The BBC has been talking about a new marketing campaign to sell Britain. The weather.
The claim is that foreigners don’t come to Britain because they think it never stops raining. They think it is constant, that they won’t be able to step out of their hotels due to the flooding. The campaign basically says, yes it rains, but not as much as other countries X Y and Z and not as much as you think. Surely people know that it cannot rain for every second of every day! Is this really the best we can do to sell Britain?
I think it’s sad that the only marketing campaign that we can come up with is stereotypically negative. Why does the campaign focus on one of the worst things about the country and say “it’s not that bad”? Not exactly inspiring.
Also, as the weather isn’t predictable, why choose something so variable as a centre point? Maybe it will rain the whole time one group of tourists are here, in which case the whole premise of this campaign is false and they would be very grumpy, unsatisfied customers.
Don’t get me wrong - I actually do love our weather - actual seasons are much better than heat all year round, but it is nowhere near the top of my list of why people should visit Britain. It’s not like people are going to look at a brochure and say “YES. I want to go to Scotland because it says here that it doesn’t rain as much as we thought!” ...surely we give tourists more credit than this! If people want to visit Stonehenge they will, whether it is raining or a 40C heatwave. Cornish coastlines, shepherds pie, the buzz of London, cider in old-man-pubs and the rolling hills of Yorkshire are a few better reasons than “our weather isn’t as bad as you think”.
I know that there is the possibility of sounding generic and dull, but that’s what advertising, marketing, design and branding agencies are there to do - make it interesting. There must be more to Britain than the weather.
To read more about this odd campaign
click here.
