Challenge

Revitalise a successful attraction with dwindling visitor numbers. Walk into Jorvik and you enter an authentic recreation of the Viking city of York in AD975: the looks, the sounds, the smells. It is owned by the York Archaeological Trust and owes its stunning authenticity to the wealth of archaeological evidence unearthed by the Coppergate Dig during the 1970s. Jorvik opened in 1984 and was a resounding critical success, rapidly establishing itself as one of Britain’s leading leisure and tourism attractions with over 12 million visitors in 17 years. But by 2000 attendance figures were waning. So a 5-month, £5 million refurbishment was commissioned, and Huet Aminto was briefed to relaunch Jorvik in both the domestic and overseas markets.

Creative thinking

“The Viking City Recaptured” was the theme we developed for the integrated relaunch campaign, encompassing TV, consumer and travel trade press advertising, literature and online activity. Visually the core of the campaign was a Viking sword, with images appearing and disappearing as its shining blade rotated. This allowed us to be especially adventurous in outdoor media, recreating the rotating sword effect with “now you see it, now you don’t” lenticular bus sides. The sword of Jorvik also invaded cyberspace via viral emails, and a surprising number of fearsome Vikings were spotted on the streets of York.

Results

In the month Jorvik reopened visitor numbers were 26% up year on year. By the end of the first season Jorvik had welcomed over 500,000 visitors.