Challenge

A dark, ancient and mysterious network of closes runs beneath Edinburgh’s Royal Mile. The area had long been used for evening ghost tours, generating all kinds of eerie myths and legends, when the idea was born to create a visitor attraction around Mary King’s Close and its neighbouring streets. But Edinburgh already had many ghost tours and a host of other competing attractions - especially during the annual Edinburgh Festival. The challenge therefore was to position The Real Mary King’s Close differently, getting it noticed, distinguishing it from all the competition and giving it a unique appeal to Edinburgh’s army of domestic and overseas visitors.

Creative thinking

The answer was to base the attraction’s appeal on true history - positioning it as a site telling authentic people’s stories drawn from hard evidence. Hence the all-important word “Real” in the name. But the sensational also played its part. We developed a spooky Ghostfest logo to mark a major event at the new attraction. And visitors arriving in Edinburgh by train were greeted at Waverley Station by unmissable floor graphics giving the illusion of an ancient staircase, and inviting them to descend into the mysterious depths below the city. They were then primed to pay even more attention to the bus sides and taxis promoting The Real Mary King’s Close around Edinburgh - just part of the integrated marketing campaign we developed to promote The Real Mary King’s Close to its local, regional, national and international markets. To maintain its hard-earned share of voice during the Festival season, Huet Aminto was also commissioned to create a TV campaign.

Results

In its first season visitor numbers surpassed those budgeted for by 84%.The launch campaign was Highly Commended in the Marketing Campaign category of the Museum and Heritage Show Awards for Excellence.