MK Council

 

The Challenge

 

Milton Keynes Council and Destination Milton Keynes asked us to come up with an idea to support a national drive to bring more tourists and visitors to their borough. Milton Keynes had a new identity and were planning a marketing programme to promote the benefits of life in the town.

 

Our Strategy

 

For us, it seemed the task was to engage with potential visitors on a human level. We noted that local research found that 93% of residents ‘love’ living in Milton Keynes. We also spotted that a hotel booking service had recently issued a report suggesting that Milton Keynes was the least likely place to have a romantic break. At the intersection of these two facts we found our story.

 

 

We carried out national omnibus polling which confirmed that only 20% of people were prepared to ascribe the word ‘love’ to the way they feel about the place they live.

 

Our extensive desk research unearthed a series of little-known facts about Milton Keynes – more bridges than Venice, a high marriage rate, evocative street names (Midsummer Boulevard, for example) and more.

 

The Outcome

 

The story was covered extensively online, in the Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mirror (twice, including a double-page spread), The Sun and on BBC Radio 5 Live, Three Counties Radio and on Anglia Television.

 

The story has reached tens of millions of twitterers, viewers, listeners and readers.  From a standing start we brought the project to life in a matter of weeks.