How Aussie festivals are becoming more marketing savvy

Australian festivals have become more creative in terms of reaching out to new audiences and keeping them on-side as well as diversifying revenue streams.

Now, in addition to traditional methods of marketing, festivals are using newer ploys include YouTube channels and podcasting, presence on event discovery sites (which apparently make up the minds of over half of urban kids setting out for the night), and infographics that go viral because they’re so compelling and entertaining.

These new methods compliment traditional meet-and-greets, street teams, visually captivating posters, and linking in local record stores and radio stations not to mention everything from tattoo parlours and surf shops which blast out music similar to that which the event is offering.

To encourage more ideas, the Victorian government has announced $180,000 of funding as part of the 2019 Innovation in Marketing Fund.

They are for the state’s festivals as well as medium arts, cultural and creative industries organisations.

FESTIVALS

The Castlemaine State Festival gets $20,000 to relaunch its ‘Friends Program’, with an online art auction to celebrate local artists and become a major fundraising activity and marketing tool to attract younger members of the community to the festival.

Festival director Glyn Roberts tells TMN the scheme would be initiated in March 2020 and plans were still in development enough not for public comment.

Melbourne Jazz LTD is a recipient of $20,000 to develop an audience insight generator allowing Melbourne International Jazz Festival to better understand and attract its target market.

Boutique regional festival By The Meadow will use its $17,643 grant for Express VIP Transfer Experience’, a competition for a VIP travel experience to give audiences an introduction to local artists and culture as they head to the festival.

The Festival of Jewish Arts and Music gets $20,000 for a multi-channel re-branding challenging audiences’ pre-existing ideas about what it may mean to be Jewish.

With $30,000, Arts Access Victoria will produce Choose Film, a marketing campaign aimed at the deaf and vision impaired communities to raise awareness for The Other Film Festival in 2020.

OTHER RECIPIENTS

Arena Theatre Company ($16,900) for its Creative Leaders program to build brand ambassadors through professional development opportunities for teachers within the Bendigo region.

Geelong Art Gallery ($12,000) to develop a marketing campaign to promote Muse, its art critic avatar designed to interpret artworks making them easy to understand for children and people with a disability.

Mycelium Studios ($19,987) for a large scale public artwork on its façade by emerging artists and mentors to promote the creative co-working hub and consultancy based in Brunswick East.

Southern Buoy Studios ( $3,680) for a multi-channel marketing campaign to view the Mornington Peninsula through the eyes of its artists.

GOATi Entertainment ($16,333) to develop and host an E-sports series to support the launch of 22 Racing Series, a real-time strategy racing game