Entered by Brand Scotland

The COVID-19 pandemic and Scotland’s exit from the EU have devastated Scotland’s economy, art, culture and tourism. Scotland also has a population crisis: people are ageing, fertility rates are falling, and the country is reliant on new people moving here for future growth. It’s vital, therefore, to present the country internationally as innovative, progressive and inspirational, and demonstrate an appetite to welcome people to live, work, study, visit and do business with Scotland.

Scotland’s role as host of COP26 also presented a unique opportunity to promote Scotland’s reputation internationally, particularly in climate leadership. Ahead of and during COP26, the Brand Scotland partnership created a new marketing campaign to rebuild intent and consideration for Scotland. This campaign was also the perfect opportunity to debut the new nation marque, an essential element of Scotland’s overall communications strategy.

Each of Brand Scotland partners’ campaigns were doing a great job of demonstrating what Scotland offers the world that’s unique. Rather than duplicate and dilute this in the over-arching brand strategy, the team realised there was an opportunity to flip the perspective. Instead of showcasing ‘what’ Scotland offers, they could showcase ‘why’.

A raft of research backed this approach, showing how the global pandemic, and climate change were causing many more liberal-minded people to question what kind of country they wanted to live, work, study or do business in. Advertising activity focused on people in major cities in Germany, France and US and the strategy first prioritised reach to communicate an overarching message of Scotland and its values, partnering with The New York Times and BBC Worldwide. Messaging was reinforced with contextual targeting that drove conversation.

The resulting creative, ‘Scotland is Open’, showcases Scotland’s values - as a ‘force for good’ representing an international outlook built on kindness, equality, fairness, and climate. The campaign was launched 8 November 2021 and timing was critical in ensuring optimum cut-through amidst the inevitable noise of COP26. The team put in place a phased approach from the start of COP26, launching initially on organic media with paid activity kicking in a week later.

The BBC Worldwide and the New York Times partnerships drove global reach for the campaign and the new nation marque in key markets by aligning contextually relevant, Scotland branded editorial with commercial TV opportunities across Europe and America.

Through key partnerships with Scottish Government’s international network offices, the team were able to extend this reach to other key markets including China and Canada. The new nation marque was front and centre across paid for media assets and could also be seen on trains, planes, taxis, on large format poster sites and building wraps around COP26 venues. It also covered the pitch at Murrayfield Stadium for the Six Nations rugby, broadcast to 15 million people globally. The ‘show not tell’ approach was reinforced through a programme of PR and partnership engagement with press trips, packs for journalists and social media at both COP26 and EXPO 2020 Dubai. And a dedicated content plan, supported by all Brand Scotland partners, ran across core channels throughout the campaign.

The NYT partnership added a depth and richness to the campaign. In total, it delivered 6,848,646 impressions and 12,422 clicks attaining a CTR of 0.18% (industry standard 0.1 %). The BBC partnership delivered in full on both digital and TV with an estimated 18 million TV impacts in France, Germany and the US.