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North Norfolk District Council partnered with Whistlejacket on an initiative to develop a brand for its ancient coastline that would rival Dorset’s “Jurassic Coast”. Whilst the area was known for its rare prehistoric finds and unique beauty amongst locals, the goals of the campaign were to inspire an increase in the amount of visitors to the coast and also investment and support of such a special location. A particular target was to change visitor behaviour by encouraging visits outside of the typical peak times (weekends and school holidays) and to less popular sites and areas in the region.

Working with the council and a varied consortium of local authorities, campaigners, museum services, tourism bodies, nature organisations and businesses, Whistlejacket successfully created a vivid and memorable new brand and marketing strategy for the area. We began by determining the brand positioning, values and mission for “The Deep History Coast” from extensive research that included a detailed interview and workshop programme with a wide variety of key stakeholders. From these findings, Whistlejacket translated and refined what we had learnt into a cohesive marketing strategy. As part of this, we employed the wide range of expertise within our company to develop an easy to use ‘brand toolbox’ for all teams and organisations involved. This included identity tools and brand assets that were formulated into a clear guide across multiple formats. We also made recommendations about the future governance of the brand, suggesting a formal Trust was convened to manage ‘The Deep History Coast’ and this has now been set up with lasting impact for future generations.

A secondary pack of brand material for local brand ambassadors and business partners was created by Whistlejacket, and we were part of the lead presentation team at Ambassador workshops, recruiting new supporters for the programme. We also developed a new organising line for the programme - “Explorers Welcome”. This tagline directly encouraged target audiences to change up their typical visit habits and open their minds to new experiences and has now been applied to all elements of promoting the region.
 
The brand and the assets we developed were then shared and used by partners across the region. For example, the National Coastal Path that runs through North Norfolk now has a sequence of Discovery Points along its length. There is also a new downloadable app aimed at families for visitors to use in and around Deep History sites, creating 3D imagery to bring the prehistoric megafauna of the region back to life. We have continued our relationship with the council and the brand, extending it into new events such as “The Deep History Coast Marathon”, and working with the Council, 3D teams and local tourism bodies on rebranding information centres in the region. Our latest project involves naming and branding a new leisure development for North Norfolk in Sheringham.