I was very interested in realizing this blog about marketing in Le Havre. It was the first time I made this. And I must avoid that I have made a lot of progress as regards my informatics competences !
I hope you will find this blog as nice as possible. If you have another question, I will try to answer it as often as possible.
In order to export the image, another idea consists in organizing some events in the town. It is direct marketing, because the participants and the media who participates to the events come directly on the spot. Therefore, the town is exported and has a dynamic image.
For instance for some years Le Havre has accomodated the “Jacques Vabre Transat”, which is a sailing racing known in the whole world. This year it will take place in October.
Look at some photographs…
But there are a lot of another examples. All sports or cultural events can be used as a marketing support for the town. And Le Havre owns a lot of facilities…
The town council wants to give a modern image of the town. That is why a lot of efforts have been made to have a nice website. And this measure is successful!
Indeed, in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006 the website of Le Havre (http://www.ville-lehavre.fr) has been marked out as “the best town website of France”. So the town is rewarded for making Internet accessible for the great majority of people, while offering much information and a lot of services on line. The results for 2007 are not published yet.
You can find here more information about the foundation which awards the prize :
http://www.villes-internet.net/UPLOAD/rubrique/pages/241/241_rubrique.php
I realized a market survey about dietary products last week. Detary products are most are more consumed by all kind of people : men , women, young and less young people. It is a subject of the moment !
You can find a summary and the result of this survey here…
Sample
15 women and 7 men accepted to answer my questionnaire. 68,2 % of the people polled were between 15 and 24 years old, 13,6 % of the people polled were over 55 years old and 9% were aged between 35 and 45 years old. People who were polled are representative of the target, with more women than men and more youths than middle-aged persons.
Description of the habits
Only 15% of the people polled never consume dietary products. This is a very low rate and a good thing for our clients : the market has outlets. Moreover 30% of the people asked consume these products several time a week : the consumption is regular most of the time.
As far as the kinds of products which are consumed, 95 % of the respondents consume light yoghourts and other dairy products, 55 % drinks, 50 % cereals or cereal bars. Only 10 % of the people polled consume ready-made meals.
As regards the price, nobody spends more than 45 € per month to buy dietary products. 90 % spend between 0 and 30 € per month (with as many people between 0 and 5 as between 5 and 15 as between 15 and 30).
There is another interesting thing to know for our clients. Indeed absolutely all people who were asked buy their products at the supermarket. Some of them can buy it at other places too, but everybody buys dietary products at the supermarket.
Finally, 57,9 % of the people polled consume dietary products with their families and 42,1 % alone. The percentage of people who don’t want to consume such products in society is quite high and must not be forgotten. Dietary products are eaten at home most of the time.
Concepts around consumption of dietary products
47 % of the people polled consider that health is the most important thing when they consume dietary products. For 42 % of people, it is slimming effect. Then, for 21 % it is taste, 11 % price and 5 % packaging. Before slimming effect, health is said to be the more important. Price seems not to be a important selection criterion for dietary products consumers.
Finally the words which were the most quoted were positive or neutral most of the time : women, slimming, health, trendy, beautiful. But some of them were negative : bad taste, expensive, marginal, diet.
The town council uses media to change the image and to try to give a modern and touristic image. That is wyh one can more and more often see some articles in press or TV programs which deal with Le Havre, and not in order to say that it is a sinistred and an industrial old-fashionned town.
The name of Le Havre is more and more citized, and I think it is a proof that the image is already changing.
For instance, you can find an interresting issue of the Express magazine, which was published on the 16 April. It is a special issue, which one deals of Le Havre, its new image and the new projects.
The subject is really in fashion !
Use of new technologies
In order to promote a brand, it is a well-known fact that it is wise to give it a modern image. It is especially the case as for the question of a town.
Indeed when you want to promote a town, you must give it a modern image. And the best way to have success is to use advertising supports which use new technologies. No doubt that Internet is the best example. Without going into to much details, a town, which is able to use Internet to show how it is pleasant to live here, is considered as a modern town, a town which is resolutely turned towards future : so the town becomes attractive.
Le Havre have already understand this. The number of links on Internet which deal with the town’s activities is impressive. Several of these can be classified in different groups :
· Official sites
Ø http://www.ville-lehavre.fr/
It is the site of town council. On this site you can find in the homepage links for all Internet adresses which have a link with Le Havre activities (sport, administration…). On « Internet au Havre » you can find all facilities that the council has created to make easy Internet access for its inhabitants.
The site has been designed as the best French town site of the web.
Ø http://www.lehavretourisme.com/
The council has created too a website deoting to tourism information. There is a English version of this site. It can be infered that it is a way to show an attractive and modern image of the town.
