A Grand Campaign for Local Business | Work

A 'grand' campaign for local business.

As of 2023, there are 335 Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) across the British Isles, collectively contributing over £150 million annually to the economy and supporting over 118,000 businesses.

At We Are Acuity, we’ve been proud to collaborate with Watford Town Centre BID over the past few years, helping to enhance the town’s vibrancy by driving initiatives that boost local businesses, improve public spaces, and create a welcoming environment for residents and visitors alike.

So, when Watford Town Centre BID decided to launch a Watford Shop and Eat Local campaign in the lead-up to Christmas, they turned to us to help bring their vision to life. As specialists in local marketing, driving footfall and supporting businesses in our hometown of Watford was an exciting challenge—one we were thrilled to take on. Here’s how we made it happen...

As part of a strategy to promote the town's wide range of local businesses and encourage residents to 'Shop and Eat Local,' Watford Town Centre BID and Watford Borough Council approached us to bring this campaign to life—on a budget of just £1,000.

Elected Mayor of Watford, Peter Taylor, was already actively supporting the initiative, having been photographed at local businesses holding a giant Watford Gift Card. The challenge was to integrate these photos into the campaign, highlighting 18 distinct local businesses, all while aligning with Watford Town Centre’s refreshed brand identity.

Our role was to provide strategic recommendations and creative expertise, delivering a campaign framework that empowered their team to activate and manage the rollout independently.

We pride ourselves on working in true partnership with our clients, offering as much or as little support as they need—whether it’s expert advice, full design studio services, or comprehensive campaign management.

This campaign was going to be activated by Watford Town Centre BID in partnership with Watford Borough Council, on digital out of home poster sites across the town and organic social media channels. We were leveraging the Mayor as the Key Sponsor of the campaign but it was vital that each of the 18 local businesses featured also had equal prominence.

Given the diverse elements and multiple stakeholders, simplicity in execution and activation was essential. We developed a clear, uncluttered creative concept with a strong, focused message, designing and supplying all creative assets and copy to empower our clients to confidently activate the campaign in-house.

Once the deliverables were finalised—social media platforms and digital 6-sheet posters aligned perfectly with the budget and campaign management resources—our studio got to work creating a key visual that met every objective:

• Present varied photographs of the mayor in different retailer locations

• Include retailer names and branding

• Deliver a succinct message and CTA

• Show the Watford Gift Card

• Include Watford Borough Council and Watford Town Centre BID logos

• Take on Watford Town Centre brand style

• Enable square or portrait crops

• Give it all an uncluttered, Christmassy feel!

We Are Acuity did the heavy lifting in achieving all the above. We didn’t want to give our client a challenge rolling out the campaign, so we kept executions to a minimum and delivered 3 image assets per retailer, along with a copy document they could use for posting on social media.

Tim Ashby, Corporate Communications & Campaigns Lead, Watford Borough Council and Glen Hempenstall, Marketing & Communications Manager from Watford Town Centre BID were quick to relay their appreciation:

“The Shop and Eat Local this Christmas campaign led by Watford Town Centre BID and Watford Borough Council spreads the important message of supporting local businesses and livelihoods. Once again we enjoyed collaborating with We Are Acuity not only because of their creativity, but also because they are huge advocates of local places and organisations. Their brilliant design work and utilisation of marketing channels helped us to a 93% increase in sales of the Watford Gift Card between 1–25 November 2024, compared to the same period in 2023.”

Watford Town Centre BID.

Listen instead?

“Once again we enjoyed working with Acuity not only because of their creativity, but also because they are huge advocates of local places and organisations.”

Challenge

Insight

Solution

Results

+93% gift card sales vs 2023.
£1000 budget met.

More work.

Services.

Sectors.

Services.

Sectors.

Local Business & Marketing Case Studies | We Are Acuity. WatfordBID Shop & Eat Local Cas...

Watford Town Centre BID.

Listen instead?

Share

“Once again we enjoyed working with Acuity not only because of their creativity, but also because they are huge advocates of local places and organisations.”

Challenge

Insight

Solution

Results

+93% gift card sales vs 2023.£1000 budget met.

More work.

Services.

Sectors.

Services.

Sectors.

+93% gift card sales vs 2023.
£1000 budget met.