Positively Putney BID

Positively Putney
Positively Putney BID is a business owned and led, not for profit limited company, working to maximise Putney’s potential and making it a vibrant and attractive place for those who work, live and visit here. BID stands for Business Improvement District, a business-led, business-funded partnership defined by a geographical location, which strives to improve the local area for the benefit of businesses, shoppers and visitors.

Business Improvement Districts have been operating across the UK for over a decade, with the first BID starting in January 2005. There are over 270 BIDs set up around the UK, with over 50 being in London alone.

Positively Putney agreed to be a the pilot location for the brand new Maybe*module Local Rewards which enables shoppers to see the retailers near them and showcases their most recent Instagram content in a virtual guide. The BID’s main goal was to use drive spend on the highstreet and bring businesses together.

This unique new service combines Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and Google Maps data with Visa and Mastercard transaction data to provide a wholly interactive approach to connecting the online and offline shopping experience.

Maybe* needed someone with strategic marketing experience, knowledge of working with BIDs and other high street stakeholders to work with Positively Putney to launch Local Rewards bringing reconnecting businesses, people and place after a tough year.

The Objectives

To create a marketing strategy and implementation plan for Putney which could be rolled out to other places across the UK.
To create a consumer facing campaign for Local Rewards in Putney.
To create a business facing campaign for Local Rewards.
To work with the businesses within the BID individually to help them ‘up their game’ digitally.

What I did

Created a consumer facing marketing plan for Putney which involved: Press Releases - Social media content - Digital Boosted Competition on Facebook - Email marketing templates
As the BID has limited resources and people to implement the campaign, I created everything to ensure that the team had to do very minimal work- simply scheduling the posts. It was a big education piece- the BID had a great relationship with their businesses but very limited interaction with consumers therefore the job was to help them make customers care about the campaign.
To connect with customers we focused on: Content celebrating Putney- people, culture, everything it has to offer - Showcasing the businesses through video, putting the real people behind businesses to the forefront and telling their story - A competition on local community groups offering reward points for local influencers to ‘test out’ the Rewards programme and guide and share their journey on social media.
Businesses within the BID had been hit hard by the first UK Lockdown and were struggling, therefore the focus for them had to be about educating them as to the value of working together as a business community to invite people back to the high street during uncertain times. They were time poor, many had limited staff and budget and some had very little social media experience.
I began running weekly webinars showcasing the best content in Putney and giving businesses training on social media.
I created a BID Business launch pack which has since been rolled out across the UK featuring: Press release - email and social media templates - fact sheets - branded marketing assets - training schedule for social media - a business competition on Facebook where businesses can win up to £500 worth of ad spend by engaging on social media and using the hashtag
I worked directly with the businesses within the BID on everything from helping them create their rewards to how to manage their social media and everything in between and created a great relationship with them.

The results

21 Rewards Created across 10 businesses
A rewards treasure trail which has received strong PR in the area
Testimonials from businesses within Putney who have said that their businesses have seen uplift off the back of the campaigns and social media training
An implementation pack which has been rolled out to other places across the UK
Positive mentions and comments of Positively Putney BID increased by 66% over the campaign
One business I worked closely with had +66.67% increase in engagement vs previous year (even with a lock down).