Ø http://www.havre-developpement.com/
This site gives a piece of information about economic dynamism of the region Le Havre and neighbourhoods. This is another example of a marketing way to give a modern and economic attractive image.
· Blogs
Blogs are a way to promote the town with modern and free methods. When you search such a blog, you find a lot of sites which are showing very nive photographs of Le Havre. This kind of support serves the marketing campaign too. My own blog could be considered too as a mean to rpomote the town . Lokk some examples of these blogs :
Ø http://www.lehavrephoto.canalblog.com/
Ø http://www.photomaville.com/
There are websites of sportive activities and official teams of Le Havre : STB for basketball, HAC for football or handball… There are sites which are devoting for that with some chats in order to exchange about these subjects.
· Videos
There are some videos on Internet which are made to promote the town. There are official and unofficial videos. Look at the links :
Ø http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRN5kDV1Oks : a video made by the Unesco World Heritage
Ø http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AO8zcfI4_Y
Ø http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyzegulhX70 : a video clip from a group of rap music and a concert in Le Havre. This can show cultural activities of Le Havre.
As far as I an concerned, I still believe that the fact to use new technologies is one of the best ways to promote a town, espiecially if it deals with Le Havre, which is suffering (but less and less) from a old-fashionned image. This shows that the town is modern, turned towards the future and cultural rich.
Since 1983 the concunil has decided to take some measures to change inhabitant’s oipinion as ragerds typical architecture of the town. It is a long and hard work. You can see here some measures :
1983 : Participation in the 1st international symposium of reconstructed cities in Brest.
1986 : Analysis of concretes and publishing of concrete construction recommendations by the technical research centre for construction and civil engineering (“C.E.B.T.P.”).
1989 : Publishing of a guide entitled “Architectures au Havre” in French and in English. This guide was distributed in a large number of European schools of architecture.
1992 : Participation in London in the exhibition and symposium of the English branch of the “DO.CO.MO.MO.” (international association for documentation and the preservation of the architecture and buildings of the modern movement), a non-governmental association bringing together over 40 countries.
The exhibition was later presented in Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh and Dessau. The City of Le Havre is a member of this association.
1993 : Participation in the 2nd international symposium of reconstructed cities in Lorient, where the international club of reconstructed cities was founded, with Le Havre a founding member.
1994 : Presentation of Le Havre’s reconstruction in Tel-Aviv at the World Conference on “international style architecture.”
1995 : Publishing of the guide “Le Havre-Auguste Perret-Le centre reconstruit”, itinéraires du patrimoine collection, by the Upper Normandy Regional Department of Cultural Affairs.
1996 : International technical symposium of the I.C.O.M.O.S. (International council for the preservation of monuments and sites) focusing on the theme “Concrete and the heritage.”
This reputation also finds expression through the developing of a specific form of cultural tourism: visits by a large number of schools of architecture and other university institutes: Ecole Nationale des Arts et Métiers (national school of engineering and technology), Research Centre for Contemporary Art History (Paris I Sorbonne), Oxford School of Architecture, Venice and Geneva University Institutes of Architecture, city delegations (Amiens, Rotterdam…), Guides du Patrimoine, etc.
And finally, maybe the post signifacant thing… In Juli 2005, the UNESCO listed the centre of Le Havre rebuilt on the World Heritage. This event had been showed on TV news. I think it was what inhabitants were waiting to rediscover their town. For the first time their town was interesting and a lot of people have begun to interest to Le Havre as a cultural town. No doubt that this measure, which is a marketing measure too, was the most successful
Despite of the fact the bad opinion of Le Havre’s inhabitants, the town has some advantages. The problem consists only in the bad image. Advantages and characteristics of the town are little-known. That is why the town council has decided to launch a marketing policy in order to change Le Havre’s image by people from the outside and almost by people from the inside…
This historical reminder was eventually useful to understand the reason why such a marketing policy has been launched.
Such a construction has not been well received. The result was not at all what Le Havre’s inhabitants expected from the rebuild by Perret. What is more surprising is the fact that Le Havre’s inhabitants were people, who were the most shocked by teh new aspect of their town. The result was not at all what Le Havre’s inhabitants expected from the rebuild by Perret.
That isthe beginning of the bad imag. Inhabitants of this generation did not like the new town and the bad image has begun to be conveyed. As far as I ma concerned I think that the main reason for the bad image of Le Havre is nothing else than tha bad opinion that its inhabitants have conveyed from generation to generation.
In 1953 French government decided to rebuild the town. So the the building site had been entrust to Auguste Perrey and his team. It was one of the most important architectural work of the last century.
