DD2451 Royal Docks Marketing, Communications and Engagement Programme 2020/21

1.1    The Royal Docks is one of London’s most distinctive economic locations and largest regeneration projects, with the potential to generate 35,000 additional jobs and 4,000 new homes within the Enterprise Zone (EZ) over the next 20 years. The Mayor of London and the Mayor of Newham are jointly leading the regeneration of the area through its Enterprise Zone status, which is funded through the ringfencing of business rate income collected within the Zone. The EZ is projected to deliver over 7 million square feet of commercial space, primarily at three key development sites at Royal Albert Dock (RAD), Silvertown Quays and Albert Island.  

1.2    The LEAP Board endorsed the Royal Docks EZ Delivery Plan in June 2018. MD2338 approved expenditure of up to £212.5milion for the Royal Docks EZ Delivery Plan to deliver an integrated and catalytic package of transport infrastructure, connectivity, economic development, placemaking, estate management and creative programming projects that will deliver the cohesive transformation of the Royal Docks and accelerate the delivery of EZ commercial space. Thousands of new homes, amenities, workspaces and jobs are projected to come forward over the next 10-20 years delivering significant benefits for local residential and business communities and supporting the Mayor of London and Mayor of Newham’s ambitions regarding housing delivery and inclusive economic growth. 

1.3    The Economic Purpose of the area as outlined in the 2019 Royal Docks Economic Purpose Report has been defined as: “A nationally significant hub of enterprise, employment and culture, recognised as a testbed for social, environmental and technological innovation. Globally fluent and internationally focussed, harnessing the benefits and Newham’s diverse community.” This definition takes into account the need for the Royal Docks to create jobs in a distinctive way, recognises the wider need to include environmental and social issues in the making of economic decisions, and captures the potential for the Docks to be a home for international business and culture.

1.4    The Royal Docks EZ Delivery Plan is underpinned by a spatial framework and five cross-cutting strategic objectives to help drive and deliver the transformation of the Royal Docks. These key work strands are Place, Connectivity, Economy, Activation and Promotion. The Promotion objectives outlined in the Delivery Plan are to:
•    raise the profile of the Royal Docks and focus interest on the area’s regeneration and potential;
•    communicate the scale, ambition, and benefits and opportunities arising from change;
•    increase investor, business and visitor interest in the area and help accelerate business rate income;
•    increase footfall, dwell times and visitor numbers by promoting the creative and cultural offer; and
•    facilitate active and inclusive participation from residential/business communities. 

1.5    MD2338 approved a budget envelope of £14million for Promotion to invest in and deliver an ambitious marketing, communications and engagement programme over the five-year delivery period. The request for expenditure of £1,250,000 revenue, the subject of this approval, will come out of the Promotion budget set in MD2338. This expenditure will be incurred in the 2020/21 financial year.

The 2020/21 Marketing, Communications and Engagement Programme

Destination Marketing (£500,000)
1.6    Cultural Placemaking has been identified as a key component of the five-year Delivery Plan with a budget of £20.3million approved to invest in and deliver an innovative and competitive cultural programme over the next five years. £3.9million of activation has been earmarked for 2020/21 with an ambitious and extensive year-round programme that will support brand positioning and high-quality placemaking in the Royal Docks - generating local, London and international profile and interest.  The programme’s focus throughout 2020/21 will be to help activate and animate new and underused development sites as well as strategic locations within the Royal Docks providing a lively, attractive and stimulating environment which attracts new and existing residents, businesses and visitors to the area.  
1.7    Over the past 12 months, there has been considerable interest from major cultural and sporting brands committed to establishing a presence in the Royal Docks throughout 2020/21. This includes Formula E, Euro2020, Eden Lab, Round the World Clipper Race, Greenwich and Docklands International Festival, Block 9 IICON, London Jazz Festival and Totally Thames amongst others. The Royal Docks Team (RDT) has engaged with London and Partners to ensure the team maximise this potential and accelerate interest in the Royal Docks as a dynamic ‘new’ destination, both domestically and internationally. It is clear that landmark marketing campaigns aimed at attracting a large and diverse audience base - drawing footfall into the area, increasing local spend and raising awareness of the Royal Docks as a must visit destination is a priority.  
1.8    A consistent marketing push will be required throughout the year with campaigns that successfully promote ‘key moments’ in the calendar as well as the everyday activation/meanwhile use programme planned for development and meanwhile sites as well as local amenity centres. Campaigns will range from small to large and will include a mix of paid advertising, PR, social and print, etc. Paid advertising will be purchased through the GLA’s contracted media planning and buying agency, Wavemaker and London and Partners will be engaged to ensure the Royal Docks programme is effectively integrated into their investment and promotional programme.
1.9    A provisional budget of £500,000 is requested to help ensure sufficient marketing resource across the extensive cultural placemaking programme throughout 2020/21. There is currently one full time post in the RDT with responsibility for overseeing destination marketing/visitor attraction and so a key priority for 2020/21 will be to secure the services of a specialist marketing and promotional agency, through the appropriate GLA framework, to help develop creative campaigns and content that secures the right exposure and engagement with target audiences. This will include a mix of activity:
•    Hero campaigns £350,000: cross-channel campaigns focussed on key activations with the potential for London-wide and international profile which will involve partnerships and generating value-in-kind support. Examples include: Round the World Clipper Race, which will finish at Royal Albert Dock in October, a Euro 2020 fringe activation, a community programme for Formula E in the Crystal and the Royal Docks ‘Join the Dock’ summer festival. 
•    Highlight campaigns £100,000: ‘Remarkable’ short-duration campaigns across at least two channels reaching a specific London or local audience.  Examples include London Festival of Architecture, Greenwich and Docklands International Festival, EFG London Jazz Festival, Open House and Totally Thames.
•    Heartbeat campaigns £50,000: Individual pieces of content or single channel campaigns, which are focussed on everyday events and activations being delivered by the team or local partners. These are often social media or email-only campaigns as these channels can tolerate a higher volume of messages. Examples include: Ferry Festival, Car Free Day, LB Newham Heritage Week etc.

