free credit card. Digital content is scanned
and added to the card and can be retrieved in a
Facebook. However, this is also testament to the
diversity and interest of the content it posts. Also
it appears to be at the private online area of the museums website note that over 600,000 photos have been tagged
when visitors get home. at its location a great way to create desire.
heart of everything they www.nhm.ac.uk/natureplus/index.jspa www.facebook.com/
naturalhistorymuseum
do, suggesting that there
is great internal synergy
and understanding of the
power, and potential of
digital to enhance and
promote the museums
offer to the world.

Go Ape, England
Everything about Go Apes digital presence is on brand, on message and most
importantly simple to read, use and understand. A trawl through their digital
properties reveals an enthusiastic tone of voice akin to that used in a friendly club
of likeminded people. The message is that this club is open to anyone, and you can
join too. Given the attractions social success, one suspects that this enthusiasm is
matched in their physical world as well.
A like minded social scene Compelling proposition Great userexperience

A vibrant community of Facebook friends is Excellent, engaging copy embellished by exciting Whether visitors want to book their tickets at
kept interested in Go Ape with an eclectic mix of quality video ensures that potential visitors are their desk or on the move, the result is the same
promotional, quirky, and interactive posts from left under no illusion with regard to the experience an intelligent booking engine sitting within a
the attraction. that awaits them. simple, clear and intuitive user interface.
www.facebook.com/GoApeTribe www.goape.co.uk/what-is-goape www.goape.co.uk/booking_
timepursuit?mobile_switch=mobile&time=
Considering the multiple Users generating content Spreading the word
venues and experiences Potential visitors can see images of real people
like themselves having fun in the photos section
To win the competition, uploaded photos need
to be voted for by members of the visitors social
on offer from GoApe of the site. After visiting, a best photo competition
encourages them to upload their own images and
network, who then become aware of Go Ape
and automatically appear on its social radar, so
via a single interface, add to the archive, as well as distribute them via completing the circle.
Facebook or Twitter.
the simple, intuitive
and engaging nature
of the user experience
reveals an attention to
detail not seen on the
websites of numerous
other attractions.

Your digital presence is a big part of the experience
Part of any attractions plans for a new season, or busy times in their promotional
calendar, is to reassess the venue on offer and consider how it can be improved,
added to, or talked about differently. Constant refinement and maintenance of the
physical is part and parcel of the senior managements ongoing work, and often the
source of useful PR and promotional material for the marketing team.
When considering the overall quality of the digital properties we examined to
inform this report, it would seem that this attention to the physical detail is not
necessarily mirrored in the digital. In essence, for the majority of attractions
there still seems to be a heavy reliance on traditional marketing activity to create
awareness and increase attendance at their venues.
While it is evident from our investigations that an attractions website and other
online properties are increasingly considered to be equal in importance to their
physical properties, in our opinion opportunities exist for all of these to improve
considerably and to be used in a more proactive and expansive manner.
As we have said previously, the visitors experience no longer starts at the entrance
gate. It begins online. It is therefore essential that attention to detail is paid to any
attractions digital presence when considering the overall experience that is offered
to the public.
For the big brands, the national museums and theme parks, it is a matter
of living up to expectations. Digitally savvy individuals, who are no longer just
the young, expect national icons to provide a digital experience that matches
the reputation that they have imbibed through generations of father to son
recommendations.
For the less well-known and regional brands there is an opportunity to exceed
expectations with their community or interest groups, and foster relationships
which spread their digital reputation much further than physical restraints might
conventionally allow.
For smaller niche attractions there is the opportunity to engage with the long tail
of people locally, nationally and internationally with similar interests to themselves
and ensure a constant growth of the community that supports their interest.
However, for all there is the opportunity to increase efficiency, enhance the
experience and impact on the bottom line with the considered use of the digital
environment.
Attractions should consider that, in comparison to other marketing activities, the
benefit of digital is that it is infinitely measurable, has enormous potential reach,
can be adaptive, responsive and reactive. Most importantly, with maintenance it is
sustainable. In short, it doesnt get thrown in the bin tomorrow, or forgotten when
the next advertisement appears.
Adrian Porter
Head of Strategic Research

The basics
Irrespective of budget and resource, all attractions should consider the following,
since each can be implemented either at a tactical or enterprise level.
Integration and consistency

