Media
Although primarily involved with strategic planning, Barrie Foster has had considerable experience of working with promotional and communications media throughout the substantial technological changes of the last 40 years. Barrie completed formal photographic training in the early 1960s and worked as a professional photographer for most of that decade. Through the 1970s this foundation was broadened to include copywriting, production editorial, art direction and familiarity with print production processes. In the early to mid 1980s his skill base was extended into audio-visual programme design and scripting for marketing, exhibition, product launch and training applications. Clients through this period included J. Sainsbury plc, Imperial Retail Shops, Mattel Electronics and British Gas.
From the mid 1980s into the 1990s the media emphasis was mainly on video design, scripting, direction and support materials. In 1986 he was the author of "So you want to make a video", a basic guide to video as a marketing medium, published by the Wales Tourist Board. This period also saw the production of ‘Where in the World but Wales’, a video and print presentation supporting the launch of the first Wales Tourist Board Development Strategy by the Secretary of State for Wales, in 1988. Other major projects included a series of nine promotional programmes for the Securiguard Group and twelve sales and training programmes covering the development of Welsh Water’s Integrated Business Information System [IBIS], one of the largest computer systems in Europe at that time. As the 1990s progressed the presentation medium of choice switched from video to CD-ROM and, ultimately, DVD.
Although primarily involved with strategic planning, Barrie Foster has had considerable experience of working with promotional and communications media throughout the substantial technological changes of the last 40 years. Barrie completed formal photographic training in the early 1960s and worked as a professional photographer for most of that decade. Through the 1970s this foundation was broadened to include copywriting, production editorial, art direction and familiarity with print production processes. In the early to mid 1980s his skill base was extended into audio-visual programme design and scripting for marketing, exhibition, product launch and training applications. Clients through this period included J. Sainsbury plc, Imperial Retail Shops, Mattel Electronics and British Gas.
From the mid 1980s into the 1990s the media emphasis was mainly on video design, scripting, direction and support materials. In 1986 he was the author of "So you want to make a video", a basic guide to video as a marketing medium, published by the Wales Tourist Board. This period also saw the production of ‘Where in the World but Wales’, a video and print presentation supporting the launch of the first Wales Tourist Board Development Strategy by the Secretary of State for Wales, in 1988. Other major projects included a series of nine promotional programmes for the Securiguard Group and twelve sales and training programmes covering the development of Welsh Water’s Integrated Business Information System [IBIS], one of the largest computer systems in Europe at that time. As the 1990s progressed the presentation medium of choice switched from video to CD-ROM and, ultimately, DVD.
On the cusp of the 21st Century the opportunities presented by new media forced themselves upon the attention of innovative marketers, together with the need to abandon entrenched mindsets and adapt to an evolving digital environment that would take its place alongside print, press and broadcast. And as the Millennium approached its second decade, accessibility and affordability opened up the digital world to the smallest of businesses. Digital photography, compact HD video cameras and open source editing software are an incentive to creativity. Free cloud-based systems bring an Internet presence under the total control of small business managers (this web site was created using one of the most basic content management systems available). Social media and other digital tools allow for immediacy and targeted distribution of content. Wi-fi, hotspots and the multiplicity of mobile platforms open up channels to visitors, whether in transit or ensconced in their destination of choice. QR codes, Near Field Communication and iBeacons bring information and interpretation readily to hand. And full engagement with customers encourages user-generated content, the sincerest form of advocacy. We are heading towards a virtual universe of subliminal marketing based on rich information, storytelling, cross-fertilisation and integration. The emerging paradigm for tourism is the mixed-media online magazine, supported by an Internet strategy that reaches out to readers across cyberspace.
In 2014 Barrie Foster completed a two-year contract as Editor of Visit Wales : Share Wales, a content sharing, horizon scanning and advisory web site published by the Welsh Government's Business, Enterprise, Technology and Science department as part of the Digital Tourism Business Framework project. Barrie continues to monitor developments in digital media - a habit-forming occupational hazard - and is not easily seduced by outdated received wisdom or transitory 'flavours of the month'. As a result BFA are able to assist with the conceptual development of Internet strategies and content, and advise on the integration of a presence on the World Wide Web with the total armoury of marketing activity.
In 2014 Barrie Foster completed a two-year contract as Editor of Visit Wales : Share Wales, a content sharing, horizon scanning and advisory web site published by the Welsh Government's Business, Enterprise, Technology and Science department as part of the Digital Tourism Business Framework project. Barrie continues to monitor developments in digital media - a habit-forming occupational hazard - and is not easily seduced by outdated received wisdom or transitory 'flavours of the month'. As a result BFA are able to assist with the conceptual development of Internet strategies and content, and advise on the integration of a presence on the World Wide Web with the total armoury of marketing activity.
The Final Evaluation of the Digital Tourism Business Programme is reproduced here as a downloadable PDF.
dtbp_final_evaluation.pdf | |
File Size: | 1676 kb |
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