TV campaign boosts Alnwick Castle visitor numbers

Alnwick Castle say a TV advertising campaign has lead to a 224% increase in ticket sales.

The Castle is one month into a campaign designed to bring more families to the tourist destination.

Newcastle communications outfit Guerilla Communications worked on the project which involved finding a real-life family and giving them a day out at the Castle.

Kate Woolmore, marketing manager, Alnwick Castle, said: “We wanted to get across just how much fun a day out at the castle was for one of our core audiences - families. The use of a real family to star in the ad was suggested by Guerilla as a very effective way of showing exactly why families should come and spend the day at the castle.”

A social media competition ran across Facebook, Twitter and on the castle’s website offering local families the chance to star in the castle’s new advertising campaign. The winning family were then filmed enjoying a typical day’s outing at the castle and Guerilla produced two versions of the film: a short 30 second spot which is currently running on TV, in cinemas and on video on demand and a full length version which appears online.

Dan Appleby, client services director, Guerilla Communications explained how the TV ad has impacted visitor numbers over the current summer period: “The campaign, much to our delight, has delivered an immediate impact. Three weeks after the campaign launch, the castle saw a marked increase in all castle tickets when compared to the same weeks in 2012.

“Adult tickets were up by 119%, child tickets were up 118% and, critically, family ticket sales were up a massive 224%.”

The campaign was complemented by PR activity to engage national and regional media, as well as press and outdoor advertising across the North East region.

Kate Woolmore added: “We really wanted to bring the castle experience to life and show people just how much there is to do here. Guerilla fully understood our brief and suggested the (rather bold!) idea of using a real, local family in our TV ad.

“The campaign was planned to perfection from the start and we totally felt supported by Guerilla and their expertise throughout - giving us the best castle visitor numbers in recent years. We feel that it has really has put the castle back on the map and we believe the final weeks of the campaign will only add to the success of the campaign so far.”