Assess your digital landscape. Are there always easily followed links that unite
your communities and offer the interested the opportunity to find out more from
variously appropriate digital properties? Ensure that your message is consistent
and in line with your current promotional activity. Never leave one channel out of
the landscape. Explore and try new channels as they appear.
Niche audiences
Explore how your attraction might appeal to previously unconsidered niche
audiences. How could you present the experience you offer to diverse groups?
Theme parks think old people. Museums think children. Parks and gardens
think lovers, etc.
For all attractions there is the opportunity to target more precisely, and be creative
in the way that you attract more diverse groups by understanding how your assets
might appeal to previously disregarded audiences. The digital environment allows
you to be creative, test your propositions, and refine accordingly.
Mobile
You all know it, you all have to do it, so put a plan in place now that will ensure that
at the very minimum the potential visitors you attract can access a modicum of
information and secure a visit to your venue via their mobile device.
Test and test

Every change you make to your digital presence or the way it projects itself should
be tested with real people, or their profiles (personas). Although you understand
your proposition and the reason why things are organised the way they are better
than anyone, this is not knowledge held by your target audiences. If you have the
expertise and/or resource to rectify a problem then sort it out, if you have neither,
make small intuitive changes and monitor their effectiveness.
Analytics and monitoring

Decide what it is that you want your audiences to do on your digital properties.
Establish a series of goals that you can track their route towards across your
landscape. Use this intelligence to inform changes and refinements in conjunction
with user-testing.
The key role of your staff on the ground

All attractions know that their staff can make or break a visitors experience of their
brand. Part of all staff training should be to encourage digital engagement. Ensure
that all staff are aware of the importance of digital engagement and can point out
opportunities to do so to visitors.
The key role of your staff in the office

Digital is no longer an add-on, it is a discipline in itself, therefore it is essential
that those responsible for it have their responsibilities clearly defined in their job
descriptions. For the resource-rich there will be dedicated digital appointments
already, but for smaller concerns it is essential that time is allotted to digital
activities and responsibilities recognised.

Getting it done refinement
As said previously, unlike traditional marketing, effort made in the digital space can
be reused, refined and repurposed based on hard evidence that can be gleaned in
real time. With creative thinking it also offers the opportunity to experiment with
new propositions to new audiences without enormous capital expense.
All attractions have a cycle of marketing activity, which is aligned to the initiatives
that they undertake during a set period. For the weather dependent this might
be a seasonal cycle. For others this might be monthly or quarterly, and related to
specific events or exhibitions. Irrespective, the DREAM model, in conjunction with
many of the tips and examples provided here, can be used to help you to align your
conventional activity to your digital strategy, and to explore how you might increase
the diversity and numbers of visitors you attract.
Plan Develop Refine
Ensure that your messages are Ensure content and functionality Identify where your physical
compelling and in line with visitors of your site is appropriate to and digital environment is not
expectations. Test your proposition audiences. Establish personas for meeting expectations. Monitor social
and messaging with real people. your target and secondary audiences channels using a buzz monitoring too, to
which can be used to test your digital understand the sentiment around your
environment. brand .
Organically grow awareness and
desire from new groups. Establish
social tagging conventions and relevant Remove barriers to conversion. Build on your successes. Make it easy
incentives. Make it easy. Use best practice for the converted to sociallypublicise
principles of form, design and test with their commitment to you.
real users.
Engage audiences who previously
might not have been aware of you. Maximise the effectiveness of your
Seed and give away your content to other Understand what success will look conversion funnel. Use analytics to
relevant sites. like. Establish primary and secondary identify problems, if you cant see the
digital conversion goals for your solution retest with users.
audiences in analytics software .
Analyse Evaluate Repeat
Understand how your visitors are Closer alignment with visitors Take all of the information, data and
using your venue Establish incentivised expectations. Match your marketing knowledge you have accumulated
digital touch points that can be analysed to your user reviews across social and across your marketing cycle and
in the short and long term. advisory channels. feed it into your next cycle, starting
at the planning stage.
Add to the experience. Use digital Identify opportunities for the next
initiatives ranging from good maps to cycle. Use analytics to understand your
apps to enhance the physical experience. successes with regard to channels
and technologies.
Build awareness in your visitors
peer group. Digitise your physical Encourage repeat visits.
environment through simple signage, or Use collected data to personalise
by staff interaction to encourage visitors subsequent communications with
to share their experience. identified individuals and groups .

Selecting the attractions
We based our definition of an attraction on that used by VisitEngland in its

Visitor Attraction Trends reports, the pertinent part of which is that an attraction
should be a:
permanently established excursion destination, a primary purpose of which is
to allow access for entertainment, interest, or education and can include places
of worship (but excludes small parish churches). It must be open to the public,
without prior booking, for published periods each year, and should be capable of
attracting day visitors or tourists as well as local residents.
www.visitengland.org/insight-statistics/major-tourism-surveys/attractions
We selected around 200 attractions located in either the UK or Australia. Initially

these were sourced from the relevant Visit websites for England, Scotland and
Wales and their equivalents in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth in Australia. Where
needed these were supplemented with recommended attractions taken from the
TripAdvisor website.
Our initial trawl through the websites of these attractions provided us with a
shortlist of around 100 attractions which, in our opinion, warranted further
investigation. The premise by which we disregarded attractions was simple. If
the website did not offer a suitably interesting first impression, or contain an
obviously innovative feature worthy of investigation, then it was disregarded.
Further and more detailed investigation of the digital presences of the shortlist
whittled the attractions down to the 50 featured on the next page, each of which
is doing something of digital merit along the experience cycle featured below.
Shortlisting the attractions

The following attractions are the ones that made the last 50 list. Those marked
with a * are the ones featured in the report as examples of good, or interesting
practice. The comments against each represent the reason we investigated
them further, and can be used as a reference if any of their topics interest you.
We believe the list represents the variety of geographical regions, types
and likely available resources of the attractions we looked at.
Please note however, that many of the attractions are consistently good across
the digital landscape, however, in terms of a holistic, strategic approach to
digital many more ultimately did not live up to expectations.

The sites we shortlisted
Desire Research Engage
Alton Towers Brighton Pier* Drusillas Park

Interactive section Great messaging Buy tickets
The Ashmolean Museum* Bristol Zoo Gardens Glasgow Science Centre
Sociable Zoo TV / Cams Great design
The Bell Tower The British Museum* Llechwedd Slate Caverns
Visitors video Use of assets Talking ticket booking
Bewilderwood The Eden Project Peppa Pig World
Child focused Google street view Ticket booking
Blackpool Pleasure Beach Eureka Sky Deck 88* Puffing Billy Railway*
Promotions Great copy Mobile site
Leeds Castle* Falkirk Wheel The Shard*
SEO & Message User Q&A Mobile site
MCG The Geffrye Museum*
Audience diversity Kids Zone
Memory
National Media Museum Go Ape*
Whats on calendar Book tickets Beamish Living Museum
Oakwood theme park Grampian Transport Museum Peoples photo archive
New ride diary Simplicity Blair Drummond Safari Park
Perth Zoo The Museum of Childhood Online guestbook
Cross-channel Virtual tour Longleat Safari Park
Porthcurno Telegraph Museum National Parks NSW Photo sharing
Blogging Design / interfaces Manly Sealife Centre*
The Sydney Tower Portmeirion Photo use
Presenting affiliations Dual language National Football Museum*
Taronga Zoo Rottnest Island* Maintaining engagement
Sociable Virtal tour National Maritime Museum
Sovereign Hill* Staff blog
Attend Journey planning National Railway Museum
WB Studio Tour* Flickr use
Cairngorm Mountains Plan your visit The Victoria & Albert Museum*
Up to date information Whitelee Wind Farm Lots of apps
Chessington World of Interesting subject
Adventures*
Mobile site * Attractions featured in this report
Edinburgh Castle
Itineraries
Edinburgh Zoo*
Book a panda
Melbourne Zoo
Framework apps
The Natural History Museum*
Great maps
Sir John Soanes Museum
Themed guides
Thorpe Park*
Native app

Helping clients realise the DREAM
Precedent has developed many digital experiences for a variety of attractions, each
of which is different in terms of our clients business objectives and their visitors
expectations. Here we take you through a few case studies highlighting some of
our work, all of which is aimed at enhancing the overall visitor experience and the
marketing effectiveness of the brand at key stages of the DREAM cycle.
Something new for new and old audiences