Communications Channels, Content Generation and Marketing Collateral (£450,000)
1.10    The RDT need to communicate a complex set of messages to an incredibly diverse audience which includes local residents, businesses, visitors, students, investors, built environment professionals, partners, the media and others. Having and managing the right communications channels is essential to ensuring that RDT are able to effectively reach these audiences. The following investment is proposed for 2020/21:
1.11    Website and social media channels - the Royal Docks website and social media channels launched in February 2019 and as outlined earlier have demonstrated strong growth and engagement overall. 
1.12    A previous decision (DD2350) approved budget to support additional functionality across the website e.g. an enhanced content management system, interactive maps, online polling and design enhancements which will support richer storytelling and engagement. 
1.13    The priority for 2020/21 is to ensure that there is continued investment in content generation (text, video, photography etc) and an editorial platform that provides a steady flow of good news stories and highly optimised content (e.g. through key words, SEO, UX). This will ensure the RDT are effectively engaging our target audiences and establishing long lasting value and associations with the Royal Docks as a place.
1.14    The editorial focus for 2019/20 has been on establishing the Royal Docks as an attractive, vibrant destination with content promoting the full extent of what’s on / what’s available to see-and-do across the Royal Docks. The RDT will build on this in 2020/21 but with an additional focus on developing highly targeted content for prospective occupiers and investors now that phase one at Royal Albert Dock is complete and the team have a clearer economic purpose and narrative to sell. The budget outlined above will fund, as a minimum, editorial guardianship, website management and content generation, social media management and monitoring, interviews and news gathering, monthly HTML email newsletter, quarterly publication, planning and reporting and creative production. The RDT will commission these services through the appropriate TfL procurement framework
1.15    A varied suite of marketing and communications materials will also be required throughout 2020/21 to help accelerate the promotion of the Royal Docks EZ and showcase the opportunities/work underway. Assets are still being scoped but it is envisaged the following will be required as a minimum:
•    Royal Docks Place Book (the revised five-year Delivery Plan);
•    materials to support the launch and promotion of the Royal Docks Good Growth, a fund that will support transformative projects led by private, public and community organisations;
•    Royal Docks Annual Impact Report; 
•    publicity flyer for the Crystal Regeneration ‘pop up’; and
•    wayfinding and environmental branding across public realm works.

1.16    The budget requested will allow sufficient resource across brand, design, production, print and distribution. The RDT will commission these assets as required through the appropriate TfL framework.

