Marketing focus for 2007-2008

Government Users

The Portal will continue to expand partnership working with LPAs including the use of locally customisable, co-branded literature. This will enable LPAs to benefit from national support while maintaining their local message.

The Portal will continue working with LPA communication teams to deliver PR and roadshows with a regional focus, delivering positive publicity for both the LPA and the Planning Portal. This will also include the use of a customised bus to raise awareness of the benefits of e-planning.

Planning Professionals

Our focus in the coming year will be on developing products and services that make working in planning more efficient. We will continue to offer regional and bespoke training in partnership with LPAs where possible, concentrating on increasing the number of attendees who go on to use the online application service.

Planning professionals will remain the focus of marketing activity as they submit the majority of applications. Profile-raising activity will continue, however the preference will be for working with and through LPAs to ensure regular communication and a more effective and unified message that does not devalue an LPA’s relationship with its clients.

Citizens

For the first time 2007/08 will see the Portal reaching out to citizens to help stimulate a real engagement between the public and the planning system.
A national advertising campaign by Communities around local e-planning will be complemented in July by our piloting of a roadshow using a customised bus. If successful the bus will tour nationally for the rest of the year.

This campaign will focus on informing the public about the planning system and its importance for them and their communities and how the Planning Portal can help them engage with it. Once again this will be managed in partnership with LPAs.