Totally Locally Leek
Totally Locally is a big idea put together by a small bunch of people. If you like it, and think it would be good for your town, you can have it – for free. It won’t cost you anything. All we want from you is that you commit to it, you get a bit giddy and excited and you go for it!
We’ll help you get started, we’ll come up and talk to your town’s shop keepers and we’ll give you a website, help you set up a facebook page, and give you all the design templates and plans for the campaign, along with a suggested timetable (rough) of what works best at what time.
That’s what happened in Leek. A couple of people liked it, asked their friends if they thought it would be good for Leek. When they said yes, they invited us down to present the idea to some shop owners & business people. 3 months later Totally Locally Leek is launched. We gave the marketing material, campaign framework and designs (plus a load of phone chats & a few visits!) and the group of Totally Locally Leekers grew. Launched on 17th September.
Why did we do it? We love our independent shops and businesses, and realised that the competition from the big multi-nationals was killing our high streets. Our background is in branding, marketing & business consultancy. We realised that what is missing from most small businesses and towns is a structured branding and marketing approach (sorry this is sounding a bit corporate but bear with us!), something that everyone can get their teeth into, which is easy for the general public to buy into. And it’s proven!
The campaign came about when our Council (Calderdale Council in West Yorkshire) put some money aside to help small shops at the start of the economic downturn. Totally Locally was our response. We built a structure that really worked, and has had a big impact on the towns of Calderdale, but more importantly has led to a change in shopping habits. How? Well it makes it easy for people to do something that will make a difference to where they live. The £5 message really hit home, and with the follow up of the rest of the campaign, Totally Locally has become a much loved brand in our area.
Then other towns asked if we could do it for them. We thought hard about it then went, yep!
Free?! Yes it is. Truly. We don’t charge, we don’t do advertising, we don’t ask for anything. If you want to give something great, but to be honest that’s not what it’s about. We are honest in the fact that in 5 years time and if this all goes the way we plan, we might make a living on the lecture circuit, but for now our day jobs pay our wages. Totally Locally is our “unreasonable passion” – and everyone should have one of those. Sometimes you know when something is just “The right thing to do”.
Totally Locally Ltd is a Social Enterprise. We love what we do, we get excited that we could possibly make a big impact on the towns of the UK, by being a bit clever, working with great people who care and playing the big boys at their own game.
And that’s it really. Thanks for reading. Over & Out!
