On Monday 19th July, social distancing restrictions will be fully lifted. Here’s how we’ve been helping our clients prepare for ‘Freedom Day’.
What’s changing?
The final stage of lockdown will be lifted on 19th July, as confirmed by Boris Johnson this week. All social distancing restrictions are being removed. Some institutions are choosing to keep them in place, such as Transport For London.
‘Freedom Day’, is a massive day for a wide range of industries. Hospitality, tourism and events businesses have struggled to operate during the pandemic. For many – particularly pubs & restaurants – it simply isn’t possible to turn a healthy profit with social distancing measures in place. 60% of operators aren’t turning any profit. Nightclubs and smaller music venues haven’t been able to open at all. This resulted in over 10,000 pubs, clubs and restaurants permanently closing down in 2020, and plenty more this year.
E1 Media works with clients across these hard-hit industries, so we understand how challenging the last 18 months have been. We’ve had to continually adapt marketing strategy and operations to reflect the ever-changing governmental advice. 19th July is the light at the end of the tunnel – the return to normality that everyone has been patiently waiting for.
As a reminder, here’s what will change:
- Nightclubs able to open
- Pubs, clubs, theatres and cinemas allowed to operate without capacity limits
- Sports events able to take place in full stadiums
- No limit on how many people you can invite to your home
- An end to limits on guests for weddings and other life events
The entire E1 Media team has been hard at work making sure our clients are ready. Here’s a taste of what we’ve been up to.
Clovelly
Clovelly is a picturesque, ancient, fishing village in North Devon. It’s so aesthetically-pleasing it earned the title of ‘Most Instagrammable Village of 2020’. With foreign holidays still off the cards, this summer is becoming one of staycations and day trips. It’s a perfect opportunity for Clovelly and similar UK holiday destinations.
Clovelly is a privately-owned village that charges a small admission fee to cover the cost of restoration and maintenance. Our key objectives have been to drive admission ticket sales and bookings at its premier hotel, The Red Lion.
Our main focus has been to improve Clovelly’s online presence. We’ve made substantial changes to the Clovelly website, improving the user experience and simplifying the checkout journey. We built a brand new website for the Red Lion in-house, to give it more of a separate brand identity.
In terms of social media presence, we really wanted to lean-into the ‘Instagrammable’ nature of Clovelly. We’ve been carefully curating both the Clovelly & Red Lion feeds to reflect this. Creating a sense of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) is a key aspect of all our work, and this is no different.
Metrofest
Metrofest is a brand-new festival coming to London this summer. With a focus on Hip-Hop & R&B culture, they’ve got international stars such Fat Joe, Mya and Blackstreet performing in Trent Country Park on 8th August 2021.
We’re all well-aware of the challenges festivals have faced this past year. Many, including Glastonbury and our friends at Noisily, have had to postpone for the 2nd year in a row due to uncertainty and a lack of governmental support. As we mentioned, large-scale events can go ahead from 19th July – including Metrofest.
The E1M team has been heavily involved in Metrofest from its conception. All the branding has been designed in-house – everything from the outdoor billboards to social media content.
Launching a brand-new festival is never easy. We’ve been getting creative with our content to create the feeling of FOMO that sells tickets. Our current focus is around communicating to Metrofest’s audience that the festival is 100% going ahead, and using this momentum to drive conversions. We’re doing this through a combination of organic social activity and mailers, supplemented by media buying.
Cinnabar
Cinnabar run a number of popular bars in Hertfordshire that feature great cocktails, delicious food and talented DJs. Like most bars & restaurants across the country, they’ve had to adapt to their online activity and encourage pre-bookings through their website.
We’ve been helping them level up their digital presence through creative strategy and planning, to implementation. As each stage of social distancing restrictions have changed, we’ve had to continually adapt messaging towards new priorities.
From driving bookings, to promoting the outdoor spaces, to encouraging organic footfall. In the run-up to Freedom Day, our new in-house creative team has been enhancing Cinnabar’s visual style to better reflect their brand identity.
