study Primark - Holyrood PR
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Primark Case study The Client As one of the most recognisable names in affordable High Street fashion, Primark had spent years seeking a suitable site in Scotland’s capital city. When it secured a site on world-famous Princes Street, the retail giant was intent on creating a flagship Scottish store. Brief The location in a World Heritage Site and the size of the proposed development meant it faced a rigorous planning process, being scrutinised by both Edinburgh Council and the Scottish Government. A crucial element of the planning process was for Primark to demonstrate the most extensive possible public consultation and to show how such feedback shaped its plans. Yet this posed particular challenges to a company which prefers not to appear in the media. Holyrood PR was tasked to ensure extensive, demonstrable public and stakeholder engagement, while also bypassing the traditional print and broadcast media as much as possible. What we did Holyrood Partnership conceived, created and managed a private online network called Primark – Have Your Say which: ● Allowed any interested party to have their say in an open and transparent way, while sharing those views with other interested groups and individuals; ● Provided an easy to access online public forum, with simple yet effective moderation methods; ● Ensured Primark was providing regular updates on milestones in the planning process , including publishing artist impressions and sharing information on public exhibitions. We secured the domain name, www.primarkedinburgh.co.uk, which redirected to the Have Your Say site. We wrote to and telephoned a list of 38 stakeholder groups and individuals including heritage organisations, architectural bodies, business and retail groups as well as the relevant community councils, city councillors, MSPs and MPs. All were advised how to use the Have Your Say network and encouraged to voice their support or objections there to ensure balanced and transparent dialogue. We issued a media release to local publications advising the innovative website was going live – and reinforcing how Primark was using the latest technology to ensure the widest possible public debate around the application. Dealt with all other media inquiries within two hours of receipt. We also managed all updates and moderation of the network on a daily basis, throughout the planning process. Results ● News of the Have Your Say site launch was reported positively in the Edinburgh Herald & Post, Business 7 and BuildScotland.co.uk – all arti- cles praising Primark for its innovative approach and for achieving a planning ‘first’ in Scotland. ● The site attracted 10,000 members, the vast majority in Scotland. Each member completed a registration and validation process by providing a genuine email address. Those members: • Made 17,200 visits to the site; • Racked up 77,000 page views; • Wrote 206 blog posts; • Participated in 110 separate forum discussions. ● Supportive posts on the site included endorsements from Councillor Tom Buchanan, Economic Development Convener at City of Edinburgh Council and from influential heritage group, The Cockburn Association. ● The Have Your Say site and its content was submitted in the final planning application as the most important demonstration of Primark’s extensive and successful public consultation. ● Primark was granted planning permission for its flagship Scottish store on August 25. ● Holyrood PR was immediately appointed to provide PR and media relations support for the main contractor, Patton Construction. ● We were also re-engaged by Primark to handle the PR for the store launch in late 2011.
Transcript of study Primark - Holyrood PR
PrimarkCasestudy
The ClientAs one of the most recognisable names in affordable High Street fashion,Primark had spent years seeking a suitable site in Scotland’s capital city. Whenit secured a site on world-famous Princes Street, the retail giant was intent oncreating a flagship Scottish store.
BriefThe location in a World Heritage Site and the size of the proposed developmentmeant it faced a rigorous planning process, being scrutinised by bothEdinburgh Council and the Scottish Government.
A crucial element of the planning process was for Primark to demonstrate the mostextensive possible public consultation and to show how such feedback shaped itsplans. Yet this posed particular challenges to a company which prefers not toappear in the media.
Holyrood PR was tasked to ensure extensive, demonstrable public and stakeholderengagement, while also bypassing the traditional print and broadcast media asmuch as possible.
What we didHolyrood Partnership conceived, created and managed a private online networkcalled Primark – Have Your Say which:
● Allowed any interested party to have their say in an open and transparentway, while sharing those views with other interested groups and individuals;
● Provided an easy to access online public forum, with simple yet effectivemoderation methods;
● Ensured Primark was providing regular updates on milestones in theplanning process , including publishing artist impressions and sharinginformation on public exhibitions.
We secured the domain name, www.primarkedinburgh.co.uk, which redirected tothe Have Your Say site.
We wrote to and telephoned a list of 38 stakeholder groups and individuals including heritage organisations, architectural bodies, business and retail groupsas well as the relevant community councils, city councillors, MSPs and MPs. All were advised how to use the Have Your Say network and encouraged to voice theirsupport or objections there to ensure balanced and transparent dialogue.
