City of Fremantle / Economic development & marketing

CBD marketing plan

RETAIL & PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

2011 to 2015

Executive summary

In order to ensure the success of this approach, the City's marketing staff will support businesses trading in the retail and professional services sectors in the Fremantle CBD by: designing series of campaigns over twelve months (financial year) publishing the campaigns in an annual prospectus selling buy-in conducting the campaigns that achieved sufficient buy-in evaluating each campaign and publish the results of each campaign

The City of Fremantle will market the Fremantle CBD, using find yourself in fremantle branding and promote the CBD as the premier retail, commercial and hospitality precinct in the Perth metropolitan area.

The City of Fremantles advertising and promotional activities program will focus on facilitating cooperative advertising and promotion of the retail and brand strengths of Fremantle to selected target markets. The primary goal is to increase mid week trade and capitalise on cross promotional opportunities during annual festivals and events. The approach is focused on taking quality retail products and professional services sectors in the Fremantle CBD that are recognised as the citys strengths, under the umbrella of a well branded campaign, to a geographic and socio-economic profiled target markets. The City's economic development and marketing staff will, in consultation with the Fremantle CBD retail, entertainment, hospitality and professional services sectors, design and deliver a range of campaigns to be undertaken each financial year. The campaigns will be costed, including a buy-in pricing for business participation, and published in a prospectus. Campaigns will only proceed if buy-in levels are sufficient to enable the campaign to achieve its objective.

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Current environment

On 1 July 2008 the City of Fremantle took over management of the Fremantle First brand and introduced a differential rate to fund the management, administration and delivery of marketing activities to enhance central Fremantles economic and social viability. After successfully implementing the marketing program for the past two years, the City is now shifting the focus of the differential rate funds to economic development activities that build the strength and sustainability of business, retail and commercial sectors of the CBD. The tag line find yourself in fremantle was developed for destination marketing and promotion in 2008 and is now used in all advertising and promotions. Fremantle is an important regional centre in the Perth metropolitan area providing a wide range of retail and professional services. Anchors of the retail sector include a Coles supermarket, located in the Woolstores Shopping Centre, a Woolworths supermarket, located in the Adelaide Street Plaza complex, a Target department store and Myer department store. High Street style shopping is dominant in Fremantles retail mix. An eclectic mix of stores line High Street, Market Street, South Terrace and the arcades providing a marketplace atmosphere that is the heart and soul of Fremantle. The commercial mix includes financial institutions, government departments, medical services and other professional services. A number of major festivals and events are held in Fremantle each year, including Fremantle Festival, Fremantle Street Arts Festival and the Fremantle Araluen Chilli Festival, and each is a major drawcard for Perth residents and people from interstate and overseas visiting Perth and Fremantle.
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Co-operative advertising and promotion

Co-operative advertising and promotion is a common approach used in retail and tourism environments that enables businesses to achieve a much greater impact and return from their advertising budget. Typically, a number of retail businesses in a precinct who have compatible product and are interested in targeting similar market segments pool their financial resources and advertise or promote co-operatively. Co-operative advertising and promotional activities are more effective and powerful; and less costly to the individual retail business. By pooling resources, individual businesses advertisements can be placed in more and / or better publications and domestic media, including television and radio, and can have a stronger impact through the application of locational branding. Advertisements can also make a retail precinct more appealing by packaging together a range of product. Promotional activities can likewise have a stronger impact. While an individual advertisement is likely to be lost competing for space, a well-designed co-operative advertisement significantly increases the likelihood of the consumer seeing an advertisement. As well as being larger and more likely to attract consumer attention, a co-operative advertisement also has the benefit of combining the sell that attracts people to Fremantle, alongside individual retail and professional services offers.

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Current situation

Fremantle in recent years has enjoyed the benefits of being a designated tourism precinct, able to open on Sundays when major shopping centres are closed. Changes to retail trading hours/tourism precincts are imminent and Fremantle will soon lose this advantage. Only a few Fremantle businesses have the marketing budget to fund substantial advertising and promotional activities in a sustained and systematic fashion.
1

Fremantle is a popular destination for day trippers from throughout the Perth metropolitan area and environs at weekends. These visitors frequent the many cafes, restaurants and entertainment businesses in Fremantle. Mid week trade across all sectors in Fremantle comes predominantly from the nearly 24,000 people (residents and non-residents) that work in Fremantle. Small independent retail stores contribute to a unique mix with a village style atmosphere that is not found in major shopping centres, however Fremantle's retail offer is inconsistent and anchors are dispersed and less effective. Garden City at Booragoon is one of the top performing shopping centres in Australia. In addition the Cockburn Gateway Shopping Centre captures many customers as a preferred shopping destination. Both centres are significant competitors to Fremantle for comparison shopping. A survey* of Fremantle residents in November 2010 asked about their shopping preferences. The survey indicated that Garden City captured significant share of the shopping spend of Fremantle residents. Timed, paid parking and the perception of a lack of parking is seen to be a barrier for some of Fremantles potential customers, who prefer to shop at what Is seen by many as a more leisurely pace in centres that provide free parking. While individual retail and professional services businesses in Fremantle may have detailed data on the sources of their customers there is no overall information currently available, and limited sharing of information between businesses to guide the development of effective advertising and promotional campaigns.

