A ground-breaking agreement has been signed between Liverpool Vision and Liverpool City Region LEP which sees the secondment of 11 staff posts to Marketing Liverpool, the recently-created body tasked with promoting the City Region to the world.
The LEP staff will work for two years with Liverpool Vision’s communications team in delivering a Place Marketing Strategy for the City Region under proposals agreed with key stakeholders earlier this year.
The move is designed to ensure major global opportunities such as the International Festival for Business 2014 offer maximum economic return for the entire City Region.
The LEP will retain its overall responsibility for the strategic development of the City Region Place Marketing Strategy, which includes the Visitor Economy and other key growth sectors, with responsibility for marketing the destination being undertaken by Marketing Liverpool.
The LEP and its partners have commissioned Marketing Liverpool to deliver a range of activities to promote the City Region with Liverpool as the agreed ‘attack’ brand.
The functions to be delivered under the agreement include:
Management of the Visit Liverpool Website and associated activity
Overseas and domestic marketing
Liverpool Convention Bureau activity
The agreement comes in the wake of the LEP securing an additional sum of £2.15m from the European Regional Development Fund to boost the Visitor Economy, part of which has been allocated to the development of the Place Marketing Strategy.
Robert Hough, Chairman of Liverpool City Region LEP, said: “The Visitor Economy is one of Liverpool City Region’s greatest strengths and of profound importance to our economy. As a sector, it has the talent, the assets and the ambition. Now it can properly set out the direction.
“What we are creating in effect is a ‘one stop shop’ for investors, visitors and conference organisers. This new co-ordinated approach is to fulfil shared aims to grow the sector still further which will benefit the whole city region. It is a huge positive step forward.
“We have listened to the private sector and we will now develop a plan with their significant input that will bring great economic benefit.”
Max Steinberg, Chief Executive of Liverpool Vision, said: “The LEP team has both knowledge and experience of successful destination marketing and has delivered international and national campaigns across a range of media and combined with the expertise at Liverpool Vision means that we will now deliver a greater impact.
“Marketing Liverpool can now press ahead to ensure close and meaningful integration between the City Region’s economic development, cultural and marketing teams to deliver major projects, events and initiatives as well as a common vision.”
“The prize is great. This new approach to marketing our unique and diverse assets will help accelerate growth and job creation for the benefit of future generations.”
The move has been welcomed by the private sector stakeholders who have long voiced their concern at the City Region’s disjointed approach to selling the offer and opportunities that exist.
Jeanette Kehoe-Perkinson, Chair of the LEP’s Management Implementation Group, said: “This agreement has acknowledged the need for a broad city region marketing strategy to eliminate the duplication of effort that has existed for too long, and to create one “go to” regional marketing body which will end stakeholder confusion
“Crucially, it gives Marketing Liverpool the resources and a mandate to think big and match the scale of our ambition. Marketing the significant assets and strategy of the whole City Region will allow us to compete more effectively on the world stage, to be recognised as a top international destination in which to live, work, invest, study and to visit.”