The Royal Yacht Britannia, Scotland
In 2012, The Royal Yacht Britannia commissioned Precedent to redesign their
website with a view to recreating the offline experience of The Royal Yacht
Britannia online, and raising awareness of the events side of their business.
A key challenge for the
Visually, the site needed to convey singularity, timelessness and prestige. On top
of that, however, it needed to successfully combine two very different businesses redesign of our website
in one space by showcasing The Royal Yacht Britannia as both a public visitor was to create the desire
attraction and an exclusive space for dining, dinner dances and other functions. to experience Britannia,
Working closely with The Royal Yacht Britannia, Precedent devised a strategic not just among those with
approach to the sites design which highlights the strengths of The Royal Yacht nostalgic memories of
Britannia and draws on its rich image library. A key feature of the design is the her, but also from a newer
homepage carousel, which acts as a storytelling mood setter, displaying themes
from The Royal Yacht Britannias past and present, both as a Royal residence and a generation from home and
family home, to the support and maintenance that have kept it operating for years. abroad, interested in this
Alongside this we implemented a suite of functionality to support The Royal Yacht part of our contemporary
Britannias business model, including a high quality shop, an advanced ticketing history as well as attracting
system to improve the visitor experience, and a dedicated events page.
event organisers looking
The strategy for engagement with the public also encompasses a YouTube channel, for a unique venue at which
moves into social media, and continuing work in search engine optimisation. The
site links to TripAdvisor to give users access to reviews and accounts of visitors to put on their functions.
experiences, and also has a translation function for ease of use by overseas visitors. Lynda Dalgleish
The design and functionality of the site have rendered a venerable historic Head of Marketing
institution sympathetically for the digital age, allowing an older audience to revisit and Visitor Experience
a nostalgic past and a younger one to discover new meanings in a fascinating part The Royal Yacht Britannia
of British history, which still works to provide large functions to the very highest
standards, just as it did when The Queen sailed in her.
The Royal Yacht Britannia

www.royalyachtbritannia.co.uk

Increasing uptake online, and not just racing
Newmarket Racecourses, England
Thought Newmarket Racecourses were just for the horses? Think again.
Precedent started working with Newmarket Racecourses The Home of Horse
We have been particularly Racing in 2007. At this stage the majority of ticket sales for race events were
offline, and many potential customers were unaware of the breadth of arts and
impressed with Precedents cultural events that happen at Newmarket alongside the racing calendar.
service, particularly the fact
Newmarkets marketing team needed a site that offered them lots of flexibility
that they are constantly based on seasonal emphasis that changes from racing, to corporate events, and
looking at ways we can then major concerts. It also needed to reduce costs through increased use of
develop and enhance the online ticketing and promote a wide range of public and corporate packages.
site so that it is keeping As the home of racing, the site also had to tell the rich history of thoroughbred
ahead of the competition. racing, alongside offering state of the art integration with the fixtures
It is refreshing that their management systems and RacingUK live video feeds.
level of commitment to us Precedent has now been Newmarkets digital partner for five years, and in this
as a customer has remained period the site has evolved significantly. Built on the open source Umbraco
content management platform, this evolution has happened through a
constant following the combination of the content developed and managed by the marketing team,
completion of the initial and new features and designs led by Precedents team.
site build, and we have met The new site is now seen as the primary option for customers wishing to
our objective of moving the purchase tickets for racing events and concerts, and a core marketing asset
majority of our ticket sales in the competition for the corporate hospitality customers.
online.
Gaynor Haxby, Marketing Manager
Newmarket Racecourses
Newmarket Racecourses
www.newmarketracecourses.co.uk

