Weber Shandwick Manchester will be running a year-long campaign to promote the town of Burnley.
The agency was appointed by Burnley Bondholders, a network of more than 150 organisations based in the town.
“This is an exciting time for Burnley; a town that makes things, consistently delivers on quality, wins awards and delivers on infrastructure, developments and investment. Burnley is a desirable place in which to live, work and invest – we just need to shout about it,” explained Burnley Council’s chief executive, Mick Cartledge.
“The Weber Shandwick team impressed us with its proven track record of delivering against similar objectives for some of the North’s most famous towns. We wanted to appoint the agency we believed would be the very best advocate of Burnley and the Weber Shandwick team convinced us of that with their enthusiasm for the project and knowledge of the area.”
The multichannel campaign follows a significant amount of regeneration in the area and WSM will be seeking to “change and challenge perceptions” and position Burnley as “THE place to live and do business.”
Burnley has sought an image change before, the controversial “squiggle” (pictured) commissioned by Burnley Vision.
“2014 saw a huge focus on the North of England and its future as an economic powerhouse,” said Jo Leah, WSM’s managing director and chair English regions & Wales.
“2015 is about galvanising this ambition for the North further; challenging national perceptions of northern towns and cities, shouting about our successes and championing innovation. Weber Shandwick is passionate about the North West and is very excited to tell Burnley’s story on a national stage.”
