Second Year University Project where we created an advertising strategy to encourage 16-25 year olds to attend the Canterbury Festival.

1. CANTERBURY
FESTIVAL
ADVERTISING
STRATEGY REPORT
BY JADE GOUGH & AMY
MEADOWS
1

2. CONTENTS:
2
THE OBJECTIVES -
RESEARCH -
WHAT THEY’RE ALREADY DOING -
OTHER FESTIVALS -
TARGET AUDIENCE -
COMPETITION -
WHAT DO THE TARGET MARKET
CURRENTLY THINK ABOUT THE
FESTIVAL -
THE BENEFITS OF ENGAGING
WITH THE BRAND -
BRAND POSITIONING -
MEDIA PLAN -
CREATIVE BRIEF -
THE BIG IDEA -
MOCK UPS -
REFERENCES -
3
4
5
6-7
8-13
14-15
16-17
18-19
20
21-22
23
24-25
26-30
31-35

3. THE OBJECTIVES:
2. Increasing the ticket sales for the events.
3. Increase the engagement between the festival and its
target market.
1. Raise awareness of the Canterbury Festival brand.
We will be focusing on the 16-26 year old age category, and
their engagement with the Canterbury Festival.
3

4. RESEARCH:
THE CANTERBURY FESTIVAL:
Canterbury Festival is Kent’s International Arts Festival. It is
the largest festival of arts and culture in the region and is
one of the most important cultural events in the South East.
The Canterbury Festival is an independent charity which is
sponsored by many companies and corporate sponsors one
of them being Canterbury Christ Church University.
The Canterbury Festival brings a mixture of different acts
from around the world, combining comedy to performing
arts. (Canterbury Festival official website, 2018.)
4

5. WHAT THEY’RE ALREADY
DOING:
THE CANTERBURY FESTIVAL’S USP:
● “Canterbury Festival is dedicated to reaching new
audiences, encouraging participation, providing
opportunities for learning and making sure everyone
can be a part of the biggest Arts Festival in the region”
(Canterbury Festival Official website, 2018.)
CURRENT ADVERTISING:
● POSTERS
● BANNERS
● STANDS
Positioned in the city centre and on public transport.
● SOCIAL MEDIA
However, the following is small and there is little
engagement.
5

6. THE BATH FESTIVAL
The Bath Festival is a 17 day multi-arts festival that happens
in May. It celebrates the city with music and literature, filling
the city with culture. (The Bath Festival official website,
2018.)
The Bath Festival, like Canterbury Festival, they use social
media to try and engage with their consumers. The Bath
Festival currently have 6,561 Facebook likes compared to the
Canterbury Festival’s 3,227. (Facebook, 2018)
This suggested to us that the Canterbury Festival need to
work on having a bigger social media presence for their
audience to interact with. The Bath Festival also uses
ticketmaster who is a leading ticket sales website in the UK
for huge artists. This means the Bath Festival get the
advantage of being advertised on the Ticketmaster website,
giving them more exposure. Changing the website that the
Canterbury Festival use to sell their tickets may be
something to consider. (The Bath Festival official website,
2018.)
6
OTHER FESTIVALS:

7. THE EDINBURGH FRINGE FESTIVAL: COMPETITION
The Edinburgh Fringe Festival goes for three weeks in
August, from the 2nd of August to the 26th. (The Edinburgh
Fringe Festival official website, 2018.)
Both the Fringe Festival and the Canterbury Festival have
similar types of events and accommodate a huge range of
genres.
To advertise the festival, Edinburgh are very active on social
media and are posting consistently and showing guests
could expect to see.
They have used social media to advertise, which they have a
large following on.
● Facebook: 165,297 likes (Facebook, 2018)
● Twitter: 170,000 followers (Twitter, 2018)
● Instagram: 45,700 followers (Instagram, 2018)
7

