Publication

P15- Marketing Policy

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Marketing Policy

 Adopted by Council 23rd September 2019

Newmarket Town Council’s main areas of promotion are:

The Town – Promotion of the Town to attract day visitors, shoppers and tourists Promotion to attract people looking to live or work in the Town Promotion to businesses looking to invest in the Town

The Council- Raising the image of the Authority

Statutory and other information to help residents and businesses understand its decision making, policies and priorities.

Marketing of its services to ensure accessibility for all

The Council will promote the Town on its Web-site; by improving signage, by supporting local events, by supporting local tourism and business initiatives and by helping local organisations with media articles and press releases. It will also use social media to engage with and keep its communities informed. It will in partnership, settle on a logo for the Town which readily identifies its character and uniqueness.

The Council will market its services and promote local governance through its website, through social media, by providing a newsletter and notice boards and by supporting promotions of other public bodies and the voluntary and community organisations. It will adopt the Town logo as part of its corporate image, which firmly roots the Council at the hub of the Town and its community. It will however retain its Coat of Arms to reflect the Council’s unique position as the elected body for the Town.

The Council will investigate the need for translation of information into other languages or for the visually impaired, how to access the hard to reach groups and will promote Newmarket as “disability friendly”.

People are an organisations biggest asset

  • The reputation of Newmarket Town Council lies in the hands of councillors and staff
  • They meet the local people and visitors daily
  • Along with key partners, they know more about the town than anyone!

3.  Objectives

 Marketing and promotional activity for the Town Council must achieve at least one of the following:

  • Improve public and community relations
  • Drive income for NTC
  • Raise the Council’s profile
  • Impart essential information
  • Improve two-way communication with stakeholders, to help understanding of what they
  • Increase recognition received for the Council’s
  • Increase involvement & interest in Council activities and engage people in the democratic

Marketing activity for the town must achieve one of the following:

  • Drive footfall into the town from the community
  • Drive visitors into the town
  • Increase consumer spend in the town
  • Support local businesses
  • Raise money for local charity
  • Raise the town’s profile in the sub-region, across the UK and
  • Increase involvement of members of the community in

These objectives will inform the Council’s approach to public relations, design, marketing, customer care, consultation, website and social media.

Key performance Indicators (KPIs) will be put in place to measure the extent to which marketing and communications activity meets each one of the objectives. This will be fed into the Council through the Business Plan.

4.  Principles

The following principles will be adopted in all communications:

  • Integrity and honesty
  • Clarity
  • Openness and accessibility
  • Inclusiveness
  • Listening and responding
  • Accountability
  • Consistency
  • Accuracy
  • Compliance with legislation &

5.  Stakeholders/key audiences

The stakeholders/key audiences of Newmarket Town Council are:

  • Residents
  • Members
  • Partners within the public sector (Forest Heath & Suffolk councils, NHS, Police )
  • Special interest groups including those with language or disability needs
  • Business community
  • Voluntary/community organisations and groups
  • Schools
  • Press/media
  • Town Council employees
  • Potential user groups
  • Visitors & Tourists

6.  Back to Basics-Newmarket the Brand

The Town Council will, in conjunction with key partners agree a logo for the town based on what it’s famous for, clearly horse racing and probably its long-standing connections with royalty. It could even be an existing logo such as that of Discover Newmarket. In addition, a supporting slogan or strapline- something short, snappy and catchy. This could even become a registered trade mark.

  • Organisations and businesses could then adopt this to show they are part of the Newmarket “family”, but also keep their own identity. For example, the Town Council would be identified by both the existing crest and the Town
  • Commission or design locally and narrow it down to 3-4 Logos and let the public vote for their favourite via the
  • A consistent look and feel based on the colourways, logo and slogan should then be applied across all town and town council communications which includes; signage, job adverts, websites, business cards and letter headed paper, leaflets and brochures, staff uniforms and badges, posters and banners and literally everything
  • Promoting Newmarket is about “sweating the assets” and there is no shortage of assets to sweat. Historic buildings, world renowned home of horse racing, parks, events, market, voluntary groups, nature features, the memorial Hall, National Horseracing Museum, niche

7.  Back to Basics-Websites

There are a number of websites promoting Newmarket, some key ones are: Welcome to Newmarket: www.newmarket.org.uk

Discover Newmarket: www.discovernewmarket.co.uk Newmarket Town Council: www.newmarket.gov.uk Love Newmarket (BID): www.newmarketbid.com

A number of clubs and organisations also have their own websites, and of course the majority of businesses.

