We took a research-based, outcomes driven approach

Supported by our own previous high street rejuvenation engagements and research, we built a multi-channel marketing and PR strategy to engage the local community and business owners to champion their high street. Our strategy was based upon our experience and our research. We interviewed Busines Improvement District (BID) managers and conducted research from High Streets Task Force Carnegie UK Trust’s COVID and Communities Project' 2020 report, GOV.UK, Health and Safety Executive, Public Health England, National Museums, the Arts Council, McKinsey, and the Local Government Association best practices and case studies. Our strategy was adopted in its entirety and championed by the RBWM team and council.

We engaged local stakeholders to serve as brand champions - building a word of mouth economy - and empowered local businesses to embrace digital channels, safely reopen, and reimagine what was possible in a time of COVID. We developed audience personas, a brand persona, and utilised the following channels to support reopening and recovery: Direct Email; Social Media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram) – reels, stories, carousel posts, direct engagement, branded hashtags and user generated content; designed and developed a Website Hub (My Royal Borough); created Targeted thought leadership on a campaign basis that aligned to council and tourism activities; High Street Hero Blog Features, and cross promoted across digital platforms.

During Lockdown, we provided training to over 50 businesses and 20 internal staff members

We covered topics like: How to go digital, Purpose-Driven Branding, Campaign Best Practices, Trends in Social Media, and Digital Time Management Best Practices. Here's what our attendees had to say:

My Royal Borough External Training

“I am so excited about this training after just one session. Kathy is as sizzlingly creative and ideas-driven as she is researched, practical and methodical. A combination which sets her mountains apart from any other comms agency or professional in the industry.”

“Kathy is extremely knowledgeable in her field. The presentation was well prepared and thought through, with the delivery and commentary tailored to the audience present on the day. There were many actionable points that were relevant across industries and achievable regardless of your previous digital experience. Overall, thought provoking, insightful and motivating.”

“Really helpful information, not just for those already running a business, but also for those considering it. Kathy is very knowledgeable and approachable and nothing is too much in the most efficient way, and how to make the most of social media. For someone who doesn't use anything more than Facebook in my personal life, this was invaluable.”

My Royal Borough Internal Team Training

“Kathy is a wonderful speaker, who delivered an engaging, informative and focused talk on all aspects of social media development. I came away from the training with a much more solid understanding of best practice, a deeper knowledge of the analytics and methodology of content planning, but above all inspired to make the most of my own social media opportunities.”

“With years of market leading experience in her toolkit, Kathy is supporting the "little guys" of community groups, and high street start-ups to catch up with the experienced companies to establish their brands, guiding them past the pitfalls that would be expensive to fall into.”

Yes wonderful, but show us the numbers!

We achieved national and international recognition from the media, to include Sky news, BBC click, BBC, the Times, and with local outlets with our campaigns. Using a community-based approach, We established SMART metrics for the entire programme and on a campaign basis, and set out to increase trust by creating brand ambassadors out of our local stakeholder audience, achieving our goals of building a community, increasing customer confidence and brand awareness.

✅ Overall, according to our last Footfall report (May 2021), footfall increased 315% in Windsor over last year. It was slightly down Windsor, (-5.2% compared to -20% in 2020), but month/month performance demonstrates a significant increase of 76.8% over last month and a 78% increase over two years ago.

✅ There was an increase in shops opening up their digital storefronts, as well as a brick and mortar presence. In Windsor alone, 25 new shops opened. In Maidenhead, five new shops opened.

✅ We had a healthy 55% open rate on our email campaigns - far exceeding the industry average; and over 200 businesses subscribed out of our target of 400.

✅ We had a 91-95% positive sentiment score on our branded hashtag #MyRoyalBorough.

✅ We did not engage in ad buys therefore our reach, engagement and impressions were all organic, at an always steady 10% growth per month - we posted six times per day, every day on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. We had the UGC and were able to maintain that momentum in our editorial calendar. We had consistently low bounce rates (at around 60%) and steady user sessions/increases at around 25% per month, and increases in session duration with an average of 1 1/2 minutes. We measured our work week on week and established consistent metrics across other borough channels (like Visit Windsor) - and these were shared at town forums to increase accountability publicly.

DigiKind reimagines the high street experience by building strong, sustainable communities empowered by digital transformation. DigiKind built and implemented a multi-channel marketing, PR and place making strategy to engage the local community and business owners to champion their high street. We engaged local stakeholders to serve as brand champions - building a word of mouth economy - and empowered local businesses to embrace digital channels, safely reopen, and reimagine what was possible in a time of COVID.

Despite unprecedented circumstances, we are proud to have helped to create My Royal Borough.

To learn more about this effort, click the links below.