Fortune Favours the Brave at Crieff Hydro -- POSH agency

Sept. 11, 2013 - PRLog -- A Perthshire hotel and leisure complex which capitalised on the success of Oscar-winning animated adventure, Brave,has helped promote Scotland to the world on an unprecedented level.

Crieff Hydro (http://www.crieffhydro.com/) in Perthshire has reaped financial benefits on the back of the popular family film, after setting up a package allowing visitors to book their own Brave experience.

Disney-Pixar’s summer blockbuster of 2012 captured the imagination of adults and children alike, across more than 70 countries. Visitor attractions associated with the film and hotels included within a special Disney adventure tour have also been cashing in on the film.

Crieff Hydro came up with ‘Hydro Legend Training’ for children - a package which encompassed horse riding round the estate, archery and outdoor bushcraft sessions, with lots of essential survival tips from navigation to identifying and sampling edible plants. The promotion was offered during July and August 2012 and featured on the website and in promotional materials throughout the summer.

Geoff Morrison, Marketing Manager (Resort) at Crieff Hydro said:

“With over 60 on-site experiences (http://www.crieffhydro.com/leisure/things-to-do.aspx) in stunning Perthshire settings, Crieff Hydro had all the Brave ingredients. Incorporating horse riding (http://www.crieffhydro.com/leisure/things-to-do/horse-rid...), archery (http://www.crieffhydro.com/leisure/things-to-do/archery.aspx) and bushcraft (http://www.crieffhydro.com/leisure/things-to-do/bush-craft.aspx), we created the ultimate Hydro Legend package for our summer guests. In total, we sold 35 packages and have no doubt that this attracted guests to stay with us too.”

Recent research shows that thousands of visitors are likely to visit Scotland over the next five years having seen the film - representing £120 million* worth of business to Scotland.

The study also reveals that VisitScotland/Brave marketing activity reached around 82million people in the UK, North America and Europe through the TV advertising campaign; 505 million people worldwide through editorial; and over 6 million through social media (Facebook, Twitter and YouTube).

Attractions such as Dunnottar Castle (the inspiration for DunBroch Castle in the film) and the Callanish Stones have both reported significant increases in visitors this summer of circa 16% and 10% respectively with the interest in Brave a principle reason behind the rise.

Mike Cantlay, Chairman of VisitScotland, said:

“This is just the beginning of how VisitScotland plans to maximize on Brave. One of the reasons we were so determined to work with Disney was that the movie was dubbed into every relevant language across the world, an ideal vehicle to reach emerging markets. What’s more, Brave is primarily targeted at a young, influential audience. I genuinely anticipate Scottish tourism benefitting from this movie well into the 2020s.

“As well as the Brave Adventures by Disney which have been hugely popular, the thing that inspires me the most are the projects and initiatives that smaller tour operators and companies have started off their own backs. To be successful in this industry we have to grab every opportunity like Brave which comes our way and this is what we will continue to do in 2014 when Scotland Welcomes the World with the Commonwealth Games, Ryder Cup and Homecoming.”

Fergus Ewing, Tourism Minister, said:

“The global success of Brave has been a great boost to Scotland’s tourism sector. Brave has increased international awareness of Scotland and showcased the magnificent historic sites and beautiful landscapes that our country has to offer. I’m delighted by the success of the film and the boost we expect it to continue to bring to the economy.”

THE BRAVE EFFECT ‘AT A GLIMPSE’

1. Kingsmills Hotel in Inverness, is part of Disney’s Scotland: A Brave Adventure tour. In 2013, these tours have produced 846 room nights for the hotel with 1469 Disney guests bringing revenue of around £158,652. This was new business for the hotel for 2013.

2. Crieff Hydro came up with ‘Hydro Legend Training’ for children - a package which encompassed horse riding, archery and bushcraft sessions. The promotion was offered during July and August 2012 and featured on the website and in promotional materials throughout the summer.

3. Qualified Scottish Blue Badge Guide Laura Matuszak set up her own tour company ‘Celebrate Scotland’ in 2010 and came up with an exciting new itinerary based on Brave. Laura leads tours throughout Scotland and creates bespoke itineraries, designed to suit any budget, timescale and individual or group type.

4. New family friendly and Brave product developed by VisitScotland international partners contributed to overall target of £22M of new leisure product for 2012/13

5. Adventures by Disney doubled departure numbers due to demand (contributing £500K to the Bed Night Study) and plan to brochure the Brave product in the long term.

6. For the periods Dec 2011-Jun 2012 and Dec 2012-Jun 2013: VS.com saw an approx 41% increase (from 97,682 to 137,400) in visits by Brave-related keywords post-Brave campaign. Keywords are: Highland, Archery, Castle, Standing Stone, Horse Riding, Movie.

1. Additional performance metrics are as follows:

1. Visits to Brave website 1.7m

2. Tourism businesses engaged 1000

3. In kind supported secured £45,000

4. Estimated additional spend by 2016 - £121m

5. Referrals to partners* 32,610

6. Data acquisition** 215,000

7. TV Campaign Reach 82,000,000

8. Editorial Reach 505m

9. Facebook English 5m

Foreign Language 800,000

10. You Tube video views 580,000

11. Twitter tweets 1875

12. Online impressions*** UK 6.29m (72,445 visits to web)

13. Online impressions NA 44.2m (80k visits to web)

14. Online impressions Europe 239m (787k visits to web)

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