Increasing Cadw visitor numbers and memberships

Challenge

Steeped in history, Wales is rich with castles, monasteries and other places of historical importance. Cadw, the organisation responsible for caring for them and ensuring they continue to inspire current and future generations, tasked us with increasing summer footfall and driving memberships.

We needed to build a better understanding of the value that a Cadw membership offers. Visiting a Cadw site isn’t just a great day out, but visitors also play a role in protecting and celebrating Wales’ heritage.

Solution

Building on the overarching proposition of ‘Cadw- For us all, to keep’, we developed the ‘1000 reasons’ campaign, a broad concept enabling us to sell both the variety of things that can be enjoyed on a big day out, and also sell the cultural, historical and philanthropic reasons to become a Cadw member.

Everyone has a reason to visit a Cadw site this summer. Whether you like the hustle and bustle of an activity-filled day at Caernarfon, or prefer the tranquillity of Tintern, this concept shines a light on the many reasons to visit one of the many Cadw sites across Wales.

Using couplets to present people’s various reasons to visit sites across Wales, the campaign showcases the variety of locations, activities and facilities available for families, adventurers and history buffs to enjoy, while encouraging people to help support and protect Welsh heritage.

To maximise reach and keep Cadw top of mind during the summer months, we activated across TV, radio, social media and digital display. Shared, earned and owned media was used to provide the ‘why’, to create excitement and drive word of mouth about all Cadw had to offer ahead of and throughout the summer season.

Results

Paid-social exceeded its planned reach by 211%. Influencer activity reached an audience of almost 150,000, with over 5,000 positive engagements, and our organic social content delivered almost 60,000 views.

Overall, the campaign contributed to a 2% increase in visitors over a 5-month period, with memberships up 7%. Given the broader context of poor summer weather and a cost-of-living crisis impacting many family budgets, this was a positive result.