Swansea BID (Business Improvement District) has won a national award for its popular Big Heart of Swansea brand, which draws consumers into the City Centre via a roster of events, and via its offers app and card.
The award for Best Marketing and Branding Scheme was awarded to BID this week by the National organisation The Association of Town and City Management (ATCM), for its drive to use the Big Heart brand to help make the City Centre as attractive as possible to consumers.
Swansea BID Chief Executive, Russell Greenslade, says: “Swansea BID uses its well-loved Big Heart of Swansea Brand – featuring the popular app and card, with its constantly updating roster of 70 offers and discounts – as the pivotal element in BID’s consumer-facing strategy, to help the City Centre deal with some of the most difficult times for the high street. We would like to express our thanks to the scores of businesses that are on board with the Big Heart brand, by including their offers and discounts on the app.
“Like other high streets across the UK, Swansea faces challenging times due to shifting consumer habits and expectations, and increasing pressures for City Centre businesses. Swansea BID has recognised that its popular Big Heart brand should be used as a trouble-shooting tool to help make the City Centre as attractive as possible to consumers.
“So, alongside the regular Big Heart strategy and activity, the focus in recent years has been to hold large and medium scale crowd-pulling activities in the City Centre in order to attract shoppers and visitors, and to use these activities to promote the rolling benefits of the Big Heart Brand to consumers – thus encouraging repeat visits and long-term relationships between consumers and businesses.”
In 2018, these events included an Independents’ Month campaign, a roving Halloween Trick or Treat Door, which attracted around 2,000 visitors, a £500 Prize Christmas Competition and a Golden Ticket Christmas Competition, an Easter Maze in Princess Way, which attracted more than 4,000 visitors, and other promotions around key calendar dates.
Russell adds: “Swansea BID was the first Business Improvement District to be established in Wales. As such, it strives to be the leader of the pack when it comes to helping local businesses thrive and encouraging visitors, shoppers and residents to embrace the City Centre as a leisure and retail destination. Our Big Heart brand helps us do this in a very tangible way. More than 4,720 consumers have downloaded the app, while the card can be found in more than 150,000 wallets.
“As we speak, Swansea has four substantial student accommodation developments underway, set to bring a fresh influx of residents into the City Centre. By September 2020, nearly 2,000 student bedrooms will be ready for occupation. Swansea BID will market the Big Heart brand to them, to ensure the valuable student pound remains within the City Centre and its BID area businesses.”