8. TARGET AUDIENCE:
We chose to look at the 16-26 year old age category. We
narrowed down our target audience to students who live in
Canterbury and the surrounding areas.
POPULATION:
Canterbury is a large city, with two universities and two
colleges, holding almost 40,000 students. This has doubled
in the last decade and will continue to grow, emphasising
why we have chose to target students.
Canterbury Christ Church University: 18,000 students.
University of Kent: 20,000 students.
University for the Creative Arts: 1,000 students.
(KentOnline, 2015.)
LIFESTYLE:
We’ve chosen to look specifically at students. Their lifestyle
therefore is based around attending university, with many
also having a part-time job as well. In a study by (Endsleigh
(2015)), they found that 8 out of 10 students are in part-time
employment, whilst studying at university. This means many
of our target audience are limited for leisure time and will
be more selective with what activities they chose to fill it.
We are, therefore, competing against other leisure activities
for their time.
8

9. ACTIVITIES & INTERESTS:
Our target audience’s hobbies include going to the cinema,
shopping, eating out and drinking, all with their friends.
They tend to stick to a narrow range of interests, that they
do repetitively. Therefore, going to the events at the
Canterbury Festival will be a new experience for them,
opening their eyes to activities with educational and cultural
benefits.
PERSONALITY TRAITS:
Due to the events of the festival being a new experience to
the majority of 16-26 year olds, our target audience are
students who are energetic and willing to try new things.
They are thrill-seekers and look for fun experiences.
9

10. TARGET AUDIENCE
Spending habits
Students are living on a budget and the average student
only spends £10-£10.99 on ‘entertainment’ a week. (The
Beans Group.) A ticket for an event within the Canterbury
Festival would take up a large percentage of this amount,
meaning they have to believe it is worth their money.
10

11. ‘Spend on leisure continues on an upward curve and the
majority of students take part in numerous types of leisure
activity a week, highlighting the priority that continues to be
placed on leisure despite the increasing financial pressures.’
(MINTEL)
However, according to the (Student Money Survey 2016),
students spend on average £64 a month on social events,
more than they spend on other essentials such as bills and
clothes. This shows us that students are willing to spend
their money on events, we just need to make them aware of
what the Canterbury Festival have to offer.
11

12. MORRIS HARGREAVES
MCINTYRE: Culture
Segments
To get a deeper understanding of our target audience we
looked at the MHM Culture Segments. We found 2
segments that contain characteristics our target audience
have. (MHM Culture Segments official website.)
ENTERTAINMENT PEN PORTRAIT:
● When they attend cultural events, it
is usually socially motivated.
● Engagement is usually low.
● They don’t see themselves as
cultural attenders.
● Make day trips and have evenings
out.
● Emphasis on having fun with other
people.
12

13. STIMULATION PEN PORTRAIT:
● Seek out new experiences.
● 'Do something different' is a
maxim for life.
● They like to be the one making the
discoveries.
● They want to be moved
emotionally and challenged
intellectually, and consume culture
socially.
● Looking for new perspectives -
something they haven't seen
before.
(MHM Culture Segments official website.)
We have chosen these 2 segments because we understand
the importance of social interaction for our age category.
We understand students currently do not see the festival as
being for them and therefore their engagement is low.
However, if we advertise correctly, we want them to
discover what the festival has to offer and engage and try
something new.
13

14. COMPETITION:
PUB, CINEMA AND CLUBS:
According to the (NSPCC) ‘Alongside groceries, which cost
48% of students between £20 and £39.99 per week,
entertainment is a key outgoing with 39% spending the
same amount (£20 to £39.99) on going to the pub,
cinema and club.’ As a results of these findings and being
students ourselves, we have identified these as the key
competition for students leisure time
CLUBS/BARS:
Clubs and bars in Canterbury that we would consider as our
main competition is:
● Club Chemistry
● The Cuban
● The Loft
However, these are places you would usually visit late
evening/early morning. This is an advantage to us as the
events of Canterbury Festival finish earlier, so would be
better suited to students who do not like staying out so late.
14