We issued a media release to local publications advising the innovative website was
going live – and reinforcing how Primark was using the latest technology to ensurethe widest possible public debate around the application. Dealt with all other mediainquiries within two hours of receipt.
We also managed all updates and moderation of the network on a daily basis,throughout the planning process.
Results● News of the Have Your Say site launch was reported positively in theEdinburgh Herald & Post, Business 7 and BuildScotland.co.uk – all arti-cles praising Primark for its innovative approach and for achieving aplanning ‘first’ in Scotland.
● The site attracted 10,000 members, the vast majority in Scotland. Eachmember completed a registration and validation process by providing agenuine email address. Those members:
• Made 17,200 visits to the site;
• Racked up 77,000 page views;
• Wrote 206 blog posts;
• Participated in 110 separate forum discussions.
● Supportive posts on the site included endorsements from CouncillorTom Buchanan, Economic Development Convener at City of EdinburghCouncil and from influential heritage group, The Cockburn Association.
● The Have Your Say site and its content was submitted in the finalplanning application as the most important demonstration of Primark’sextensive and successful public consultation.
● Primark was granted planning permission for its flagship Scottish storeon August 25.
● Holyrood PR was immediately appointed to provide PR and mediarelations support for the main contractor, Patton Construction.
● We were also re-engaged by Primark to handle the PR for the storelaunch in late 2011.
PrimarkCasestudy
Sample letter tostakeholders
John SmithAddressAddressAddressEdinburghEH1 XXX
February 2010
Dear John,
As you know, the plans for Primark’s proposed new flagship Princes
Street store are currently out for public consultation. During this 12
week period, Primark will be actively seeking the views of any
groups or individuals with an interest in this development.
To that end Primark has set up an online community, called
Have Your Say, where anyone can register and leave a comment
or start a discussion related to the proposed store opening. Holyrood
Partnership is based in Edinburgh and we are assisting Primark with
this project. We would be delighted if you would participate.
This is entirely open and transparent and we want to encourage
involvement from anyone with a view on this development. All of
those views will then be considered as part of the planning process
and could have a direct bearing on how the development will
eventually look.
As one of the stakeholder groups we are particularly keen for your
group to have its views represented and to put across those points
which are important to you.
This is an ideal opportunity for you to engage directly with the
audience most interested in the Primark store, including localcommunity groups, heritage guardians, retail leaders and planningofficials, as well as shoppers.We firmly believe that by encouraging rich and open discussion weare most likely to achieve a development which satisfies as manypeople as possible.
If we can encourage groups like yours to have their say, we hope thatwill attract an even greater audience, so giving everyoneinvolved the best possible platform to air their opinions, listen tothe views of others and so have a real role in positively shapingthe development.
You can visit the website at http://www.primarkedinburgh.co.uk,register and join the debate at any time by posting blogs, articles andcommenting on views posted by others. We ask only that youtry to respond to any questions raised as a result by other membersof the community.
I will follow up this correspondence with a phone call and lookforward to speaking with you and offering any help I can to helpyou get involved with this collaborative community project.
Yours sincerelyScott DouglasDirector, Holyrood Partnership
PrimarkCasestudy
www.primarkedinburgh.co.ukDashboard Jan 25, 2010 - Nov 29, 2010
Comparing to: Site
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Jan 25 Feb 22 Mar 22 Apr 19 May 17 Jun 14 Jul 12 Aug 9 Sep 6 Oct 4 Nov 1
Visits
Site Usage
17,234 Visits
76,908 Pageviews
4.46 Pages/Visit
22.09% Bounce Rate
00:02:36 Avg. Time on Site
76.71% % New Visits
Visitors Overview
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800
0
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Jan 25 Feb 22 Mar 22 Apr 19 May 17 Jun 14 Jul 12 Aug 9 Sep 6 Oct 4 Nov 1
Visitors
Visitors13,240
Traffic Sources Overview
Direct Traffic11,831.00 (68.65%)
Referring Sites5,115.00 (29.68%)
Search Engines288.00 (1.67%)
Map Overlay
Visits1 15,145
Content Overview
Pages Pageviews % Pageviews
/ 18,163 23.62%
/main/error/404?code=404&uri= 5,609 7.29%
/main/authorization/newProfile? 4,404 5.73%
/forum 3,509 4.56%
/main/authorization/newProfile? 3,297 4.29%
Build Scotland
Business 7
Herald & Post
