Experience Nature and History in Eastbourne

Challenge

Eastbourne Park was being redeveloped as an archaeological, ecological and leisure reserve, whilst still maintaining its primary function as a floodplain. Proposals included the creation of a local nature reserve and visitor centre, along with increased walking and cycling routes.

Solution

We were aware of the budget restraints for this project and so proposed the creation of a microsite detailing information about the park and offering a survey to allow people to register their views and opinions on it.

A link to the microsite was sent in an e-shot we created to around 4,000 relevant parties, including businesses and schools, encouraging them to fill in a questionnaire in order for Eastbourne Borough Council to understand what people wanted from the proposed Eastbourne Park development.

Once we had collated the feedback from the microsite questionnaire, we were able to create a brand for the park. We recommended the name Eastbourne Wetland Park for the project and created a logo with strapline and graphics for marketing material, as well as a park way-finding system.

The logo’s modified labyrinth motif represents a path facilitating deeper exploration of a finite space, as opposed to a path from A to B, evoking the core values and purpose of Eastbourne Wetland Park. The further adaptation of the labyrinth to form the letter E ensures the logo works as a distinct identifier for the park brand, as well as a narrative device.

The strapline Experience Nature And History reflects the vision of developing the area as an ecological, archaeological and a leisure resource, and the muted primary and secondary colour palettes used on the website reflect the character of the brand and add vibrancy to its communications.

Result

The e-shot we created was opened by 50% of recipients, compared to an average of 22% opened government e-shots, and 15.3% of recipients clicked on the link to the microsite, compared to an average of 3.1% for government e-shot click-throughs.