Image making —at a price

Press, 1 August 1989, Page 1

Image making —at a price

By

MICHAEL RENTOUL

A marketing plan for Christchurch to the year 2000 and beyond was unveiled last evening — with a $2.36 million annual price tag. In spite of the estimated cost, which is nearly double that spent on promotional activities in greater Christchurch now, the Christchurch City Council property and promotion committee voted to fast-traCk the plan. The Mayor of Christchurch, Sir Hamish Hay, said while the cost would probably cause surprise, it was the sort of commitment that would have to be made. Cr Vicki Buck said such a plan should have been in place years ago and it was wrong to wait any longer, in spite of pending local body reform. Her urge for action was supported by members of the Christchurch Promotion Working Party, the architects of the plan, "Christchurch Initiative 2000: A Marketing Plan for the City of Christchurch.” Promotional activities and organisations, lacking co-ordina-tion, were failing to provide a strong, distinct image for Christchurch, the Christchurch promotion director, and the report’s author Miss Gillian Wess, said. In the face of scarce resources it seemed inefficient not to attempt to follow an over-all plan. There had been no real attempt to see how resources could be pooled, or at least co-ordinated, for the good of the city, she said. The report proposes the private sector meet the cost of the plan on a “dollar-for-dollar” basis. “Further, there appears t; be no agreement on what ’'lad of image we should be projecting, nor to whom or where,” Miss Wess said. Many of the labels given to Christchurch had been created without consideration for the city’s long-term economic needs, and may have to be re-examined. While civic pride and the local population were Important, so too were the needs of those, outside the city on -whom- Christchurch's livelihood and prosperity depended, she said. Her report suggests a city image promotion and co-ordi-nated city promotion strategy. It proposes the view that Christchurch needs to promote its existing attributes and advantages. All recommendations would be “market-tested” before implementation. Work on the city’s image could proceed this year, including the setting up of a Christchurch news agency to disseminate information on the city both nationally and overseas; an Antarctica promotion which recognised Christchurch as the "premier international centre” for Antarc-tica-related activities; and planning for a “hallmark event.” The co-ordinated promotion strategy is based on, the establishment of a “clearing house” to facilitate liaison between promotion groups.