With the culture, tourism and leisure offering in South Bank being a vital part of what makes the area so unique, destination promotion is one of the BID’s key services.
This messaging is primarily delivered through our South Bank London channels, one of central London’s first destination marketing brands which is now funded entirely by the BID.
Alongside these channels, the BID invests in a strategic program of media and promotional activity that helps to shine a spotlight on the wide variety of tourism, leisure and hospitality businesses in South Bank.
As Summer is in full swing, we’ve provided an overview below of some of the recent work the BID has undertaken to promote what’s happening throughout South Bank, particularly to local London audiences:
Posters
The BID has 14 poster units across the Queen’s Walk, which are updated on a seasonal basis. With the success of utilising the Let’s Do London styling on last year’s posters, this Summer’s refresh has followed that model, featuring new photography and locations to discover.
The posters are located in key spots with higher than average visitor footfall and are designed to encourage visitors to explore a wide range of South Bank businesses, especially those that might be less immediately visible or familiar. The artwork will be refreshed once again in the Autumn, ahead of the Christmas season.
Targeted Media
To help reach London audiences, South Bank London has been working with prominent local media partners to showcase some of the top summer highlights in South Bank. An example of this is a paid partnership with Time Out to promote South Bank as a key Summer destination, alongside features in their newsletter and select social media posts.
Our marketing team have also worked with the London Planner, a tourist-led publication with a distribution of over 100,000 to feature a page of editorial highlighting some of the things to do in South Bank this summer (see pages 25 and 30). The team also continue to distribute regular press releases to key London media and bloggers, highlighting different events and activity to help secure content inclusions where possible.
International Audiences
The BID is a key funder of the Let’s Do London international campaign, to ensure South Bank receives a high level of visibility across the promotional assets. The campaign is currently underway in the French and German markets: we will update levy payers on campaign insights and returns later in the year.
If you are a South Bank BID levy payer with a customer facing business who would like to discuss how you can be promoted through South Bank London, please get in touch at editorial@southbanklondon.com.
