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Next Steps For Shetland's Brand

Improving Shetland’s reputation is the goal: how can we move towards it? Actions speak louder than words; it’s what we do that counts. We also need to recognise that although good reputations can be destroyed overnight, they take a long time to create, certainly years and possibly decades.

We think the tasks we’ve outlined below are the ones that will make a difference.

Getting To Know Our Customers - And Spreading The Word

All of us in Shetland need to understand our target customers and have a clear idea of what they’re looking for. Much of this is about meeting them and taking every chance to listen to what they say about their needs and preferences. For example, we can learn from visitors to Shetland, who – as well as being tourists – are probably a reasonably representative sample of our wider market for things like food and crafts.

Other options include attending events in or beyond Shetland, for example those craft, food or music festivals where we can be sure of meeting large numbers of retail or trade customers who are likely to be interested in what we have to offer. Various kinds of market research can be undertaken, too, including telephone or postal surveys, or questionnaires distributed at events.

There are lots of other ways of keeping up with what’s happening to tastes and preferences. A huge amount of information is available on the internet.

Anyone interested in the textiles sector will want to read relevant magazines and visit websites to see how the market is moving, with a particular emphasis on media that emphasise the things we can offer, including both traditional design and the work of young, modern designers. Our knitwear customers may be concerned, for example, about ethical production and there is no shortage of information on these trends, for example in this Guardian directory and in the BBC’s online magazine, Thread.

Food writers in newspapers like the Daily Telegraph, Independent, Guardian or Herald chart trends in cooking and food production, as does Radio 4’s Food Programme. Visiting one or more of the larger farmers’ markets on the mainland, for example in Edinburgh or Glasgow, may also be useful.

Those involved in tourism might pick up ideas or trends from programmes like Radio 4’s Excess Baggage, dip into magazines like Wanderlust, check out the Sunday travel supplements and keep an eye on what’s being said about Shetland, and Shetland tourism establishments, on review websites like www.tripadvisor.com.

For its part, the Council will…

  • Support events in Shetland, such as the Johnsmas Foy and the Food Festival, that attract interest from potential customers, both local and visiting, and offer the chance to meet them
  • Arrange for a Shetland presence at events outside Shetland where there would be value in promoting a range of Shetland products and services; this can either be done through Council staff attending such events, through the Council supporting producers to do so or both
  • Undertake market research projects (or support others to do so) aimed at finding out more about Shetland’s target customers and how they perceive Shetland and its products

Where we have things that we know are very special, we can confidently encourage more awareness of them, particularly on the part of writers and broadcasters. Events both in and outside Shetland are a vital way of doing that, but there are many other opportunities.

Getting Our Products And Services Right

When we have a clear idea of what the customer wants, we’ll have a better idea of what we need to do to satisfy his or her needs. Sometimes, of course, the answer may be that there’s very little, if anything, that we need to do. If the walk along the cliffs at Eshaness or the quality of our rope-grown mussels is such that they attract unanimous praise from consumers and critics, we tamper with them at our peril; in cases such as that, we simply need to make sure that we target the most appropriate markets.

However, there will be many instances in which improvements – sometimes small, sometimes more far-reaching – would help improve the consumer’s experience and, therefore, their opinion of the product or service. The best source of advice in such cases is customers themselves. Sometimes it may only be a matter of improving the packaging to make it more convenient to use, leaving the product well alone. At other times, the answer will lie in minor changes to, say, a baking recipe. More fundamental shifts might include a move to production that is either organic or, at least, demonstrably sustainable. There is always scope for innovation.

Training is part of this picture, too. Staff may need to improve their skills to ensure that fish, say, are handled better. Training can also help staff to make visitors to a shop or restaurant feel welcome. Product knowledge is important. A server needs to be able to tell the customer exactly where (say) the lamb on the menu came from, and to do so confidently.

There may also be a role for ‘learning journeys’, in which local producers undertake a programme of visits to areas that already have established reputations in order to see what our competitors are doing. Taking in visits to the kinds of outlets where Shetland products might find shelf-space can also be worthwhile. A wander through Glasgow’s West End (especially the Byres Road and Hyndland areas) or parts of Edinburgh is likely to provoke lots of ideas. Elsewhere, many examples of high-quality products, often by smaller producers, have been gathered together. A major example is the House of Bruar, on the A9 just north of Blair Atholl.

Looking After What We Have

It’s essential that we continue to cherish and conserve the things we ourselves value, including our clean seas, our land, landscape and heritage. They are part of our islands’ identity and are worth caring for in any event. However, they’re also part of our appeal to those outside Shetland who value these things and who admire communities that look after their environment and culture.

A great deal of good work has been done in these directions over the years. It’s important to recognise that investment in the environment, the heritage and the culture of Shetland, whilst it may not always produce jobs directly, is very likely to produce long-term economic benefits. These investments strengthen pride and confidence in the community; they may encourage people to stay here or move here. They can also attract attention from our target customers.