15. ADVANTAGES THE COMPETITION HAVE:
The key advantage the competition have over the
Canterbury Festival, is that they require no pre-planning.
Students usually attend the competition spontaneously,
there is no need for them to plan their trips to these places
so can decide to go last minute. With the events at the
Canterbury Festivals, most of them require purchasing a
ticket in advance. Last year, the festival had 32 sold out
events. (Abi Fiddler, Canterbury Festival 2018)
WHAT WE NEED TO DO:
For The Canterbury Festival to rival the competition, we
need to encourage students it is worth putting in the extra
effort to pre-book tickets, as that is currently the
competitions main advantage. The Canterbury Festival isn’t
as easily accessible as the other activities as it only runs
once a year. This is why we want to emphasise why the
events at the festival are worth buying a ticket in advance
for.
15

16. WHAT DO THE TARGET
MARKET CURRENTLY
THINK ABOUT THE
CANTERBURY FESTIVAL:
To answer this question, we decided to conduct a
questionnaire for 20 of our fellow students to find out how
they currently perceive the festival.
● Only ½ the students we asked had heard of the
festival.
● We asked who they think the festival is for, no one
said students or their age category. Instead, we got
common answers of: old people, the middle aged
and families.
16

17. ● ¾ of the students said they would not consider the
Canterbury Festival as being an event for them.
● When asked if they had heard of any of the events
involved in the festival, only 6/20 responded with
yes.
17

18. THE BENEFITS OF
ENGAGING WITH THE
BRAND:
FIRST-HAND EXPERIENCES:
Attending events at the festival gives guests an experience
to see performances right in front of their own eyes, rather
than watching something on a screen.
CULTURE:
By engaging with the brand and attending the festival,
consumers will learn about Canterbury’s culture. They will
become more educated on the city and everything it has to
offer.
TRYING SOMETHING NEW:
The festival hosts a wide range of events that consumers
may not usually choose to attend, or go out of their way to
attend. Having these events at their doorstep and choosing
to engage with them, will broaden their interests.
18

19. THE EVENTS:
Events at the Canterbury Festival such as concerts by The
Shires and Sophie Ellis-Bextor (The Canterbury Festival
official website, 2018), may not usually be accessible to
everyone. However, having artists singing in Canterbury,
gives the residents an opportunity to see these events.
HELPING THE COMMUNITY:
Purchasing tickets to the events means the guests are
donating money to the brand. Therefore, helping to improve
the community, whilst enjoying the events.
19

20. BRAND POSITIONING:
THE DESIRED OUTCOME:
After our target audience have seen our advertisement we
want them to:
● Know what the
Canterbury Festival is
and the sort of events
included.
● Believe that booking
tickets to go to the
events is worth their
time and effort.
● Think of the festival as
exciting and something
they can take part in.
20

21. MEDIA PLAN:
We have decided to focus our advertising for social media,
primarily Instagram. (Piper Jaffray’s fall 2018 biannual teen
trends report) suggests that Instagram is the favoured
social media platform for this generation, beating
Facebook considerably. The Canterbury Festival currently
has little engagement with the target audience on
Instagram, but, as it is so popular with the target audience,
it seemed sensible to try and target them this way.
INSTAGRAM STATS:
● 1 billion users
● 59% of internet users between the ages of 18 and 29
use Instagram
● 72% of teens use Instagram
(Omnicore, 2018.)
21

22. Businesses on Instagram can pay to promote their posts.
This means their posts can reach a much larger audience,
even those who do not follow the brand.
You can target your Instagram posts to users:
● In a specific location (Canterbury, Kent)
● A certain age range (16-26)
● With similar interests to the festival
(Instagram.)
22

