The Heartbeat

Escapism through the concourses of London

The inspiration behind the campaign was the style of the travel posters from the 1960s. The beautiful, vibrant colours and simple sans-serif typography produced visually striking posters. The vintage style illustration, combined with emotive copy lines, communicated with the target audience on a nostalgic level, capturing the spirit and feel of the area and escapism from the busy city.

‘Escapism’ was key to our strategic thinking, so we decided to show the escape route – to use London as an advertising hub and then plant the ads from the Underground, along the mainline rail, all the way to Pembrokeshire, leading the way. The style of illustration helped us to display windows into that escape and helped transport people to the location by utilising a sense of nostalgia. We wanted to lift spirits and associate ‘a better time’ with Pembrokeshire Coast National Park.

Campaign success

The campaign, split into two seasons, summer and autumn, was a finalist for two CIM Awards, winner of a Canmol Award for ‘Tourism, hotels, leisure, place & destination marketing, travel and transport’, and winner of three Marketing Design Awards for ‘Leisure and Tourism’, ‘Customer Comms’ and ‘Consumer Excellence’.

In doing so, this initial campaign has since become the brand identity, with Pembrokeshire selling the posters, t-towels and other souvenirs to raise funds for the authority. Following the success of the summer and winter campaigns, further campaigns emerged. This cycle has been going on for a decade, with the original campaign posters being updated or refreshed year-on-year and still going strong. Below are some of our favourite projects.

The facts and figures

75%

Increased traffic during the promotional period

348%

QR Code drove 348% increase of site access via mobile/tablet

100%

Facebook & Twitter community increase

A brief encounter with lasting memories

The first project beyond the initial campaign was to produce a limited edition poster campaign, linking up with a local theatre to use as part of their vintage film season from September through to December. The inspiration for the poster was to merge Tenby with the production of ‘A Brief Encounter’, which was running at the theatre. The poster was rolled out at the theatre and throughout Tenby and Penally, including the rail stations, press and now in shops.

PCNPA glorious horizons illustration family

PCNPA glorious horizons illustration boats

PCNPA glorious horizons illustration fields

For a city with glorious horizons

We were later commissioned to create an advertising campaign as part of a bid to help the city of St Davids get awarded the ‘City of Culture’ status for 2021. The campaign followed the same nostalgic art direction as previous campaigns, using stunning illustrations paired with emotive headlines to draw on the escapism of the area. The singular poster campaign reflects the cultural heritage of the St. Davids peninsula landscape. It incorporates a strapline that balances the future-facing ambition of the city with its beautiful scenery and surrounding environment.

Nature's sanctuary

For Pembrokeshire’s 70th year, we were asked to create another limited edition poster campaign to mark the visit of the H.R.H Prince of Wales, now King Charles III, to St Govan’s Chapel. The poster was to be used to advertise the hike and hidden chapel nestled in the cliffside and to be presented to the King in person. It is likely one of our most prestigious projects to date, all born out of the trust built over a ten-year relationship.

1/1

Marie Edwards, Marketing Manager at PCNPA

“Hatched transformed a simple advertising concept into our most successful marketing campaign ever. In short, they’re brilliant.”

Results

From the first campaign to any following creative, the look-and-feel has been adopted by and synonymous with the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park and surrounding areas. It is still sold in retailers throughout Wales, utilised as a running campaign, and successfully built brand and location recognition throughout the UK and beyond. It’s an organisation and team that we relish working with time and time again, and we’re looking forward to the next one. Keep your eyes peeled.