City of Fremantle Retail Model Plan, November 2010, Shetliffe, David West

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Customer profile

SECONDARY NORTH TRADE AREA

Fremantles secondary north trade area comprises the affluent suburbs of Mosman Park, Cottesloe, Peppermint Grove, Claremont and Nedlands, located just to the north of Fremantle. These residents live between five and ten kilometres from Fremantle, a distance that represents a comfortable journey such that Fremantle should be a relatively popular destination for this population. In the secondary north trade area 45% of residents are in the 34 59 age group (25% above the state average). This area has lower proportions in the 0 - 34 years (13% below the state average), and the 60+ years (17% below the state average). The proportion of residents with a degree qualification or higher is 55% (282% above the state average) and household ownership is high at 39% (28% above the state average), reflecting high levels of wealth in this area.

PRIMARY TRADE AREA

Fremantles primary trade area comprises the local government area of Fremantle. Residents of the Primary Trade Area live within about five kilometres of Fremantle and would regard Fremantle as their primary destination for retail, employment and other centre activities. The age profile of Fremantle indicates a slightly larger proportion of residents in the 34-59 age group (9% above the state average), and a much larger proportion of residents in the 60+ age group (27% above the state average.) The most common industries for the employment of residents in the primary trade area in the 2006 census were Health Care and Social Assistance, 13.2%; Education and Training, 11.5%; Retail Trade, 9.6%; and Professional, Scientific and Technical Services, 9%. The residents of the primary trade area are well educated, with 24% of residents having a degree qualification or higher (65% above the state average). The percentage of professionals in the primary trade area is 71% above the state average, reflecting the high percentage of degree or higher qualified residents.

SECONDARY SOUTH TRADE AREA

Fremantles secondary south trade area comprises the large local authority areas of Cockburn and Melville. These residents also live between five and ten kilometres from Fremantle. Along with Garden City at Booragoon, Fremantle is likely to be regularly visited by residents of this area, particularly for employment and professional services. In the secondary south trade area a high proportion of residents, 27% are over 60 years (58% above the state average). The area has an unemployment rate of 3.1% (17% below the state average) and 32% of the residents have degree qualifications or higher.

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TERTIARY TRADE AREA

Fremantles tertiary trade area represents the remaining part of the Perth metropolitan area. This area extends from Joondalup in the north to Rockingham in the south and west to the Darling Range. Most residents of this area reside within 40 kilometres of Fremantle. A significant proportion of these residents presently visit Fremantle for dining, retail or other entertainment reasons. Due to the large area covered, the age distribution of the residents of the tertiary trade area closely reflect the state average, with 48% of the population aged between 0 34, 35% aged between 34 59 and 17% aged 60+.

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Challenges
The three main challengers for retail and professional service business in the Fremantle CBD; 1. Shopping centres are taking on village style characteristics as part of an international trend including attracting professional service businesses. Three premier shopping centres competing with Fremantle are Garden City at Booragoon, Cockburn Gateway and the recently opened Claremont Quarter (Feb 2011) . Garden City and Claremont Quarter house high quality retail tenants including David Jones, Myer and many of the larger national brand stores. 2. More liberal trading hours are now being progressively applied across the whole of Perth Metropolitan Area. The City of Joondalup has recently been granted tourism status and as such is able to trade on Sundays. 3. Other premier strip shopping locations located in the western suburbs are undergoing redevelopment and are as a consequence are competing more aggressively with Fremantle. These include Napolean Street, Cottesloe; Rokeby Road, Subiaco and Bayview Terrace, Claremont. Hillarys Boat Harbour has recently undertook a significant advertising campaign targeting Fremantles customer base.

