A recent arrival to the Studio North hub was an outline of Manchester City Council’s post-riot plans to financially aid affected small to medium sized businesses, and to restore consumer confidence with the “I ♥ MCR” campaign.
Thankfully, being neatly tucked away in Ancoats, Studio North was largely unaffected by the ordeal, but a read through of the plans left an impression regardless. The mention of the currently ubiquitous campaign “I ♥ MCR”, which with 20,000+ “likes” on Facebook is something people are definitely paying attention to, makes you wonder why similar campaigns haven’t been attempted to restore consumer faith in the current economic climate.
A quick look at the “I ♥ MCR” Facebook page wall shows a barrage of comments with consumer offers and business promotions available for all to see. This combined with an attractive logo plastered throughout the city centre gives people a ‘cool’ reason to pump their hard earned money back into the economy.
Time will tell whether or not the campaign will produce any tangible results, but it is safe to say that there is a clear opportunity for both the consumer and the economy to benefit. If such benefits are realised, it may be worth local councils and Westminster taking note, and in future rather than releasing statements from suit donning ex-Etoners urging people to spend, instead investing a little into similar, targeted campaigns, which benefit the consumer and give them a reason to actually respond to efforts promoting spending and economic growth.
And of course give marketing and branding agencies loads of business!
(Stuart McMullen is a graduate in English Language from Lancaster University and is currently on a paid work placement with Studio North as a Brand Research Assistant)
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