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Client Focus: Compton Acres
Project

The Client

Background
  • PRIVATELY OWNED GARDENS
  • A HISTORIC TOURIST ATTRACTION
  • HOME TO A CAFÉ, PLANT CENTRE AND GIFT SHOP
SITUATED IN CANFORD CLIFFS, POOLE, COMPTON ACRES IS ONE OF THE UK’S FINEST PRIVATELY OWNED HISTORIC GARDENS.

Spread over 10 acres, Compton Acres includes five distinct gardens. Built to reflect the original owners worldly travels these include The Italian Garden, The Wooded Valley, The Rock & Water Garden, The Heather Garden and The Japanese Garden.

Open all year round, the gardens include over 3000 rare and interesting species of plants from around the world. Providing a truly unique experience, the tourist attraction also features an adjoining Cafe & Tearooms, a dedicated Plant Centre and an enchanting Gift Shop.

The Brief

OUR OBJECTIVES
  • RAISING AWARENESS
  • REACH OUT TO LOCAL RESIDENTS
  • TO ATTRACT VISITORS FROM ACROSS THE UK
THE OWNERS OF COMPTON ACRES APPROACHED DARREN NORTHEAST PR IN 2015 TO HELP RAISE AWARENESS FOR THE ATTRACTION BOTH LOCALLY AND NATIONALLY.

Using a wide-ranging PR strategy, we sought to engage a variety of local and national media on behalf of Compton Acres. This included writing, distributing and securing features in numerous community publications, specialist gardening publications, lifestyle publications and travel & tourism publications. We also planned to engage local charities which could visit and become advocates of Compton Acres.

Producing regular and engaging content for the Compton Acres social media platforms and regular blogs for the website, we planned to increase awareness for the gardens and to enhance website SEO. Furthermore, we sought to raise the profile of the attraction by entering them into local and regional awards.

The Results

THE RESULTS
  • REGULAR FEATURES
  • REGIONAL AWARDS
  • INCREASED SOCIAL MEDIA ENGAGEMENT
  • NATIONAL INTEREST
COMPTON ACRES IS NOW ONE OF THE SOUTH’S MOST HIGHLY DECORATED TOURIST ATTRACTIONS.

Receiving national exposure, Compton Acres has been featured in The Sun, the English Garden, Garden News, Amateur Gardening, Dorset Living, Life Beyond Borders, Daily Express, Dorset Magazine, Pines & Chines and the Poole Directory to name but a few. Raising awareness for the gardens as a whole, we have also introduced new charity initiatives, which have included events and donations to local children’s charities, including the Victoria Education Centre and Julia’s House Hospice.

Getting more people to engage on social media, we have grown Compton Acres following to over 3950 on Facebook and 1000 on Instagram. Our Facebook competitions, in particular, have proved hugely successful. Our recent competition asking people to submit images in celebration of World Photo Day received over 200 entries and reached over 10,000 people.

Recognising the success of our ongoing campaign, Compton Acres has won numerous awards and is a regular awards finalist. This year they reached the finals in both the Afternoon Tea and Retail Experience Award categories at the Bournemouth & Poole Tourism Awards. They have also previously been named the ‘Best Small Attraction of the Year Award’ at the South West Tourism Awards.

The Testimonial

“Darren Northeast PR do a wonderful job promoting our gardens and overall tourism experience to a national audience. They regularly liaise directly with our garden experts, Plant Centre team, Café & Tearooms staff and marketing department to spread the word and maintain our award-winning status. Thank you, guys!”
Bernard Merna, Owner of Compton Acres