Export chiefs hope that a former shipping container covered with colourful street art will hold the key to getting more Bath firms to take their business to the world.
Business West’s #GetExporting campaign highlights the benefits of exporting in an innovative way. Using the eye-catching container, spray-painted by a pair of Bristol street artists – the brainchild of Bath-based creative marketing agency Mr B & Friends – is a far cry from the way overseas trade is traditionally promoted.
Instead of inviting prospective exporters to events in anonymous hotel meeting rooms, the container will tour the region, acting as a vibrant venue for workshops and advice gatherings and a showcase for existing exporters from around the West of England, including firms taking tea to China, cheese to France and cider to Australia.
At Tuesday’s launch outside the Bristol’s Engine Shed innovation hub, exporters such as AngelBerry, Lye Cross Farm, Moulton Bikes, Rollasole and Pukka Herbs used the #GetExporting container to showcase how selling overseas has helped their business.
Business West invited Mr B & Friends to come up with something that would not only be practical but would also bring to life the spirit of the whole venture. The agency come up with the concept of using a shipping container as a physical metaphor for export and has also created a bespoke web site to support the activity.
It commissioned renowned Bristol street artists Andy Council and Tim Ulewicz to paint both the exterior and interior of the container, framed with graphics by Mr B & Friends’ designers Kate Gorringe and Nick Raven.
Over the next six months it will make its way around principal sites in the region including Bath, Swindon, and Gloucester, acting as a venue for export advice.
The campaign comes on the back of a Government pledge to double exports to £1 trillion a year by 2020. Business West aims to get 2,020 South West businesses selling abroad – or increasing their exports – by the year 2020.
James Monk, commercial director at Business West, which runs Bath Chamber of Commerce, said: “Quite simply, South West businesses are not exporting enough.
“Yet research shows that businesses which export have significantly greater growth prospects, more durability and higher profitability than companies who don’t.
“Exporting businesses generate an average growth of 30% after exporting for just two years – a serious reason for businesses to consider trading overseas. To get this message across we have taken an iconic symbol of exporting – a shipping container – and created a high-profile campaign that will make people stop and stare, talk, tweet, participate and, most of all, to encourage active discussion about exporting.”
Mr B & Friends design director for Kate Gorringe added: “It has been huge fun working on this project. Not least because of the unusual situation of being both the creative agency and also part of the target audience.
“The container designs will really stand out and bring a taste of the lively Bristol graffiti scene, with its wonderful heritage stretching from Banksy to Andy Council and Tim Ulewiczm, to venues throughout the region.
“The bold graphics are intended to encourage viewers to #GetExporting, with the paintings highlighting the industries that could export and the places they could go to. The designs continue inside the container, used as an exhibition space, and also onto a microsite, featuring a stop frame video of the artists in action alongside case studies of great local businesses who have found success in the export market.”
As part of the #GetExporting campaign Business West is offering local businesses the chance to reap the benefits of exporting and take part in a short survey for the chance to win an export support package worth more than £3,000. To enter visit www.getexporting.info
Pictured: Exporters and Business West advisers at the launch of the #GetExporting campaign. Photo by Jon Craig