23. CREATIVE BRIEF FOR:
About Canterbury Festival:
Canterbury Festival is Kent’s International Arts
Festival. It is one of the most important cultural events
in the South East. As an independent charity, the
festival brings a rich mixture of performing arts from
around the world to surprise and delight audiences
each October.
Objective:
Encourage students to want to engage and
participate with the festival.
The Problem:
Students are failing to book events and the problem is
getting them to engage with the booking process early
on. Students believe it is not worth planning ahead and
making commitments.
Our Key Insight:
Students believe it is too time consuming and
requires too much pre planning to buy tickets in
advance for events, unlike going to the cinema
where you can decide last minute and pay on the
door.
Execution Requirements:
Social Media
Single Most Important Message:
That the events at the festival are worth
putting the effort in to plan. The best things in
life require planning.
Target Audience:
Our target audience is 16-26 year old students
who live in Canterbury and the surrounding area.
The students have a low basic income, not much
disposable income to hand in a weekly basis.
Their hobbies include going to the cinema as
group activity with friends and as a couple.
Supporting Evidence:
● 32 Sold out events
● 41Events with 90% capacity
● Only 10 events with less than 30%
capacity
There are limited tickets which do sell out, gives
a sense of urgency to buy tickets quickly.
Brand Voice:
Creative, Inspiring.
23

24. THE BIG IDEA
THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE REQUIRE PLANNING - THE
EVENTS WITHIN THE CANTERBURY FESTIVAL ARE
WORTH THE EFFORT.
The idea for our advertising campaign is to convince the
target market to purchase tickets for the events. They
currently believe it is too time consuming and requires too
much pre-planning. Therefore, the aim is to make them
believe that the events are worth the time and effort it
requires to purchase a ticket.
MAKE THE EFFORT FOR CULTURE
24

25. ADVERTISING IDEA:
A group of friends have a group chat, one girl is trying to
convince the rest of the group to book a Canterbury Festival
event. She gets a negative response from the group but
manages to convince them. After attending the event, they
all thank her as realise they would’ve missed out on such a
great event if they did not book the ticket.
VIDEO ADVERTISEMENT SPECIFIC IDEA:
● The advertisement will begin with a screen recording of
a group chat between 4 friends.
● One girl is encouraging her friends to book an event at
the Spiegeltent but is getting responses such as ‘cba’
and ‘long booking it.’
● She manages to convince them.
● The ad then switches to a pan of the Spiegeltent and
then a short clip of an impressive trick in the circus
event.
● It will then switch to the group of friends leaving the
tent and praising their friend who convinced them to
book it, saying they ‘realise it’s worth booking tickets
now’ and that they will ‘definitely be coming back!’
25

26. STORYBOARD IDEA FOR
VIDEO ADVERTISEMENT:
1. Friend is encouraging the others to book the event at the
festival.
2. Friend has persuaded them to go and book the tickets.
26

27. 3. The group of friends at the event enjoying it.
4. The group of friends leaving and reviewing their time at
the event.
27

28. WEBSITE BANNER ADS:
BOOK IT!
NO
CBA
IT WILL BE WORTH IT
Our idea could also work as a banner ad for websites. Here
it can be seen on The Canterbury Christ Church University’s
website where they usually have their ads. As this is a
website students visit often it this could be another form of
advertising.
28

29. BOOK NOW!
We tested our banner ad on our student blackboard, as it is
the main communication tool between students and the
university.
By having an advert on the
blackboard page, Canterbury
Festival will be able to reach
their target audience more
effectively.
By using online platforms,
Canterbury Festival can use
hyperlinks that will take
students directly to their
booking page.
29

30. POSTER:
Sophie Ellis- Bextor at the
Marlowe Tuesday 22nd October
BOOK NOW!
YOU WON’T REGRET
IT!
The Shires at the Marlowe
Saturday 25th October
Off the Kurb, Comedy Club
Thursday 23rd October- in the
Spiegeltent
30

