Following on from the great success of last year’s marketing and promotional seminar in Sheffield, the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) will stage a one-day marketing and promotion seminar in London next month featuring Joe Elkins (Get Involved / Bestival), Matias Llort (YouTube), Lee Denny (LeeFest), Sarah Thirtle (PRS Foundation), Steve Machin (Storm Crowd / The Dot Tickets Org), Andy Smith (Kendal Calling) and Gary Pitt(Get in Bed).

Through workshops and presentations, the seminar will reveal how a festival can stand out in a crowded market using social media and digital platforms such as video, as well as more traditional channels. Advertising will also be addressed in the form of five-minute pitches from radio, print and online media brands, to convince festivals why their precious pounds are best spent in their sector. 

Joe Elkins of Bestival will give an overview of the marketing strategy of the annual 55,000 capacity sell-out event, in particular looking at how to attract attention by producing unique marketing content in the build-up. The talk will cover the event’s social, digital and traditional platforms as well as how to establish a year round dialogue with an audience. Andy Smith of Kendal Calling (Best Medium Sized Festival, Festival Awards) will also talk about how to get extensive global press and thousands of hits whilst spending precisely nothing. 

Matias Llort, Strategic Partner Manager EMEA - Music at YouTube will deliver a presentation on the possibilities of streaming video for music festivals. This will include how video can help to market an event and how local events can reach a global audience through video content. 

Funding is an area Lee Denny of Leefest is more than familiar with. He will be presenting a case study about the pros and cons of raising £50K in less than a month through crowd funding and what the impact of this has had on the future of his event.  Sarah Thirtle of PRS Foundation will also be presenting ways that festival promoters can apply for funding – to support new artists as well as cover marketing and promotional costs.   

A series of pitches will also explore how a festival’s advertising budget is best spent – in broadsheet, print music publications, online media or radio. Each sector will be represented by different media brands which will have five minutes to convince festival owners and promoters where to spend their pound. The sessions will be moderated by Gary Pitt of brand partnership agency Get in Bed. 

Event: AIF Seminar: Festival Marketing and Promotion

Date/Time: Tuesday February 18th 9:30am – 5.30pm.

Place: Minster Exchange, London EC3R 7PP.

Price: £74.50 + VAT Tickets