Helping visitors understand a venerable institution
St Andrews Links, Scotland
St Andrews Links has been the home of golf for over 600 years. It is the birthplace
ofthe game, and an example of some of the finest courses that the UK has to offer.
St Andrews Links Trust came to Precedent wanting to develop a website that
St Andrews wants people accurately reflected the prestige and heritage of the Links. They wanted to make it
to get the most of their simpler for visitors to find out what was on offer, discover something new, and then
visit, since for many make the trip.
visitors it is a once in a The site which is due to launch in the Spring 2013, has a simple, elegant design that
life time experience. The allows the photography of the Links to speak for itself. It features information
about the history of the course and detailed information about, and images of, each
combination of a user- course the Links has to offer. The site will also support those wanting to develop
focused website which their game (via the Golf Academy) as well as showcasing the other options available
clearly lays out visitors to visitors to the Links, including shops and clubhouses to dine at.
options for a day at the The site is built in the Kentico content management system, integrating some
links, and an app that existing systems used by the St Andrews Links, including e-commerce and online
supplements and adds to booking. We are also creating an app to bring the online experience onto the golf
course. The native app allows visitors to prepare for their visit and includes course
their whole experience hints, guides, scorecards, updates and alerts to help the golfer as they play their
will ensure that despite round. It also includes visitor information, including a day planner, and suggested
being over 600 years old St things to see and do at the Links helps ensure visitors get the most from their trip.
Andrews, and its visitors,
will be firmly rooted in the
digital present.
John Campbell
Regional Director, Edinburgh
Precedent
St Andrews Link
New site live in spring 2013
www.standrews.org.uk

Minimising pain and enhancing the experience
Perth Arena, Perth
Western Australias newest live entertainment, music and sports venue, Perth
Arena, opened in Perth in November 2012 with a 15,500 seat capacity. The Arena
had approached Precedent some months previously to design and build a venue-
As a new venue in Perth focused mobile app to be launched just before the official venue opening.
the app we developed The first objective for the app was to reduce common customer pain points, such
needed to help get people as working out the best seats to book for an event, travelling to and from the venue,
to the arena, but also to and finding parking once there. As the venue was completely new and located in
ensure that they had a great the busy Perth CBD, this was particularly important for launch and the first few
months of operation as all visitors to the Arena were completely unfamiliar with the
experience when they were location and layout.
there. Most importantly, it
The second objective was to enhance the user experience of the venue from when
had to be an enhancement a customer first books tickets for an event, to going out or home after the event.
to visitors experiences We felt that the app presented an opportunity to converge the iconic, inspirational
of the venue, and never attributes of the building space, form and function with the innovative use of
a hindrance. Feedback mobile, contextbased services to deliver an exemplary user experience.
suggests we achieved this, We identified that understanding how a customer is likely to interact with the app
so we are now looking before, during and after an event was central to the success of the project. As part
of our thinking we started by creating some typical customer profiles for the Perth
forward to developing it Arena. We worked through their offline and online journey from first discovering
further and downloading the app to buying tickets, arriving at the Arena, enjoying the
event, getting home and doing it all again.
Sean Gardiner , Regional Director
Australia, Precedent The outputs of this exercise allowed us to identify content and functionality that
would be most critical for a user at each step in their journey. We created a user-
centred information architecture for the app which grouped and labelled content in
a manner that would be most intuitive to the Arenas audiences. We then developed
wire frames for key screens in the app that guided the user through each key journey
as quickly and painlessly as possible.
Features of the app include event search/category browsing/details/booking,
journey planning using Google Transit, suggestions for alternative parking if the
Arenas is full, the ability to find your seat, social check-in to find your friends, and
interactive voting. The app was built using Phone Gap in order to work on both
iPhone and Android devices.
Perth Arena
www.pertharena.com.au

Bringing a community to life
Shire of Shark Bay, World Heritage site, Australia
The Shire of Shark Bay is a local government area of Western Australia, about
800km north of Perth. It encompasses the Shark Bay World Heritage area, which
covers an area of more than 2.2 million hectares, and is one of the worlds greatest
Precedents consulting; wilderness treasures. Its unique ecosystems, spectacular land and seascapes,
design and development abundant wildlife and cultural values represent a major resource for nature-based
work brings our new shire tourism. More than 100,000 people are drawn from around the world to explore
Shark Bays many natural attractions every year.
website to life. Despite
the geographical distance Although it is larger than some European nations, Shark Bay only has a permanent
population of just under 1,000 people. Most residents earn their livelihood
between us we have from their natural surroundings, working in tourism, fishing, pastoralism or
worked together to create conservation management.
a stunning solution that In 2011 the Shire approached Precedent to redesign the council website, which,
showcases the natural having not been overhauled for years was static and lacklustre. It did not reflect the
attractions of the world pristine beauty of the region, nor did it cater well for the needs of residents, local
heritage site, gets people businesses or visitors. The Shire is somewhat unique to many other councils in that
the majority of its residents work in the tourism industry, and as such the new site
to remember being needed to have a strong focus on encouraging people to visit the area.
here and look forward
The new visual design utilises a bright colour palette and amazing images of the
to returning, while still areas many attractions to capture the spectacular natural beauty of this world
providing residents with heritage region. The project transformed the council website into a relevant,
the information they need engaging service delivery and tourism tool, which is now used as a first point of call
in one place. for many users when interacting with or needing information from the Shire.
The Shires new web presence also included a Flickr photo gallery, a YouTube
Paul Anderson, CEO,
channel, Twitter and Facebook accounts, which Precedent integrated with the
Shire of Shark Bay
website and provided guidance on for set-up and ongoing maintenance. We also
provided content for the Shire to post on its social presences on a regular basis,
and encouraged the Shire to reach out to its social audiences with campaigns such
as photo competitions, contributing to Shark Bays transformation into a vibrant
online community.
Shire of Shark Bay, World Heritage site