31. REFERENCES:
SLIDE 1:
https://www.canterburyfestival.co.uk/media/545983/Matt_Barnard_
and_Eliza_Delite_2016_credit__Peter_Cook__14__940x752.jpg
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/T7KKz3BKj0o66DWVJArhVsvUm
Hd_a-anlrO7v7xmcIc2vHsDcc3aOPf84kz6LX9IxnohBw=s90
https://www.canterburyfestival.co.uk/media/546135/Variety_Soup_2
016_credit_Peter_Cook__48__940x627.jpg
SLIDE 3:
https://steemitimages.com/0x0/https://img.esteem.ws/od9j1qri9k.jp
g
https://www.shopthunderbay.com/microsite/photogallery/10298975
.jpg
http://recursov.com/images/events/parallax/9.jpg
SLIDE 4:
Canterbury Festival (2018) Canterbury Festival. Available at:
https://www.canterburyfestival.co.uk/ (Accessed: 30/10/18).
https://www.canterburyfestival.co.uk/media/546167/Sponsors_rece
ption_credit_Sidonie_Carey_Green__8__940x627.jpg
https://www.canterburyfestival.co.uk/media/546111/ThornCanterbury
_3_940x629.jpg
SLIDE 5:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/i2tSI60Aw01GhrS3wzc3GuWode
n3UbhFKfPev0AyrG2HA6p0Zu6hgLetj53a3wvRDq68yw=s128
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DPtouZpW0AADzc7.jpg:large
SLIDE 6:
The Bath Festival (2018) About the Festival. Available at:
https://bathfestivals.org.uk/the-bath-festival/ (Accessed: 30/10/18).
Bath Festivals. (2018) Bath Festivals [Facebook] Available at:
https://www.facebook.com/BathFestivals (Accessed: 30/10/2018).
The Bath Festival (2018) What's On. Available at:
https://bathfestivals.org.uk/the-bath-festival/whats-on/ (Accessed:
30/10/2018). 31

32. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dc6ZAmBW0AAGeJV.jpg
https://bathfestivals.org.uk/the-bath-festival/wp-
content/uploads/sites/6/2018/04/TBF-Event-Page-680x450-
01_preview.jpeg
SLIDE 7:
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (2018) What is the Fringe?. Available at:
https://www.edfringe.com/experience/what-is-the-festival-fringe
(Accessed: 30/10/2018).
Edinburgh Festival Fringe. (2018) Edinburgh Festival Fringe
[Facebook] Available at: https://www.facebook.com/edfringe/
(Accessed: 1/11/2018).
edfringe. (2018) [Twitter] Available at: https://twitter.com/edfringe
(Accessed: 1/11/2018).
Screeshots taken from The Edinburgh Fringe Festival website, by Jade
Gough (1/11/2018.)
SLIDE 8:
Pragnell, C. (2015) '
Canterbury's student population now 40,000 - double 10 years ago',
KentOnline, 10/10. Available at:
https://www.kentonline.co.uk/canterbury/news/citys-student-
population-now-40000-44580/ (Accessed: 1/11/2018).
Endsleigh (2015)
77% of students now work to fund studies. Available at:
https://www.endsleigh.co.uk/press-releases/10-august-2015/
(Accessed: 1/11/2018).
SLIDE 9:
http://pendujatt.me/wp-content/uploads/streetlight-silhouette-at-
getdrawings-com-free-for-personal-use-extraordinary-beer-clip-
art.jpg
https://cmkt-image-
prd.global.ssl.fastly.net/0.1.0/ps/3331714/1360/906/m1/fpnw/wm1/a
2b9c4xizj19rukqg5zauhokfd5wdurcu3qaggorbnwft5vtgordpfwizfgvaa
uw-.jpg?1506625819&s=251c16ae49661807ee8b6013f8d70442
32

33. SLIDE 10:
NSPCC/ The Beans Group. Student Spending Report. Available at:
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/globalassets/xx_archive/media/pdfs/stud
ent-spending-report.pdf?amp;publicationtitle=i+can& (Accessed:
2/11/2018).
SLIDE 11:
Save the Student (2018) Student Money Survey 2016 – Results
Available at: https://www.savethestudent.org/money/student-
money-survey-2016.html#spending (Accessed: 3/11/2018).
Mintel. (2010) 'Issues in the Market', Student Leisure - UK - March
2010.
SLIDE 12:
Morris Hargreaves Mcintyre (2018) Culture Segments. Available at:
https://mhminsight.com/culture-segments (Accessed: 4/11/2018).
SLIDE 13:
Morris Hargreaves Mcintyre (2018) Culture Segments. Available at:
https://mhminsight.com/culture-segments (Accessed: 4/11/2018).
SLIDE 14:
NSPCC/ The Beans Group. Student Spending Report. Available at:
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/globalassets/xx_archive/media/pdfs/stud
ent-spending-report.pdf?amp;publicationtitle=i+can& (Accessed:
2/11/2018).
http://www.clubchemistry.co.uk/wp-
content/uploads/clubchem_logo_seo.jpg
SLIDE 15:
Email from Abi Fiddler, 2018, Canterbury Festival.
SLIDE 16:
Pie Chart created by Jade Gough, 10/11/2018.
https://i2.wp.com/cdn.vectorstock.com/i/1000x1000/74/95/group-
of-old-people-cartoon-characters-happy-vector-17627495.jpg
https://i0.wp.com/cdn1.vectorstock.com/i/1000x1000/94/20/cartoo
n-happy-family-waving-hands-vector-
4549420.jpg?resize=1000%2C780&ssl=1
33

