Festival Images: brand image and stakeholders' brand relationship types at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (The Fringe) is the largest arts festival in the world and it has inspired the creation of similar festivals world-wide. Since its conception in 1947, the Fringe has demonstrated significant growth in visitor numbers; ticket sales; and its economic contribution. Despite this, the sustainable future of Edinburgh’s festivals is debated as Edinburgh, ‘the Festival City’, faces threats from other festival destinations. Festivals position Edinburgh creatively in contrast to the city’s traditionally perceived image as a cultural-historic centre. Despite this, little research has been undertaken into the creative and cultural significance of Edinburgh’s festivals, including the Fringe. This interdisciplinary research grounded in marketing, tourism, and festival and event management; and underpinned by constructivism, presents an understanding of types of brand relationships that exist between the Fringe and its primary stakeholders. This is achieved through defining both the Fringe brand image and its primary stakeholders; and applying these definitions to the development of a typology of Fringe-stakeholders’ brand relationships. The significance of this study is evident within its topic of inquiry and the research methods applied. In the little-considered arena of arts festivals and their stakeholders, this is the first in-depth study into the Fringe as a festival and festival brand. Within this, the definition of a Fringe brand image contributes to understanding the cultural and creative significance of the Fringe. Furthermore, this research contributes a unique understanding of the types of stakeholders that are engaged with the Fringe. The types of brand relationships that exist between these stakeholders and the Fringe are another significant contribution to knowledge and understanding. While specific to the present context, these findings may prove transferable to further festivals or events, and related areas and industries. The contribution made by this research to the methodological developments in festival and event studies is of additional significance. The application of visual research methods, including semiotic analysis and photo-elicitation within phenomenological interviews, has previously been applied in marketing, consumer, and tourism research, but not to the understanding of festival brands and stakeholders’ brand relationship types. Findings of this research illustrate that existing marketing and consumer brand frameworks and stakeholder theories are applicable to festivals. Further, it is possible to define ‘a’ Fringe brand image which is subjective and contradictory. The unique open-access and organic, operational model of the Fringe facilitates its many contributors, and consumers. Fringe stakeholders may be categorised according to their level of engagement with the Fringe (as primary or secondary) and their particular stakeholder role(s), which are varied and multiple. Fringe-stakeholder brand relationship types are overwhelmingly positive; and are based upon interpersonal relationship dimensions (including friendships, marriages, kinships and partnerships). Fringe-stakeholder brand relationship types can be classified therefore as having similar dimensions to those brand relationship types previously described for consumer products and brands.

Supporting the case for “progressive universalism” in health visiting: Scottish mothers and health visitors’ perspectives on targeting and rationing health visiting services, with a focus on the Lothian Child Concern Model.

Aims. To explore parents and professionals’ experience of family assessment in health visiting (public health nursing), with a focus on the Lothian Child Concern Model (LCCM). Background. Health visitors (HVs) currently assess families as requiring core, additional or intensive support, and offer support at a corresponding level. The majority of families are assessed as core and receive no pro-active support beyond the early days. Previous assessment tools, consisting of checklists, have been criticised as being ineffective in identifying a range of health needs and unacceptable to parents and HVs. The LCCM model was developed and introduced in the study area to promote a partnership approach with parents and assess strengths as well as difficulties in parents’ capacity to care for their child. Methods. Qualitative methods were used. Ten mothers and twelve HVs took part in individual semi-structured interviews. Results. Most mothers were aware of the assessment process but some felt that they were not involved in the decision making process. Explaining the assessment process to parents is problematic and not all HVs do so. The assessment process was stressful for some mothers. HVs find the model useful for structuring and documenting the assessment process. Many believe that most families benefit from some support, using public health approaches. Families are often assessed as core because there are insufficient resources to support all those who meet the criteria of the additional category, and managers assess caseloads in terms of families with child protection concerns. Conclusions. The study findings support the concept of “progressive universalism” which provides a continuum of intensity of support to families, depending on need. Mothers would like better partnership working with HVs. Relevance to clinical practice. The study endorses proposed policy changes to re-establish the public health role of HVs and to lower the threshold for families to qualify for support.

Heritage interpretation challenges and management issues at film-induced tourism heritage attractions: Case studies of Rosslyn Chapel and Alnwick Castle

Although previous research has widely acknowledged the phenomenon of film-induced tourism, there is a paucity of research in relation to management of film-induced tourism at built heritage sites. This research, underpinned by a constructivist paradigm, draws on three distinct fields of study – heritage tourism management, film-induced tourism and heritage interpretation – in order to provide a contribution to the heritage management field and address this particular gap in knowledge. Relying on the method of semi-structured interviews with managers, guides and visitors at Rosslyn Chapel (RC) and Alnwick Castle (AC), this thesis provides a rich understanding of how heritage interpretation can address a range of management challenges at heritage sites where film-induced tourism has occurred. These heritage visitor attractions (HVAs) were specifically selected as case studies as they have played different roles in media products. Rosslyn Chapel (RC) was an actual place named in The Da Vinci Code (TDVC) book and then film, whereas Alnwick Castle (AC) served as a backdrop for the first two Harry Potter (HP) films. Findings of this research include a range of management challenges at both RC and AC such as an increase in visitor numbers; seasonality issues; changes in visitor profile; revenue generation concerns; conservation, access, and visitor experience; and the complex relationship between heritage management and tourism activities. The findings also reveal film-induced tourism’s implications for heritage interpretation such as the various visitors’ expectations for heritage interpretation, changes to heritage interpretation as a result of film-induced tourism, and issues with commodification. These findings also demonstrate that film-induced tourism to some extent influenced visitors’ preferences for heritage interpretation, though visitors’ preferences differed from one to another. This thesis argues that, in the context of film-induced tourism at HVAs, as evident from the two case studies considered, heritage interpretation can be a valuable management tool and can also play a significant role in the quality of the visitors’ experience.

Every picture tells a story: using selfie-inspired activities to enhance social relations and encourage self-reflexivity.

This chapter explores the results of a study in Thailand that capitalised on the popularity of the selfie, providing second-year English language students with an opportunity to practise their oral presentation and speaking skills. The selfie was used not in the usual sense of online picture-sharing, but as a visual aid in a face-to-face interaction, thus serving as a “currency for social interaction” (van Dijck 2008, p.62) and communication device (Saltz, 2014). Mining the rich insights gained from the Thai study, this chapter presents another selfie-inspired activity adapted for a different context and purpose at a UK university. Initially designed to facilitate recall of students’ names linked with faces, the initiative evolved into an effective conversation starter. It is suggested that both selfie-inspired initiatives have led to serendipitous results, such as encouraging self-reflexivity among the students and promoting the development of “rapid intimacy” in the classroom (Victoria 2011, p.72). Indeed, creating a space for students to share their personal stories and enact different identities can help enrich the learning and teaching experience. This chapter also demonstrates how aspects of visual methodologies can be employed as a resource for theorising visual data, such as the selfie, for classroom application.