www.sharkbay.wa.gov.au

A multi destination solution
The Wildlife Trusts, England
Working with The Wildlife Trusts UK has been one of the most exciting projects
for the team here at Precedent, and one which presented opportunities for us to
challenge and flex our creative muscles.
From the start, The Wildlife Trusts mission to enthuse and engage with users was
the driving force. They wanted to secure existing and new support to help safeguard
the UKs natural heritage for future generations. From members and volunteers to
visitors, the trust wanted to develop its reputation with a coherent online
presence. This meant creating an inspiring design, and a strong but flexible
technical platform.
Historically, each of the 47 UK trusts managed and maintained their own website
with limited guidance from the national body that is The Wildlife Trusts. Their sites
were of vastly differing quality in terms of content, functionality and design. The
solution we provided needed to deliver consistency of design and functionality,
based on an easy to use CMS, which would still allow individual trusts to display
their individuality.
We worked with representatives from both the national and local trusts to create a
new site structure and design that everyone could buy into. The very nature of The
Wildlife Trusts also provided a pool of amazing images and photography which
have fed into the new site, helping bring it to life and look exceptionally appealing.
The new design consists of a set of colour themes and silhouette illustrations
inspired by different types of habitat, such as coast, woodland and moorland. The
header and footer graphics are interchangeable, allowing individual trusts the
flexibility to customise their sites to incorporate their branding, to reflect their
local habitats, and even to coincide with the changing seasons. The trusts can also
choose from a series of modules to create the pages and deliver the functionality
they need, including Flickr and Twitter feeds, as well as news and events modules.
The site is built using the flexible open-source content management system,
Drupal, and we built a framework which allows The Wildlife Trusts to deploy new
sites for every local trust that sits on the platform. We also built a series of modules
that allow information on reserves and species to be stored centrally and shared
across all of the trusts via an API, also developed by Precedent.
The Wildlife Trust

www.wildlifetrusts.org

Our contributors attraction experiences
Of course we have all had a day out with our friends or family, and we
all have our preferences, responsibilities and favourites when it comes to
an attraction experience.
Below we have featured short anecdotes from the contributors to this report,
in which they share some of their own memorable, successful or interesting
attraction experiences.
Adrian Porter Lindsay Herbert Dan Baker

Head of Strategic Research Head of Digital Marketing Head of UX Australia
With two kids I have the challenge of how to keep Regardless of the country Im visiting, my first I love an adventure. A couple of years ago my wife
them amused, and the responsibility of adding ports of call are always museums and galleries. and I decided to emigrate with our young family
to their education and experience. Its tricky, but Its like taking a tour of an entire population to Perth, Western Australia. A new journey, a new
ahead of the thrill seeking I have managed to turn seeing its hopes, fears, and proudest moments place and a different perspective. Here we are
them into lovers of the Tate Modern. all in one building. enjoying Whale World in Albany, WA which was
The Seafari speed boat trip around the isles off Despite being in the UK for 5 years, Ive only just superb family day out.
Oban combined the thrill of the boat, with seal moved to London. So after buying a Tate Modern
watching and the slate industry ideal. membership (I couldnt resist!) I began a week of
www.seafari.co.uk/oban magical meanderings through national treasures
like the Victoria & Albert Museum.
Rufus Spiller John Campbell Jenni Williams