  • New look and feel, town logo and strapline could be applied to both the Town Council and other Newmarket websites. The key sites need to be linked and have certain key messages and a common feel, whilst still pushing their own
  • Advertise- sell space to advertise on the site and either a) donate the fee to charity or b) use the fees to pay the website agency to manage and keep
  • Develop the list of websites from local businesses and charities in the area, to put links to the Town Council
  • Try to avoid duplication on the sites, define clearly what each is
  • Develop the use of social media, it is the fastest growing communications and sales
  • Add apps for Town and Town Council information and send out latest
  • The website addresses should be at the bottom of every brochure, leaflet, press release and advert created.

8.  Back to Basics-PR and Communications

  • The Plan will be both PROACTIVE and REACTIVE
  • PROACTIVE: Plan ahead for positive PR opportunities that we want to tell people about- tell them about the new objectives and
  • REACTIVE: Plan for responding to unforeseen events QUICKLY
  • Re-introduce a quarterly Newsletter. Distribute though a range of locations such as shops, pubs, libraries, museum etc. If the opportunity arises in future, this could be widened through a free Newspaper.
  • NETWORKING with local press to build a rapport and
  • Media train individuals within NTC to get the message across
  • Take out advertising in the local press, but not too often as it may breach the value & objectivity parts of the Code. Also filling it with un-newsworthy articles could be more damaging and could look contrived. Instead, use the media plan and events calendar to book space and where relevant send in press releases
  • Network within the community, it is a powerful
  • Make Website interactive for receiving views, bookings
  • Produce information leaflets for distribution in

11.   Other Council Facilities

The Memorial Hall is a great public service hub for the Town Council it is vital to establish a vision of what the Memorial Hall is for and set this out in the proposed Venues Policy. Undertake consultation on future events such as more theatre events, live concerts, film nights and live concert streaming (in the absence of a cinema).

More prominent signing on the front of the Hall and information about services offered is needed. A more welcoming reception area including a profile of Council staff. A face lift for the Council Chamber with better audio-visual facilities to serve both Council meetings and room hirers. It is a major asset which is currently well used, but poorly marketed. Once a vision is determined in the Venues Policy, a major marketing campaign can be launched.

Research into similar halls to establish best practice must be undertaken. Future potential markets for the building also need to be considered, as will local competition, pricing policies, promotions, improvements to the product and concessions. It is important to establish the place in the market, but remembering that it is also a community hall.

A customer satisfaction process should be developed to better understand the current and recent users needs and expectations.

Weddings & Parties

  • Weddings are big business and people are looking for good value reception venues and is worth focusing on. Target a particular place in the wedding
  • A Wedding Receptions and Parties brochure should be created with photographs of what the Memorial Hall and Memorial Gardens can
  • Team up with local cake makers, bridal wear, flower shops and accommodation providers to produce the brochure, put links on their websites with details about receptions at the Memorial
  • Consider obtaining a marriage licence for the centre also team up with local
  • Seek a commercial partner to cover bar & food franchises, joint promotion of events, marketing and possibly capital investment would be
  • Attend wedding fairs in the area to promote the Memorial Hall and BETTER STILL- RUN A WEDDING FAIR AT THE CENTRE with an offer of book the venue as a reception at the fair and receive

12.     Getting the product right.

The most important thing in improving the Council’s image or when marking services and facilities is to get a good product.

  • Improving the Memorial Hall and Pavilion, markets, parks, car parks, public realm etc
  • Having great customer
  • Appearing professional in the way we deal with people
  • Making a difference to the appearance of the Town
  • Having slick and interesting Council meetings

Branding

The following should be clearly identifiable as Newmarket Town Council but also part of wider Newmarket:

  • Newmarket Town Council website
  • Letter headed paper
  • Compliment slips
  • Purchase orders
  • Business cards for Councillors and staff
  • Fax header sheets, email footers
  • Public notice advertisements
  • Staff Uniforms
  • Signs on facilities such as Venues and facilities

 Accessibility

Our contact details should always be kept up-to-date and freely available to make it as easy as possible for people to contact us via email, phone, or social media. The office is staffed Monday – Friday 9-5pm.

13.   Dedicated Marketing Budget

As part of implementing the Policy, a marketing and communications (MARCOMs) plan, will be included within the Business Plan. A dedicated MARCOMs budget should be created. The approach to creating this budget should be a ‘bottom-up’ approach which will involve looking at each of the elements of the marketing plan and assigning costs against these. Costs should be verified and kept as low as possible by seeking competitive quotes from suppliers (for things such as leaflet design and print and other areas where third parties are used).

Once committed to, the marketing budget should be managed by the Town Council Manager and Events Manager and should be spent accordingly.

Next revision August 2021