Community Participation (£200,000)
1.17    The RDT is committed to ensuring that residents, workers, civil society and businesses can meaningfully influence and shape plans for the area’s future. A previous decision (DD2350) approved funding for a ‘Royal Docks Conversation’, an extensive programme of consultation and engagement activity throughout 2019/20 to support meaningful community input into future plans for the area. To date the ‘Royal Docks Conversation’ has actively engaged more than 1,700 people throughout July-October 2019 by utilising a wide variety of different tools and techniques. This has enabled a wide range of views and perspectives to be captured which are now feeding into robust plans for the future.
1.18    To build on this engagement and ensure there is continued involvement and dialogue with local residential and business communities in the Royal Docks, further investment is also required throughout 2020/21. The programme of activity is currently being scoped in discussion with local community groups, development partners as well as Newham Council and GLA officers. It is anticipated to include a bi-annual community open house, monthly community drop-ins as well as locally tailored approaches, outreach and capacity building outlined below.
1.19    The budget outlined for 2020/21 includes a Community Fund to pilot and support a range of community projects that will empower communities to participate directly in the transformation of their neighbourhoods and the Royal Docks. A number of priority themes have emerged through the summer consultation, which have the potential to complement / inform the programme of public realm interventions, economic development and cultural placemaking next year. Throughout 2020/21, the RDT propose to scope and develop these and other projects further and work with colleagues in the GLA and Newham Council to ensure that the programme aligns with the latest Mayoral policies on community centred regeneration. The RDT will design and deliver the grants programme in liaison with TfL/GLA as appropriate.
1.20    The budget outlined also includes an allocation to maintain a consultation vehicle which proved to be an integral part of the consultation programme last year, providing an environmentally friendly, highly visible and cost-efficient solution to the delivery of a wide-ranging programme of community events and activations across an area of over 1,200 ha. Funding is required throughout 2020/21 for ongoing insurance, maintenance, servicing and cleaning. These services will be managed by Avison Young for a 12-month period as an addition to the existing GLA Vehicle fleet. 

Exhibition and Events (£50,000)
1.21    In February 2019, DD2319 approved funding for the design and development of a regeneration exhibition, events and engagement programme at the Crystal Building, a GLAP asset. In May 2019, following a mini-competition New London Architecture (NLA) were awarded the 12 months contract to deliver the programme, which includes stakeholder events, model talks, schools’ workshops, business surgeries, community drop-ins, installations, breakfast briefings and a wide range of other activations.
1.22    The exhibition has received considerable interest and attention from developers, local community groups and schools with multiple requests for viewings and/or use of the exhibition space. A further budget for 2020/21 will therefore enable us to build on this interest and extend the use of the space as a platform to publicise the Royal Docks as well as test the viability and demand for potential longer term uses. The budget requested includes an allocation for:
1.23    Exhibition & Events Programme - the NLA contract for phase one of the exhibition and events programme expires in May 2020. A further 12-month period of exhibition content and associated events programme will enable the team to continue engagement and promotional activity with a wider audience regionally, nationally and internationally.  The RDT will consult TfL Procurement to identify a suitable procurement method to undertake phase 2 of the regeneration exhibition and events programme, building on the legacy of phase 1. 
1.24    Model, App and Exhibition Stand Maintenance - the Royal Docks model and app are the cornerstone of the exhibition and events programme, which features weekly model talks and a wide range of workshops. The model has already proved to be an invaluable tool for engaging a diverse range of stakeholders and communicating the scale of regeneration across the Royal Docks and wider Opportunity Area. To enable the continued use of these assets, funding is required for ongoing maintenance over a 12-month period, including cleaning, repairs and upgrades to the physical model, AR components, exhibition stands and storage equipment.  

Market Research and Consultancy (£50,000) 
1.25    A budget allocation is required to ensure there is a robust approach to measuring the impact of marketing, communications and engagement spend throughout 2020/21. The RDT has already commissioned Hatch Regeneris to develop a comprehensive Theory of Change for the Royal Docks EZ programme with a monitoring and evaluation framework expected to be completed by March 2020.  The framework will include the full set of indicators and metrics to be measured by the delivery team in order to track progress against the overarching EZ priority objectives. The budget outlined above will ensure the RDT are able to commission specialist research and evaluation support (through the appropriate GLA framework) to track the value of investment in marketing, communications and engagement. This is likely to include online/telephone polling to gauge and track perception levels of the Royal Docks, online sentiment analysis, business surveying etc.

Procurement and Delivery
1.26    Following this approval, the RDT will commence procurement, provision of grant funding and full due diligence for the proposed projects to ensure that services are properly procured and ensure that the funding is distributed fairly and transparently, in accordance with the GLA’s equality policy, State Aid rules and in a manner which affords value for money in accordance with the GLA Contracts and Funding Code. This will be done in conjunction with TfL Procurement and TfL Legal.
 
 

2.1    The RDT will regularly monitor and evaluate the impact of the marketing, communications and engagement programme to ensure objectives set out in the Royal Docks EZ Delivery Plan are being met. The aims include:
•    helping to competitively position the Royal Docks and support the wider regeneration and development efforts of key partners and stakeholders;
•    increasing investor, occupier and visitor interest in the Royal Docks and accelerating early business rate income;
•    helping to communicate a strong place brand for the Royal Docks and drive early inward investment and business interest in the area;
•    increasing footfall, dwell times and visitor numbers to the Royal Docks by extensively promoting the creative and cultural offer; and
•    showcasing the developments underway in the Royal Docks and engaging local communities – residential and business - in helping to shape and benefit from the area’s transformation.

