Place Marketing
Healthy thriving businesses lead to healthy thriving communities and places
If we are to reverse the trend of High Street decline and create regenerated and vibrant places, we need to engage with the whole community to start to change sentiment and give people a ‘local focus’.
We do this through a process of place branding, communication, events and local business support – always highlighting the positives – to create a heightened sense of pride in place and foster the right conditions for investment and regeneration.
How We Make A Difference
We have run successful projects for Bridgnorth, Wellington and now Shifnal (through branding of ‘Love Bridgnorth’ ‘Love Wellington and ‘Love Shifnal’) which has seen engagement with the community and local businesses boosted, working with local councils and regeneration partnerships to assist local businesses; promoting these places as attractive towns in which to live, work and visit.
We have a combined social media following of nearly 40,000 and an average reach of around 1-million interactions per month driven by high engagement levels. We feature around 35 press stories a year and are regulars on local TV and radio to keep the messaging of the town current, consistent and prominent.
In Wellington, we have seen a reduction in town centre vacancy rates from 15% to 9% and under our guidance Bridgnorth won the large market town category of ‘The Great British High Street’ competition in 2016, with Wellington as runner up in 2020 in the ‘Rising Star’ category of the same competition.
Footfall has increased through events and we have seen a steady flow of inward investment with new business start ups in the towns.
How we work
We follow a proven process of discovery, implementation and maintenance, with various tools and campaigns – carefully curated to be unique and appropriate to each place.
Creating the individual brand for the town, then using social media platforms and traditional media (including TV and radio) in a positive way to engage and promote places to reach wide audiences and to encourage local people to shop locally and make the town their focus and attract a wider visitor economy working with local ‘Visit’ organisations and brands.
We also work behind the scenes to assist businesses to be more visible online, connect with each other and work together in a strategic way to boost the local economy; with training, support and networking for businesses.
About us
Since 2007, Good2Great has helped small local owner operated businesses. We believe that a thriving local economy equals a thriving community. Our place marketing has been operational since 2015 and is now delivered by our team of local champions through our not-for-profit Community Interest Company – Good4Good.
All our place marketing programmes are led by Sally Themans.
Sally has become a leading authority on place and is one of the ‘go to’ High Street ‘champions’ of Shropshire for local press, TV and radio and also instigated and organises a Shropshire Town Centre champions group which meets quarterly.
With professional membership of the Institute of Place Management and recognised as a British Chamber of Commerce ‘Business Hero’ for supporting local businesses during the pandemic, her work forms an essential independent link between local authorities, local communities and local businesses.
Having been a finalist two times in the Great British High Street Awards, she is now part of the judging panel.
Testimonials
In late 2023, we engaged Good2Great to work with us on a place making project for our town centre, its businesses, and the wider community. Less than a year in, the results are nothing short of astonishing. Sally and her team have really put Shifnal on the map by creating a brand, and a constant stream of well sourced positive news that goes out on both social and traditional media. Sally also established an events calendar with many net new events to complement the town’s existing regulars, including an incredibly successful May Day celebration. The impact with businesses, community groups and residents alike has been overwhelmingly positive, and we look forward to working with Sally and Good2Great long into the future. I would not hesitate to recommend Good2Great to other towns looking to lift their image, enhance their sense of place and benefit from the virtuous circles that begin with this level of energy and positivity.
Jan Couslon | Shifnal Town Councillor and Chair of the Town Regeneration Committee
Wellington Town Council decided it wanted to have influence on the regeneration of the town and set up the Wellington Town Council Regeneration Partnership (WTCRP) with representatives from the Borough Council, Town Council and Independent partners they have a devolved budget and actively work on behalf of the Town Council. The Town Council wanted to have a greater Social Media presence, better communications and to drive footfall into the town to help local businesses. The WTCRP engaged Good 2 Great who have created the brand 'Love Wellington' to achieve these goals.
Sally Themans brings with her expertise and contacts which we feel has opened doors resulting in visits by High Sherriff and links with the Shropshire Chamber of Commerce, giving us a broader exposure and making people more aware of what we have to offer. In this way she has pushed Wellington on to a wider audience countywide and beyond enabling us to apply for and win awards such as the Shropshire Outstanding Community Award in 2021.
Karen Roper | The Town Clerk , Wellington Town Council
