Britain’s Magical Waterland wins European sustainable tourism award for second time.
The Broads national park is praised across a wide range of achievements, including its new brand platform and marketing effort.
The Broads Authority, which manages The Broads national park – repositioned by Brand Strategy Guru last year with the brand platform ‘Britain’s Magical Waterland’ – has been awarded the prestigious European Charter for Sustainable Tourism for the second time. The Authority was the first member of the family of English national parks to receive the Charter five years ago and a great deal of work has gone into assuring its renewal, culminating in a two day visit by a Europarc assessor.
The Authority came in for special praise for its work in sustainable tourism, for its communication including promoting the new brand for the Broads – Britain’s Magical Waterland - and for providing opportunities and facilities for disabled people.
In April an assessor visited a selection of Broads businesses and visitor attractions which have demonstrated green credentials as well as interviewing Broads Authority staff about the work that has been carried out to implement a sustainable tourism strategy and action plan.
The assessor concluded that “the successful combination of attractive water-based activities and wildlife experiences with safeguarding the high conservation value can still be seen as an exceptional strength of the area.”
She said that major progress over the last five years had been made in developing a strong partnership with Broads Tourism – the local organisation for tourism businesses. She was also impressed with the work achieved to build the new Broads brand, and the new tourism website, www.enjoythebroads.com.
Main strengths listed were the Green Tourism Business Scheme, including a new pilot scheme for assessing environmentally friendly hire boats, the Broads Quality Charter for restaurants and pubs, quality development of moorings, access for disabled people, conservation management, a cycle and canoe hire network, training in traditional crafts and the Broads Authority’s methods of communicating.
The Broads Authority’s provision for disabled people and information on this came in for special praise.
The report says: “With its water-based opportunities for disabled people, including sailing, it is still outstanding and can serve as an example of good practice. The issue is actively promoted and is presented prominently on the new website as an issue on its own.”
The Authority’s work with the MOSAIC PROJECT which creates links between minority groups and national parks by providing targeted events comes in for special mention.
Bruce Hanson of the Broads Authority said: “We are delighted to receive this brilliant accolade once more. Our work in partnership with the business community is really bearing fruit now and it is to everyone’s advantage – the businesses know that they profit from operating in an environment that is really well cared for and valued by us all. The Broads is yet again acknowledged to be demonstrating best practice at an international level.”
News of The World and the mishandling of a brand crisis
Since the News Of The World crisis broke, Brand Strategy Guru founder Simon Middleton has given numerous interviews to national and international media about the story from a brand perspective.
Since the News Of The World crisis broke, Brand Strategy Guru founder Simon Middleton has given numerous interviews to national and international media about the story from a brand perspective.
Middleton correctly predicted the closure of the newspaper, as well as the negative impact of the story on the wider News International brand. He also suggested that Rupert Murdoch’s bid to secure the BSkyB deal would be compromised and probably thwarted by the story, despite scepticism about this view from media analysts.
The story is far from over, but Middleton describes it as “a catastrophic misjudgement of the emotional aspect of branding, the huge danger of disregarding public opinion, and the cold truth that even the most powerful of brands can be toppled by their own hubris and mismanagement.”
You can read some of Simon Middleton’s comments in various interviews below, and you can also hear his views in a BBC Radio 5 Live “Wake Up To Money” interview.
Article in The Independent, Saturday July 9, 2011.
Article on CNN International website, Thursday July 7, 2011.
Article on Reuters website, Sunday July 10, 2011.
Interview on BBC Radio 5 Live “Wake Up To Money”, Monday July 11, 2011, from 18.30mins.
Place brand strategy in Serbia
In June 2011 Brand Strategy Guru's founder Simon Middleton made the keynote address to BrandFair 7 in Belgrade, Serbia. The theme this year at this well established brand conference was place and destination branding.
In June 2011 Brand Strategy Guru’s founder Simon Middleton made the keynote address to BrandFair 7 in Belgrade, Serbia. The theme this year at this well established brand conference was place and destination branding.
The BrandFair 7 event, held in the massive Sava Conference Centre (built to host a major summit between Presidents Tito, Nehru and Nasser), involved around 200 delegates from Serbian tourism, PR and marketing, and enterprise.
