A celebration of great food & drink throughout 2021
Introduction
Go New Forest (GNF) is a “not for profit” Community Interest Company with 200 business members and partners. One of GNF’s main purposes is to develop the economic, social and reputational benefits accruing from the New Forest becoming a well-established “Food & Drink” destination. GNF have therefore created “Taste the New Forest 2021” to promote this idea and use it as the engine for social and economic recovery from the pandemic,
In delivering the campaign, GNF will work with New Forest District Council, New Forest Marque, New Forest National Park Authority and all other interests to help build a responsible and locally resilient economic future. Taste the New Forest will run throughout 2021 and celebrate all that is great about the destination’s amazing local food & drink sector.
The main aim of the campaign is to drive up resident and visitor awareness of the quality and value of the New Forest’s food & drink offer. It will therefore be at the very heart of the destination’s marketing plan and be amplified through all GNF’s digital and published promotional channels.
The entire campaign programme will be guided by the principles outlined in GNF’s Business Plan and is designed to involve and benefit residents, local organisations and GNF member & non-member businesses alike. However, as a membership organisation, the CIC will give extra prominence to its members, particularly Pubs, Restaurants, Cafes, Tea Shops, Farm Shops, Retailers, Food & Drink Producers and all types of accommodation provider.
Aims
a) To successfully deliver Taste the New Forest to raise the awareness and perceived value of local food & drink products and associated services in the minds of residents, day visitors and staying visitors.
b) To promote the commercial and destination brand benefits of presenting and selling local food & drink in as many local tourism businesses and food retailers as possible. And use this to stimulate commercial and individual consumer demand at local, regional and national levels.
c) To help businesses and organisations createa comprehensive schedule of weekly/monthly food & drink related events and activities which showcase local food & drink related products, businesses and experiences to motivate visitor and resident spending within the destination throughout the year.
d) To deliver New Forest “Eat Out 4 Less” and “Lets Lunch” promotions during specific periods to stimulate and grow eating-out audiences, particularly in our towns & villages, and present packages of various different local activities that can be enjoyed before or after eating.
Overview
Deliver a simple, co-ordinated and highly visible promotional campaign aimed at existing and prospective consumers from the three target audiences of local residents, day visitors (within a 90minute drive time) and staying visitors (London & SE England).
The campaign will be evolved and delivered in stages commensurate with each step of the Government’s Roadmap launching immediately after Easter. Activities and events will run throughout the spring and summer featuring Dogstival in June, Lymington Seafood Festival in July, one or more of the food festivals currently planned for September and continuing through autumn into the festive season at Christmas.
Themes & Content
Our approach will be to focus on the seasons, the strengths and unique personality of the New Forest, its brand values, people, businesses, towns & villages, history, cultural heritage and unique landscape traditions. But it will also be very much about the area’s aspirations for the future.
Within each of these themes we will tell the stories of how local food & drink is produced, prepared and presented by the individual and often unique personalities within our business and resident community. Whilst there is no limit to the form, type and style of food we will promote throughout the year, the following seasonal ideas provide a structural framework (subject to adjustment) to localise the campaign’s overall narrative:
May – Charcuterie
June – Asparagus & Strawberries
July – Salads & Seafood
August – Berries & Foraged delights
September – Harvest Season
October – Mushrooms & Pumpkins
November – Pannage Pork
December – Game & Cheese
Sticky Consumer Experiences
It is critical we create and present a wide range of immersive front and back of house visitor experiences to provide added consumer stickiness and help generate intimacy and engagement whilst also demonstrating unique points of New Forest differentiation. GNF’s new online “experience” booking system in partnership with Beyonk will promote and convert event and activity ticket sales both locally and nationally.
Business Participation
Providing consumers with the widest range of experiences possible will be important so it will be important to get as many businesses on board as soon possible to enable them to plan their own involvement throughout the campaign.
Co-ordinated communications
It’s important that all campaign content is presented and communicated consistently by each individual participating business in a co-ordinated programme of promotional storytelling linking to the wider destination marketing programme, PR activities, social media channels, website & blogs.
Steering Group
The campaign is overseen by a small steering group of Go New Forest members and partners each representing a key facet of the New Forest’s food & drink sector. Plans, ideas and content requests (photos and editorial copy) are circulated to all GNF members regularly to make business participation as easy as possible.
New Forest promotional channel performance (2020)
4.3 million page views in 1.7 million sessions on www.thenewforest.co.uk
349,713 page views of food & drink/business product pages on www.thenewforest.co.uk
1,500,000 consumers connected to New Forest stories created by Press & PR activities
39,020 follows on New Forest UK social media platforms
53,419 subscribers to the New Forest monthly destination enewsletter
17,840 weekly subscribers to the New Forest Weekly What’s On enewsletter
9,250 GNF Cardholders supporting over 350 locally owned New Forest businesses
