Isn’t the new series of The Restaurant brilliant PR for Bristol?
The city looks great – even in the rain. And the very fact that Monsieur Blanc has a brasserie there suggests he won’t show the place in a poor light.
Destinations long for broadcast media coverage. Get it right, and it’s worth millions.
Yet reality TV can be a dangerous animal. Destination marketers should treat the beast with caution – rather
than jumping headlong into bed with programme makers.
Faced with a potentially damaging piece of TV, some marketers don’t seem to realise that they do have the option of non-cooperation. It’s not an easy decision, but without interesting, behind-the-scenes content, a programme can end up hidden in late-night schedules, and starved of publicity by the broadcasters. I speak from experience.
Whoever said “any publicity is good publicity”, was a fool. But the power of publicity is underdeniable. In this case, Bristol: allez-y!