Simon spoke on the importance of developing authentic, distinctive and compelling narratives for places and destinations, as the basis for successful brand activity.
Serbian media covered the event in detail and Simon was interviewed in national newspapers and featured on Serbian TV.
The Belgrade visit follows recent presentations by Simon in Berlin, Madrid, Stockholm and Banksa Bytrica in Slovakia.
Reinventing a Brand New You!
If you’re fed up with the job you’re in, want an exciting new career, are seeking promotion, hoping for a pay rise or to get noticed at work, then it’s time to reinvent your personal branding and your self! Simon Middleton's forthcoming book and a special one-off London event will show you how.
Simon Middleton, founder of the consultancy Brand Strategy Guru and one of the UK’s best known brand advisers, has spent years helping businesses and entrepreneurs to develop brand stories that are authentic, distinctive and compelling.
Now he’s using his core branding principles to help people from every background improve their careers, self-esteem and relationships in all areas of life.
Simon’s evening masterclass Reinventing A Brand New You takes place at the superb Wallacespace St. Pancras in London on Wednesday 26th October.
In this intense four hour evening event Simon will condense his specialist expertise and know-how so you can successfully rebrand YOU.
Says Simon: “For many people, reinvention is the thing that needs to happen. People get stuck in jobs they hate, in relationships that aren’t fulfilling, and in virtually all areas of life, and often because people believe that they have made their bed and have to lie in it.
“I don’t believe anyone has to be stuck, and this event will show people how to fulfill their potential by developing their unique, authentic, distinctive and compelling life-story: and living it!”
“Whether you’re seeking a new career, a new start, a new relationship, a new energy and meaning in your life, a new creative life, or starting a new business: this event will help you focus’ in a very grounded way, on how to make your dreams into a reality.”
Simon Middleton is one of the UK’s best known brand experts and has worked with some of the UK’s highest profile companies, charities and destinations including Pret A Manager, British Airways and The Broads national park. He is founder of advisory firm Brand Strategy Guru, and consults and speaks internationally. Simon is a regular commentator on brand issues in the media (Newsnight, Today, Breakfast, The Politics Show and many others).
He is the author of small business bestseller Build A Brand In 30 Days (Capstone 2010) and executive primer What You Need To Know About Marketing (Capstone 2011). His third book, about his distinctive approach to personal branding and reinvention is published by Hay House in January 2012.
Independent Booksellers See Value Of Branding
The London Book Fair is a bit of an overwhelming affair: hundreds of stands of publishers large and small, including some of the world's biggest, plus booksellers and authors, not to mention about 40,000 visitors. A riot of brands and business, all with the core product of books (now including digital books of course), binding the whole thing together.
The London Book Fair is a bit of an overwhelming affair: hundreds of stands of publishers large and small, including some of the world’s biggest, plus booksellers and authors, not to mention about 40,000 visitors. A riot of brands and business, all with the core product of books (now including digital books of course), binding the whole thing together.
I was privileged to speak at the Fair this week, to launch my new book What You Need To Know About Marketing.
Around a hundred independent booksellers attended the launch, held by publisher John Wiley (whose frantically busy stand you can see in the picture) and The Booksellers Association. The room was rammed, with almost as many people sitting on the floor or standing as there were on the chairs, which proved just how much interest there is from small businesses in learning about marketing and branding. I spoke about some of the principles of branding and marketing in this new book and in my previous one Build A Brand In 30 Days.
Most of the audience were running very small businesses, about which they were all passionate and deadly serious: and all of them were hungry for practical tips on effective marketing.
The key message that I wanted to get across was that branding is not about clever tricks or ‘spin’ but about telling compelling and emotionally resonant stories to customers: giving them a reason to become engaged by your business and to develop heart-felt loyalty. And my key message about marketing is closely related to that. Marketing isn’t about selling products or services: marketing is about developing relationships with customers in order to find out how to give them real value. And by value I don’t mean cheap stuff! I mean products, services, experiences and emotions which they will enjoy and therefore value, and which will keep them coming back to you again and again.
These principles apply whether you are a bookseller or bicycle repairer, a software development company or a baker. Or come to think of it a new author.
