The Marketing of Beaulieu
The Marketing Department of Montagu Ventures Limited is responsible for all marketing of the visitor facilities at Beaulieu and Buckler's Hard.
Publicity and Promotion
Beaulieu is marketed as a leisure facility that offers a great day out with something for everyone. Buckler's Hard is marketed as an historic shipbuilding village.
The secret of Beaulieu's success is that it can analyse the demand that exists for its particular type of leisure activity and promote itself accordingly. Beaulieu is aware of the necessity for accurate information concerning its potential visitors. Research is an absolute essential on which to base the allocation of the annual marketing budget.
Beaulieu's annual Visitor Surveys identify significant visitor characteristics, and armed with the knowledge of which types of visitors are best satisfied by Beaulieu, it can decide where to aim its publicity this is the target market.
As well as the annual Beaulieu Survey, Awareness Surveys are carried out in major cities like Basingstoke, Bournemouth, Bristol, Guildford, Reading and Swindon to identify people's perceptions of Beaulieu and find out what they know of Beaulieu and what it can offer, and what does and does not appeal to them. Thus Beaulieu can identify what should be the target of its marketing programme.
There are different types of visitors and each type is susceptible to different media.
The selection of media - press, television, radio, journals, poster sites, bus sides, leaflets and minicards - is planned to match the identified target market most cost effectively.
It is a difficult task to create an image that will present such a diverse 'product' in a way which is appealing to varied age and socioeconomic groups, but nostalgia and an interesting experience are strong elements that appeal across all age groups.
Media Objectives
Beaulieu's media objectives are:
- To obtain high levels of coverage/frequency to the target audience.
- To achieve these aims with maximum cost efficiency.
To help achieve these objectives Beaulieu employs the services of an advertising agency which handles all creative conceptualisation and media space bookings. All design and production of advertisements, and printed publicity material are conducted by an internal print and graphics department.
Publicity Material
Survey statistics tell Beaulieu what information prospective visitors want. The answers are reflected in a colour leaflet, which also shows the diversity of attractions at Beaulieu and the latest current offering / exhibition. This 'DL' sized leaflet is backed up by various other media all reflecting the key proposition that Beaulieu is endeavoring to put across to its customers.
The bulk of Beaulieu's publicity leaflets is distributed by personal contact through a team of staff who visit regional Tourist Information Centres, Hotels, Caravan/Camp Sites, Self-Catering Establishments, Restaurants, etc. The rest is distributed through other marketing activities like Direct Mail, Travel Trade Workshops and Exhibitions.
These Exhibitions provide the opportunity to meet Tour Operators, Coach Companies and Travel Agents, as well as group organisers, with a view to encouraging them to include Beaulieu in their tour programmes.
Relationship with other Sites / Facilities
Beaulieu maintains close working relationships VisitBritain, Tourism South East and the New Forest District Council, Destination Southampton and New Forest Tourism; as well as being a member of The Treasure Houses of England, a joint marketing group with other leading historic houses. It also has numerous links with other UK tourist facilities.
Press Relations
All press contacts are handled by the Public Relations Department, which is also responsible for the origination and dispatch of press releases related to the many and varied newsworthy events which happen at Beaulieu.