Creative Director, Melbourne Head of Mobile Director of Strategy
My first digital interactive love sits, well worn Running mobile activity centres for hill walking, Outside of work I love a good theme park thanks
at the back of the Natural History Museum in biking, canoeing, gorge walking and power kiting to childhood visits to Alton Towers. Now living in
London. Aged ten, I tried my mothers patience, gave me a big business challenge and a fantastic Wales with two small children of my own I love
absorbed by a screen, trackball and single button insight into the leisure environment. I believe I now introducing them to the thrills and spills of the
learning about dolphin sonar. I left the rest of the have a unique and personal view of the problems fairground. Cardiffs Winter Wonderland was a 2012
museums wealth unexplored. Twenty five years and issues that can face destinations in attracting highlight and we all love Bluestone holiday village
on it remains a powerful reminder of interactive and providing a service to their visitors. and Folly Farm in Pembrokeshire.
educational installations.
Here I am combining my love of photography, fine
art and architecture at the Louvre.

About Precedent
We believe in meaningful ideas, intelligently delivered. We investigate our clients

organisational personality, business objectives, and customer expectations, and
apply an in-depth understanding of these to all the work we do for our clients.
Our formula is simple. We keep the customer, or rather our clients customers,
at the heart of everything. With our international perspective, unparalleled
research, branding and strategic digital thinking, we help our clients improve their
communications and build their reputations.
What we do
We support a wide range of clients across the whole spectrum of strategic
communications, from creating engaging web presences to digital marketing and
mobile.
Strategy & research Mobile web & apps Some of our clients
Strategy is at the heart of what we A user focused, effective mobile Australian Government
do. We create tailored schedules of offering is vital in order to take your (IP Australia)
research and user engagement which proposition to your audiences, no
enable us to get under the skin of our matter what type of device they choose The British Heart Foundation
clients organisation and understand to engage through. We deliver tailored, The British Medical Association
what they, and their customers, really responsive websites, mobile optimised
want. We then translate what we learn sites and apps that are as elegant as Butlins
into insightful strategies covering they are useful. We find out which Edinburgh University
everything from UX design, content, route is best for our clients and their
SEO and mobile solutions to digital audiences needs, before creating a Financial Services Authority
marketing, social media and campaign bespoke solution to suit their mobile The Institute of Directors
creation. strategy.
London School of Economics
Branding & print communications Our reports
London Stock Exchange
Understanding your organisational We have been researching and writing
personality and injecting it into all of reports and white papers such as this Monash University
your communications is no mean feat. for many years. These cover a range MS Society
We draw out what makes our clients of sectors and topic areas such as
offering special, explore what matters communications for membership Museum of London
most to their customers, and produce organisations and the financial services Newmarket Racecourses
a creative proposition and visual style industry, as well as topics such as
that brings their offer to life both on mobile and accessibility. To find out NHS Direct
and offline. more information and to request your Perth Arena
free copies, please visit
Website design & build The Royal Yacht Britannia
Web design and build sits at the heart www.precedent.co.uk/our-reports
e: reports@precedent.co.uk RSPCA (Australia)
of our business. Using findings from
strategic research, we build websites Save the Children
Our seminars
that best represent our clients online
We hold regular free seminars at The Shire of Shark Bay
while making sure they fulfil the needs
of customers. From industry leading locations across the UK and Australia. St Andrews Links
websites to intranets that engage We will be holding in-depth seminars
looking into the findings of this report Tesco Bank
staff and streamline business, we
help clients find new ways to make over the course of 2013. To find out The Wildlife Trusts
the best of emerging technologies more and to register, please visit
and social media. www.precedent.co.uk/our-seminars
e: seminars@precedent.co.uk

Contact us
Our offices
London Cardiff Edinburgh
The Courtyard Building Cambrian Buildings The Auction House
11 Curtain Road Mount Stuart Square 63a George Street
London EC2A 3LT Cardiff CF10 5FL Edinburgh EH2 2JG
t: +44 (0)20 7426 8900 t: +44 (0)29 2043 5450 t: +44 (0)131 220 9040
www.precedent.co.uk www.precedent.co.uk www.precedent.co.uk
Melbourne Perth
Level 10 Suite 601
50 Market Street 102 James Street
Melbourne VIC 3000 Northbridge WA 6003
t: +61 (3)9008 5936 t: +61 (8)9389 4432
www.precedent.au.com www.precedent.au.com
Get in touch
Lara Doherty Jenni Williams John Campbell
Relationship Manager, London Regional Director, Cardiff Regional Director, Edinburgh
t: +44 (0)207 426 8941 t: +44 (0)29 2043 5452 t: +44 (0)131 220 9042
e: lara.doherty@precedent.co.uk e: jenni.williams@precedent.co.uk e: john.campbell@precedent.co.uk
Connect with us
www.precedent.co.uk
@precedentcomms
@precedentjobs
Like us on Facebook
Precedent (Group)
precedentdigital