2.2    As outlined earlier, the RDT will regularly monitor and review the overarching intervention to ensure objectives are being met and expected outputs and outcomes are achieved.  This includes reviewing attendance at exhibitions and events, footfall data, website analytics, media coverage, campaign metrics, response to consultation and surveys etc.  A quarterly impact report will be produced and reported into LEAP.
 

3.1    Under Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, as a public authority, the GLA must have ‘due regard’ of the need to: 
•    eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, and victimisation; and
•    advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between people who have a protected characteristic and those who do not.

3.2    The Royal Docks EZ Delivery Plan projects will deliver against a range of Mayor of London policies such as the London Plan, Culture Strategy, Economic Development Strategy, Social Integration Strategy, Housing Strategy, Transport Strategy etc., and is aligned with the Mayor’s Equalities Framework. Impact assessments will be undertaken to determine whether any persons with protected characteristics are unduly impacted by the delivery programme, and the course of action in order to mitigate any impacts.

3.3    The 2020/21 Marketing, Communications and Engagement Programme will play a critical role in reaching out to and engaging with a wide and diverse range of audiences, which includes the highly diverse local community, visitors, investors, occupiers, businesses, the media as well as collaborators and stakeholders. Communications will be accessible and inclusive and will draw in surrounding communities into the evolving story of the Royal Docks, including work with local schools and community groups to help deliver on LB Newham’s Community Wealth Building objectives. Equalities considerations will also be taken into account by the GLA in connection with all work procured.
 

4.1    Key stakeholders including Mayor of London development partners, local residents and businesses as well as officers at both the GLA and LB Newham have been involved in shaping the proposed marketing, communications and engagement programme outlined for 2020/21.
4.2    The overall objective of this approval is to accelerate and maximise the regeneration of the Royal Docks Enterprise Zone and ensure that local people and businesses are able to shape and benefit from the significant regeneration programme underway. Stakeholders and development partners are eager to see a programme of marketing, communications and engagement that can amplify the Royal Docks offer and resonate positively with local, London and international audiences.

Key Risks:

4.3    A summary of the most significant project level risks are reported to the Royal Docks Enterprise Zone Programme Board on a quarterly basis. A risk register is maintained to continuously review programme delivery.

4.4    There are no conflicts of interest to declare for the officers involved in the drafting or clearance of this Decision form.
 

This decision requests approval for up to £1,250,000 of revenue expenditure from the Royal Docks EZ approved budget for the 2020-21 Marketing, Communications and Engagement Programme. The expenditure will be incurred in 2020-21. 
5.2    This expenditure will be funded from the £212.5 million approved delivery plan budget confirmed in MD2338. These projects outlined in this decision were endorsed by the Royal Docks EZ Programme Board on 17 December 2019.
 

6.1    The foregoing sections of this report indicate that the decisions requested of the Executive Director concern the exercise of the GLA’s general powers, falling within the GLA’s statutory powers to do such things considered to further or which are facilitative of, conductive or incidental to the promotion of economic development and wealth creation, social development or the promotion of the improvement of the environment, in Greater London. 

6.2    In implementing the proposals in respect of which a decision is sought, officers should comply with the GLA’s related statutory duties to:
•    pay due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people;
•    consider how the proposals will promote the improvement of health of persons, health inequalities between persons and to contribute towards the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom; and
•    consult with appropriate bodies.         
6.3    In taking the decisions requested, the Executive Director must have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, namely the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010, to advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic (age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, gender, religion or belief, sexual orientation) and to foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it. To this end, the Executive Director should have particular regard to section 3 (above) of this report.
6.4    Section 1 of this report indicates that the GLA intends to procure services. Section 9 of the GLA Contracts & Funding Code requires the GLA to engage with TfL Procurement, develop a procurement strategy with TfL Commercial (if valued over £100,000) and seek a call-off from a suitable framework where possible or, if not, undertake a formal tender process to procure such services in relation to all contracts for services with a value above £150,000 before the commencement of the services. 
6.5    Section 1 of this report also indicates that the GLA intends to vary existing contracts for services. Officers should seek support from TfL Procurement as required when varying any contracts and ensure that variations are properly executed before using such services. 
6.6    Section 1 of this report indicates that part of the sought budget will amount to the provision of grant funding and not payment for services. Officers must ensure that the funding is distributed fairly, transparently, in accordance with the GLA’s equality policy, State Aid rules and in manner which affords value for money in accordance with the GLA Contracts and Funding Code. Officers must ensure that an appropriate funding agreement is put in place and executed by the GLA and the recipient before any commitment to funding is made.