34. SLIDE 17:
Pie Chart made by Jade Gough on 10/11/2018)
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/09/ed/f2/09edf2655a237031cb6dfda
ca6a15bc1.jpg
SLIDE 18:
https://40plusstyle.com/wp-
content/uploads/2014/06/optoscardelarenta-2-of-4.jpg
https://canterburyculture.org/wp-
content/uploads/2017/03/A95P1859-975x500.jpg
SLIDE 19:
Canterbury Festival (2018) Canterbury Festival. Available at:
https://www.canterburyfestival.co.uk/ (Accessed: 14/11/18).
http://eleanorjane.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/The-Shires-
Eleanor-Jane-Photography-Country-Music-magazine-1-1960x1308.jpg
https://www.lindanieuws.nl/wp-
content/uploads/2016/08/Schermafbeelding-2016-08-26-om-
15.36.54-e1472219122636.png
https://nepszava.hu/i/16/9/1/224381.jpg
SLIDE 20:
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/55844760e4b0925a43a4565
8/t/55a2c476e4b0af10ce25b564/1436730489231/
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/8mEUoQheUoqT-
Zf1mpGmDLVOLFOWFXJzA7CM4NbijbYfFTY61WIgAvMCetEUktZ8k39
x3g=s130
https://www.jewishla.org/wp-
content/uploads/2017/06/GettyImages-497310834-1024x683-
e1498682995487-1024x512.jpg
SLIDE 21:
Mintel. (2018) 'Generational Shake up.'
https://kokolevel.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Instagram.png
Omnicore (2018) Instagram by the Numbers: Stats, Demographics &
Fun Facts. Available at:
https://www.omnicoreagency.com/instagram-statistics/ Accessed:
12/11/2018) 34

35. SLIDE 22:
https://www.christophe-guervilly.fr/wp-
content/uploads/2018/10/publicite-instagram.jpg
Instagram, 2018.
SLIDE 23:
https://scontent-sea1-
1.cdninstagram.com/vp/6dfbae9aa96d128ac1165eb085686498/5C47
5266/t51.2885-
15/fr/e15/s1080x1080/43165688_1612550778845879_11012210250002
92249_n.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DAw2NerXYAMFGrs.jpg:large
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/R5w4gATbLCdbbM09pJnJQq9Tv
zyul4qze7tXPHjG4RlBQ3WiG6wjpWgX9bPBON86GFC28Q=s124
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/iSmCNyHs8fzuZtNHMgY2shYCJJ
9FcGsEQ0mhFn4Mcf32OZN1VVjjrhzxziEQLlJ8UrasFUQ=s170
https://i0.wp.com/www.prohayat.net/wp-
content/uploads/2018/08/Teaser-Cinema-1200-
500.jpg?fit=1200%2C500&ssl=1
https://ivahid.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/2-4.jpg
SLIDE 25:
https://www.theargus.co.uk/resources/images/2345025.jpg?display
=1&htype=100000&type=responsive-gallery
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/n3i5mvs0b6HEPROCNo_KVlBTO
srWQvQWbr06HgSCrG2vaAhS52Dh6uoP_B2tNPjhGIfS=s136
35