The idea
Chiswick is a fantastic part of London to visit and spend time in but is often overlooked. In 2014/15, a number of exciting new events and pop ups have come together to challenge this perception. need significant support and investment to spread the word online and on the high street. Chiswick's unique independent shops, restaurants and cafes are a powerful draw for visitors, but they need marketing support.
Metropolis, Europe's biggest independent recording studio, Fuller's family brewery & Sipsmith distillery are world famous local brands; we need to attract more businesses like these to the area too.
Chiswick hosts many cultural events: Chiswick Literary Festival; Artists at Home; EatChiswick Festival; Bedford Park Festival and the Super Saturday of Sport. We need a cohesive marketing strategy to help them grow and bring in new visitors to the area.
Chiswickians have a strong sense of community and pride in the area; we want the rest of the world to feel the same.
What we'll deliver
- Build a DestinationChiswick website to serve the community, promote the area as a place to visit and do business
- Develop signage and wayfinding maps for deployment around key transport locations such as overground and tube stations
Why it's a great idea
Chiswick has a great story to tell but it lacks the cohesion that marketing the area as a branded destination will bring. By creating digital and offline materials to promote the area as a place to visit we will increase footfall and visitor numbers while creating a stronger sense of community identity and pride.
Chiswick has been severely impacted by the opening of Westfield in nearby Shepherd’s Bush. Many local retailers and restaurant owners have reported that footfall is down considerably. We strongly believe that Chiswick has something different to offer – an “anti-dote” to the chain shopping culture, somewhere where quirky and unique products can be found that put the magic back into the shopping experience.
Bringing together the cultural, leisure and business life will bring significant benefits to the local area for the local community while encouraging day visitors from the UK and abroad.
Steps to get it done
- The DestinationChiswick town team will manage projects with support from the Chiswick Town Manager
- We will create a strategy & implementation plan to roll out the web site and signage by year end 2015
- DestinationChiswick team members will work together to deliver this, many will give professional services pro bono
- We have a web site design and build plan ready to go, and a plan for printed assets and wayfinding
The DestinationChiswick team has identified a number of challenges for the Chiswick area which it believes it can overcome:
Online/social media presence is not very strong
Lack of cohesive 'Chiswick story'
Chiswick is disjointed; sits in LBofHounslow and LBofEaling and 3 wards, long High Street and surrounding streets are disparate
Major businesses (Chiswick Business Park, Sky, GSK, Brompton) disconnected from the community
We will overcome these challenges by creating a story of Chiswick which will be told through the web site and by placing strategic signage and wayfinding. Many of the events below will support and benefit from this strategy:
Bedford Park Festival - Summer festival
EatChiswick Food and Drink Festival June 1-8 2016
EatChiswick monthly street food market (Oct 2015)
ShopChiswick (free social media training and guerilla marketing events)
SuperSaturday of Sports
Chiswick Book Festival
