South Bank Marketing Group

South Bank Marketing Group is a highly active sub-group of cultural venues, attractions and hotels committed to promoting South Bank as a top London visitor destination. The group focuses on increasing dwell time and spend as well as tackling seasonality.

The Group promotes South Bank to Londoners, domestic and overseas visitors. Typical activities include running and marketing www.southbanklondon.com, PR campaigns, developing on and offline guides, maps and posters. The Group is linked effectively with the tourism bodies and closely networked with neighbouring destinations.

Funded by: Subscriptions from members of the South Bank Marketing Group

www.southbanklondon.com

www.southbanklondon.com is gateway into South Bank. It promotes the area as a must-do destination and meets the needs of regular visitors as well as those planning a first trip.

The website features the latest what's on listings, maps, eating, drinking and shopping directories and regularly updated offers and competitions. View our destination film on the homepage here.

The website won Gold at the 2007 Visit London Awards, for Best Visitor Information Initiative.

The new Today I am campaign across print, film and online aims to conjure up a sense of all the things to see and do on South Bank.

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Funded by: South Bank Marketing Group

Signage

Wayfinding is a critical element of managing visitors to the South Bank. The current system was originally devised as part of an overall strategy to promote a single identity for the area. The stainless steel signs are just one part of a range of bespoke street furniture, ranging from street lights and cycle racks to litterbins, which creates a distinctive, coherent identity for South Bank and improves the quality of the public realm.

The current signage system will soon be replaced by the Legible London pilot scheme, to be installed late Autumn 2009. See website for more details.

Funded by: South Bank Employers' Group, Central London Partnership, London Eye Section 106

Tourism Agenda

The members of the South Bank Marketing Group represent some of London 's most popular and exciting destinations. The area attracts over 17 million visits each year and these figures are set to rise substantially over the next five years.

Tourism therefore represents a crucial element of the local economy. South Bank Marketing Group ensures representation of the area within the capital's tourism agenda and works closely with Visit London, London Development Agency, Greater London Authority as well as with local neighbours such as Better Bankside.

Concierge Training

Front of house staff at both the hotels and attractions are a vital source of information for visitors to the area. To ensure that customer-facing staff can respond to queries in a confident and knowledgeable manner, South Bank Marketing Group provides regular inductions to new starters.

Top-up sessions are organised throughout the year to ensure that staff have a complete overview of what's on, from plays and exhibitions to festivals and new restaurant openings. Teams are also provided with A4 street-level maps which enable them to efficiently give directions.

Engaging with Employees

More than 50,000 people work in South Bank and we actively engage with their employers to encourage them to make the most of the area on their doorstep.

Content, from listings to competitions, is fed through to the intranets of the area’s large organisations whilst relevant marketing materials, such as the South Bank Summer Guide, are distributed in their receptions. Southbanklondon.com is an essential source of information, with the eating and drinking directory being particularly popular as staff plan a work lunch or night out.

Walk This Way

The Walk This Way series of five walking guides encourages Londoners and visitors alike to explore the history and architecture of the river on foot.

Commended by the Mayor of London in the London Tourism Action Plan, the printed guides were extremely popular with visitors. Currently only Walk This Way South Bank is in print, however all the titles are available to download at www.southbankwalks.com.

Funded by: South Bank Marketing Group, Cross River Partnership, Waterloo Project Board