Member Article

Gateshead marketers size up European destination marketing opportunities

A Gateshead-based creative agency which has established its expertise in destination marketing has set its sights on European growth.

R//evolution Marketing, the brains behind the hugely successful Virtual Lumiere app for Visit County Durham, are setting their sights on similar projects overseas - in a bid to export their destination marketing knowledge.

Since moving to Gateshead’s Northern Design Centre from its original base in Hexham, R//evolution has worked with the likes of Visit County Durham, Visit Bradford and on promotion of the Isle of Arran.

The eight-strong team of marketers, developers and designers have spotted a market for destination marketing knowledge in European countries such as the Czech Republic and Poland.

Managing director Gill Burgess told Bdaily: “As a marketing agency in the current landscape you need a niche that makes you stand out from the crowd.

“We’ve had a lot of success in the destination marketing sector and that’s really where we’ve found our strength.

“It’s taken us from projects at Beamish through to work on the West Coast of Scotland - promoting the Isle of Arran.

“We saw an opportunity to use this expertise and target a European market. There are tourist boards, particularly in Eastern European countries, that are just starting to promote their respective destinations to a British audience - and in some cases might want to counter the stag and hen label.

“For us, it’s about diversifying and spreading our client portfolio to ensure sustainability in the business. The challenge now is selling our skills to clients in these places, but we’re confident that our work to date will really help us in that respect.”

Gill and her team are now researching the market with help from UKTI to identify potential clients. The business is also drawing on the skills and knowledge of Czech intern Jakub Minarik, who is a marketing management student at Northumbria University.

Gill added: “Our dealings so far have really confirmed to me that the exporting agenda is so big in the region. Even in our initial talks with the bank - they are really keen to see you exporting your services.

“I think our story is a good example of how exporting is not just about packaging widgets in containers, but about taking home-grown skills and expertise to an international market.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .