What Makes a Place Matter? The Marketing Strategy Behind The Beacon’s Evolution

Challenge

For The Beacon in Eastbourne, the challenge wasn't simply to increase footfall or promote individual retailers. It was about strengthening the centre's role as a destination within the wider town and ensuring it remained relevant to the people who live, work and spend time in Eastbourne. 

The Beacon needed to be more than somewhere people visited because they had a particular purchase to make. It needed to become somewhere people had a reason to choose, a place where families could spend time together, where local people could discover something new, and where the wider community could feel represented. 

That meant moving beyond a traditional retail marketing model focused on individual campaigns, offers and seasonal promotions. The opportunity was to develop a more cohesive approach: one that reflected the character of Eastbourne, responded to what mattered to its audiences and gave people compelling reasons to engage with the centre throughout the year. 

The question became: What role can The Beacon play in the life of its community, and how can marketing help make that role meaningful? 

Solution

PRG developed a more connected approach to The Beacon's communications and activity, moving away from treating campaigns as individual moments and towards a programme built around people, place and participation. 

Delivering this meant working across PR, content creation, social media and website management as one connected offer rather than separate services - media coverage and press releases to build local relevance, engaging social content to bring each activation and retailer to life day-to-day and website management to ensure all communication channels reflect the same story. 

It's about developing a way of thinking about the role a shopping centre can play in its community and then bringing that strategy to life in lots of different ways. That has meant creating activities for different audiences and different reasons to visit throughout the year. 

Family experiences have included immersive and character-led activity such as Dinosaur Discovery Days and Paddington meet and greets, creating shared experiences and giving families reasons to visit during key periods such as school holidays. 

Culture and community have been a vital piece of the programme through initiatives in the GATHER community space, as well as involvement in the Eastbourne Carnival, a World Book Day installation, and an ongoing art exhibition by a local artist. 

Sport and heritage have provided opportunities to connect The Beacon with the town's identity, including a flagship LTA installation offering free tennis within the centre.  

Major local events such as Airbourne provide another opportunity to position The Beacon as part of the wider Eastbourne experience rather than as a destination operating separately from the town around it. 

The approach extends beyond entertainment too. The Community Support Guide gives The Beacon an opportunity to provide genuinely useful information and signposting to local support, demonstrating that community engagement can have a practical purpose too. 

Across the programme, PRG considers how campaigns can involve retailers, partners and local organisations, creating opportunities for participation rather than simply placing promotional messages in front of audiences. 

Result

The result is a more rounded and recognisable role for The Beacon within the Eastbourne community. 

Beacon now has a programme of activity that can speak to families, young people, older residents, visitors, local businesses and the wider community. Each campaign has its own objective and audience, but collectively they contribute to a consistent destination proposition: 

The Beacon is more than somewhere to shop. It's somewhere to experience, discover and come together. 

For retailers, this creates additional opportunities to participate in campaigns and benefit from destination-wide activity. For audiences, it provides more reasons to visit throughout the year. For The Beacon itself, it strengthens the connection between the centre and the town it serves. 

Because successful place marketing isn't just about asking: 

“How do we get people to visit?” 

It's about asking: 

“Why should people feel that this place matters to them?” 

And that's where strategy makes the difference.