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Major opportunities and threats

SWOT ANALYSIS STRENGTHS
Strong interest, ownership and love of Fremantle across target markets Positive outlook by retail Strong and established festival and events High volume of potential customers 1870 businesses receive the Fremantle Trader enewsletter Nearly 24,000 people work in Fremantle Pedestrian friendly city Atmosphere of city Strong retail mix Investment in demographic products (id)

WEAKNESSES
Decline in local day to day shopping in the CBD Timed, paid parking culture, availability of parking Poorly linked anchor tenants Limited activity during mid week trade Lack of research data on where Fremantle customers come from (eg postcode data) High customer traffic but low return Perception that Fremantle is a difficult place to do business Negative press

OPPORTUNITIES
Cooperative advertising approach (financial benefits to Fremantle business) Focused, targeted branding and marketing Lift average $ spend of customers and spread across other retail and professional services sectors Access to high volume of potential and customers through festival and events, working population, day trippers Unique retail mix and atmosphere of Fremantle Sunday and public holiday trading Change in demographics

THREATS
Trading mall shopping centre (Garden City, Claremont Quarter, Cockburn Central) Changes to retail trading hours/tourism precincts Perception of safety and security in CBD

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Marketing objectives

1.

Move to a cooperative advertising and promotion approach to increase Fremantles representation in the press and radio initially and television ultimately.

2.

Position Fremantle CBD as the premium retail, commercial and hospitality precinct in the Perth metropolitan area.

3. 4.

Lift spend and extend spend across all days of the week. Increase the number of customers that come to Fremantle during off-peak periods (winter months) of the year.

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Marketing strategy

POSITIONING STRATEGY
The tag line find yourself in Fremantle describes the key attributes of the city with a specific focus on shopping city and fashion city. find yourself in Fremantle - shopping city find yourself in Fremantle - fashion city find yourself in Fremantle - entertainment city find yourself in Fremantle - festival city find yourself in Fremantle - heritage city find yourself in Fremantle - maritime city

1.

Develop a series of campaigns over the financial year and publish in an annual prospectus Sell buy-in to the CBD (retail and professional services) campaigns. Conduct the campaigns that achieved sufficient buy-in; and feedback to businesses the results of these campaigns.

2. 3.

Campaigns will be branded with the most appropriate catch phrase and cross promotion of phrases will be used when possible. A key aspect of this approach will be to encourage those businesses participating in these co-operative campaigns to include a clear call to action tools to measure campaign success.

The City of Fremantles CBD advertising and promotional activities will focus on facilitating cooperative advertising and promotion of Fremantles product and brand strengths, using the find yourself in fremantle brand. The approach will take quality retail and professional services products that are recognised as Fremantles strengths, to proven markets under the umbrella of a well branded campaign that targets specific market segments. The cooperative advertising and promotional effort will package together a range of compatible products which will have high levels of appeal and more effectively come to the attention of the market segment being targeted.

TARGET MARKET
This plan targets the primary trade area of Fremantle, the secondary north trade area comprising the affluent suburbs of Mosman Park, Cottesloe, Peppermint Grove, Claremont and Nedlands and sections of the secondary south trade area including Bicton, Palmyra, Melville, Attadale, Applecross and Mount Pleasant.

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Marketing actions

1.

Develop co-operative advertising and promotional campaigns that focus on Fremantle as a premium retail, commercial and hospitality precinct.

2. 3. 4.

Build campaigns around non peak periods for shoppers. Develop and promote a calendar of events for businesses and customers. Develop interactive map of businesses on www.fremantle.wa.gov.au that profiles the depth and breadth of the retail, hospitality and commercial sector in Fremantle and supports individual campaigns. (a dedicated CBD marketing website may be developed in the future to facilitate a range of digital strategies).

In addition to these actions the City of Fremantle through the economic development and marketing unit will; 5. 6. 7. Establish an image library that is accessible to Fremantle businesses. Improve key entrance signage points to city that incorporate positioning statements. Explore, in association with Fremantle Chamber of Commerce, the opportunity to incorporate retail and professional services categories in the annual Fremantle Business Awards initiative. 8. Host and facilitate regular forums on topics relevant to the retail and professional service sector. 9. Establish an industry reference group to provide advice to the City's marketing staff and to monitor the implementation of the marketing plan and the performance of individual campaigns. 10. Investigate introduction of counters on key corner sites to measure pedestrian traffic.
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Evaluation

1.

Individual campaign evaluation: Industry buy in to co-operative advertising and promotional campaigns Survey results from cooperative advertising and promotional campaign participants including responses to calls to action (feedback from business) Number of responses to campaigns where applicable (eg online registrations and presentation of coupons)

2.

Results from an expanded Business Climate Survey that surveys the retail and professional services sectors in the Fremantle CBD about the level of early and mid week trade.

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Sources
id. profile, id. atlas, id. economy sourced November 2010 City of Fremantle Retail Model Plan, November 2010, Shetliffe, West Australian Bureau of Statistics - 2006 Census

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