MEANINGFUL IDEAS,
INTELLIGENTLY DELIVERED.
Strategy Brand Web Mobile Print
www.precedent.co.uk
@precedentcomms
@precedentjobs
Like us on Facebook
Precedent (Group)

2013 Precedent The DREAM Day Out

Загружено:

Сведения о документе

Оригинальное название

Авторское право

Доступные форматы

Поделиться этим документом

Поделиться или встроить документ

Параметры публикации

Этот документ был вам полезен?

Это неприемлемый материал?

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

2013 Precedent The DREAM Day Out

Загружено:

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

Destinations sector

The DREAM day out

As a company we tend to concentrate our research efforts on sectors where

A DREAM day out | @Precedentcomms | Precedent 2013 Page 3

Looking for the DREAM day out

A DREAM day out | @Precedentcomms | Precedent 2013 Page 4

The customer experience cycle

A DREAM day out | @Precedentcomms | Precedent 2013 Page 5

Look at this Mum,

Please put away

Ok, what shall How much is

Itll be easy So who do we

A DREAM day out | @Precedentcomms | Precedent 2013 Page 6

The marketers experience cycle

A DREAM day out | @Precedentcomms | Precedent 2013 Page 7

How do we get What is our value

How do we What is the

What would be How do we

A DREAM day out | @Precedentcomms | Precedent 2013 Page 8

Creating the right awareness

Key things to consider:

A DREAM day out | @Precedentcomms | Precedent 2013 Page 9

Match your marketing to your Give visitors a real reason to

A DREAM day out | @Precedentcomms | Precedent 2013 Page 10

Google Search Leeds Castle

A DREAM day out | @Precedentcomms | Precedent 2013 Page 11

The museum uses Pinterest to provide an interesting mix of graphics, from

A DREAM day out | @Precedentcomms | Precedent 2013 Page 12

The Ashmoleans Facebook is as similarly busy, diverse, and interactive to its

A DREAM day out | @Precedentcomms | Precedent 2013 Page 13

A DREAM day out | @Precedentcomms | Precedent 2013 Page 14

Exceeding expectations online

Key things to consider:

A DREAM day out | @Precedentcomms | Precedent 2013 Page 15

A DREAM day out | @Precedentcomms | Precedent 2013 Page 16

Playing to their strengths Brighton Pier, England

Its all about the experience Eureka Skydeck 88, Melbourne

A DREAM day out | @Precedentcomms | Precedent 2013 Page 17

Making assets out of assets The British Museum, England

The British Museum

A DREAM day out | @Precedentcomms | Precedent 2013 Page 18

The British Museum

Making assets out of assets The Geffrye Museum, England

The Geffrye Museum

A DREAM day out | @Precedentcomms | Precedent 2013 Page 19

A DREAM day out | @Precedentcomms | Precedent 2013 Page 20

Presenting transport options Warner Bros. Studio Tour, London

Warner Bros. Studio Tour

A DREAM day out | @Precedentcomms | Precedent 2013 Page 21

A DREAM day out | @Precedentcomms | Precedent 2013 Page 22

Key things to consider:

A DREAM day out | @Precedentcomms | Precedent 2013 Page 23

Establish metrics that will Dont miss the opportunity

A DREAM day out | @Precedentcomms | Precedent 2013 Page 24

Excellent fulfilment Go Ape, England

A DREAM day out | @Precedentcomms | Precedent 2013 Page 25

A DREAM day out | @Precedentcomms | Precedent 2013 Page 26

A DREAM day out | @Precedentcomms | Precedent 2013 Page 27

A DREAM day out | @Precedentcomms | Precedent 2013 Page 28

Continuing the digital journey

Key things to consider:

A DREAM day out | @Precedentcomms | Precedent 2013 Page 29

A DREAM day out | @Precedentcomms | Precedent 2013 Page 30