POOL & SPA INDUSTRY
National Campaign To Promote The Industry In The Wake Of Coronavirus As PR & Marketing Manager for the BSPF, BISHTA and SPATA, Sallie Leslie- Golding shares news on an exciting consumer PR and marketing campaign set to benefit every company involved in the UK pool and hot tub industry
S
ince joining the industry in 2013, I have been working with the Pool Industry Promotions committee (PIP). The PIP committee was established in the mid1990s with an emphasis on PR and marketing on behalf of the industry. Today’s committee has representatives from both the pool and hot tub sectors providing a combination of experience in all parts of the industry. Knowledge and opinions are freely shared with a common interest in driving the industry forward. In general, the committee meets quarterly, and once per year, the PIP strategy is reviewed to set plans in place for the coming year. The work programme incorporates items such as traditional and digital PR (trade and consumer), media monitoring, contact with press and media, case studies, factsheets, the PIP marketing toolkit, exhibitions and events, website development and performance, e-newsletters, social media, market research, advertising, partnerships and campaigns. With funding coming from SPATEX – the UK’s only dedicated pool, spa and wellness show – along with contribution from BISHTA and SPATA members. While promoting the industry (as a whole) is the ultimate goal, there is great value in encouraging businesses to join BISHTA and SPATA. By encouraging companies to join the trade associations, we help to raise the profile of the industry so that consumers can shop with confidence in the knowledge that trade association members are working to nationally recognised standards and a Code of Ethics. This, in turn, builds a stronger industry with a more effective voice, filtering out those companies who may be unethically trading and selling sub-standard products. The trade associations aim to raise the profile of member companies to the forefront of consumers’ minds to provide trust and peace of mind. When the Coronavirus lockdown began in March, there were concerns from the various committees (notably the SPATEX board following a suggestion from Alex Kemsley) that our industry was going to be hit hard. So,
the PIP committee got to work with putting together a marketing campaign brief to boost the industry post-lockdown. PIP agreed that we needed to get a great PR agency on board with scope for broad PR reach and who would be able to drive increased publicity for the industry with multi-channel techniques. At the end of April, using online meetings, the PIP Committee saw campaign pitches from eight agencies presenting a variety of proposals. We are happy to say that we have now appointed Speed Communications, a fantastic fullservice digital promotional agency. As we have all experienced, the country is changing daily because of COVID-19 and so are the buying behaviours of consumers. Subsequently, our initial concerns for the industry have changed somewhat since the beginning of lockdown. Looking at Google Trends data during this time, the hot tub industry has been experiencing increased interest from consumers. And although people do not seem to be searching online for home swimming pools right now, there are searches for pool related products such as pool heaters and pool covers. To substantiate this, we have spoken to some BISHTA and SPATA members, and they are experiencing increased demand for their products. Therefore, PIP feels that we need to capitalise on this interest and the surge in demand. This campaign will primarily be a consumer (B2C) marketing campaign to make waves for the pool and hot tub industry, through
PIP agreed that we needed to get a great PR agency on board with scope for broad PR reach and who would be able to drive increased publicity for the industry with multi-channel techniques” 32 June 2020 SPN 32_SPN_June_20_PR_Campaign.indd 32
a creative campaign that generates positive noise in the media and comes to life to make pools and hot tubs the must-have items this summer and beyond. The campaign will be built around ‘staycations at home’, introducing pools and hot tubs to create an #everydaycation lifestyle. As I have mentioned, there is increased demand for water leisure products, so we want to build on this throughout 2020 and have a second ‘bite of the cherry’ in 2021 to reignite the campaign. Speed Communications have commenced work with research into the target audiences for pool and hot tubs, looking at differences and common interests. By the time this article is published, actions will be well underway, and we will be looking to communicate ways that your company ‘canget-involved’ and join forces industry-wide in maximising the increased publicity. The best way for us to do this would be through e-shots. BISHTA and SPATA members will receive updates in their respective weekly e-newsletter and the online Member’s Hub, where we will share tools and creatives to get involved, along with news of any media coverage that members can amplify in their local areas. If you are not a trade association member and you would like to participate, please email your contact details to me (sallie@pool-industry-promotions.co.uk), and we will keep you updated with the latest news. Alternatively, if you are interested in joining BISHTA or SPATA, please get in touch, and we can progress your membership application ASAP. We would like to thank the PIP Committee for their continued commitment during these unprecedented times; Dyfed Thompson-Smith (Chairman), Jeremy Chalke, Neil Dalziel, Phil Gordon, Arun Sarna, Jon Herbert, Mark Ramsden and Alex Kemsley. Work now starts to get the campaign live, with Chris Hayes (Managing Director – BISHTA/SPATA) and myself working with Speed Communications in the coming weeks to roll out the campaign. BISHTA / SPATA 01264 356210 / 01264 356211 www.spata.co.uk / www.bishta.co.uk
www.swimmingpoolnews.co.uk 05/07/2020 23:04
