Sponsorship follow-up - what happened at the Festival? 23 April 2012 Chris Hogan Right http://www.cetamail.co.uk/files/Crime_Writers_Forum_lrg.jpg Regular readers will remember our feature on sponsorship from a couple of months ago - "Can sponsorship bring in the big bucks?" That article - http://cetamail.co.uk/News/LoadNews.asp?s=CETA&id=290 – was largely inspired by Insure My Business's decision to sponsor the Chipping Norton Literary Festival. Literary Festival makes good The good news is that the Literary Festival, which happened over the weekend of 21st-22nd April, was a big success for the town and the team running the show. This quick follow-up article will look at the Festival and what to watch for if you are thinking of sponsoring a similar event. As we said in the original article it's important to know what you are getting out of your sponsorship. The team at the Festival produced a document outlining what each sponsor could expect to receive at the differing levels of sponsorship. This included some or all of the following, depending on the amount of sponsorship: branding on banners mentions in festival programme mentions in publicity literature mentions in press releases and pre-event PR engagement in social media campaign website links from festival website opportunity to display marketing material at the venue free tickets to events and passes to the pre-event launch With Insure My Business being a largely online business the mentions in social media and website links were of most value, particularly since we had started using Twitter and Facebook accounts. The Festival gave the social media team an excellent subject to talk about online and gained followers and fans running businesses in the area surrounding Chipping Norton. It has to be said that getting free tickets for various events was well received by many sponsors too! The sponsorship effect The particular event we sponsored, the Crime Writers Forum, was very well attended and entertaining, with No 1 best-selling crime author Mark Billingham among a forum of crime writers. They discussed crime writing, the way each of them they write, and then took questions from the floor. Current estimates of the number of people who came into the town purely for the Festival vary between two and three thousand. Talking to shops and cafes on the day revealed that customer numbers were up across the board, even for those with no literary connection. Visitors were obviously wandering in and out of places between sessions, which was one of the main side benefits that the Festival team were hoping to see. People would have been walking around the town referring to their programs with our Insure My Business's name in it and on banners outside venues. With the Festival being so well-received there is expected to be a lasting effect; authors are already asking about next year. One author said that in twenty years of festival going this had been the nicest and best-organised ever, and that the town was buzzing. All that adds up to positive coverage and a healthy outlook for next year, assuming the Festival continues – and it's a reasonably safe bet that it will. What could be done better? So did it all work out the way we planned? What would we do differently the next time we sponsored something along these lines? Well, this was the first time the Festival had been run and sometimes we weren't sure of the exact details for promotional opportunities. For example, if we do a similar event again we will find out from the venue beforehand where promotional material can go to achieve the best results. We will also find out if there is an MC and make sure they announce us as supporters of the event or venue. Because there were different levels of sponsorship available there were three sponsors, including us, represented at the venue. There was the overall Festival, sponsor, a company sponsoring the venue, and then we had sponsored the Crime Writers Forum itself. This is understandable, and we expected it, and it did mean that our message was a little over-shadowed in places. More forward planning on our part, if there is a next time, will be useful. Collaboration Still, the Insure My Business name was out there to be seen by everyone and the overall good feeling of the Festival is likely to have a positive effect for a while. We are expecting this to work for social media and web content exchanges over the next few weeks as positive emails and tweets come in. If you're considering sponsoring and event then go in with your eyes open and be prepared to put some work in to get the best results – remember it's a collaborative venture. <br><br><br>(Image, copyright Blue Pier Productions and courtesy Chipping Norton Literary Festival, shows (L-R) chair Peter Guttridge and four of the UK's most celebrated crime-writers: S J Bolton, Dan Waddell, Sophie Hannah and Mark Billingham.)