Flanders is a festival stm

Flanders is a festival

08/11/2012 WTM

Frank Cuypers

Flanders?

Flanders: Art cities

Bruges, Brussels, Ghent, Antwerp, Leuven, Mechelen

Flanders: Belgian Beer

Flanders: Fashion

Flanders: Belgian Chocolate

#fiaf12

‘Symbolic Actions’ (Simon Anholt)

‘Put your product in your branding’ (Seth Godin)

Festivals fit our branding

Why this action?

‘ It’s the strategy, stupid !’

‘ Not the content but the community is king’

Why storytellers?

Permission marketing

We spread the good news bottom up

We recommend rather than

persuade

‘Cutting edge craftmanship’

Highest density in the world !

Why festivals?

Goal #fiaf12:

Increase awareness of Flanders as a festival destination

Bring online influencers to Flanders to experience the

festival scene & stimulate conversation about Flanders

Target markets

UK

Denmark en Sweden

France

Spain Italy

The Netherlands

Austria

Germany

China

USA

Japan

India

Russia

• Biggest ‘blogtrip’ in the world

• Flanders festival express

THINK SOCIAL MEDIA (Canada

& The Netherlands)

Biggest ‘blogtrip’ in the world

94 “Bloggers” from 13 countries

Key influencers in music, travel, lifestyle, social

media

Personal program for every blogger: a unique

festival experience + touristic tips

Selection ‘key influencers’ based on:

Online reach and audience

Used networks (Twitter, Instagram, Blog,

Facebook, mix, …)

Match #fiaf12

Personality & passion

Location and language

Biggest blogtrip in the world

Biggest blogtrip in the world: effort

Flanders festival express

Flanders festival express

Flanders is a Festival

@fiafexpress

Flanders festival express

Festival game:www.flandersisafestival.com

Results

Flanders festival express: return

FB > 10.000 fans: with a reach of 5 million other

FB users

Engagement rate > 3,5 times the average

engagement on facebook.

Fans are engaged :

New ambassadors for Flanders

Connection with bloggers as festival buddies

Authentic stories about festivals & destination

Happy bloggers & inspiration for their followers

Biggest blogtrip in the world: return

Print

Radio

Corporate communication (Tv, papers…)

Enhances online competences of your staff

(KPI: Kloutscore 30 for 30%)

Biggest blogtrip in the world: colateral

http://www.brain-magazine.com/article/reportages/10817-Blog-Trip-en-Flandre

Number of written blogposts: 273 (300…)

Number of unique visitors: > 12.000.000

Average potential reader per blogpost: 75.000

Number of Facebook fans of all bloggers: > 300.000

Number of Twitter fans of all bloggers: > 550.000

Some numbers (at this moment)

Total Cost : about 300.000 €

Project manager + 3,9 FTE (6 months)

Conversation Value:>30.000.000 € (stakeholders !)

Some numbers (at this moment)

Elco Roos (NL) 14.711.945 €

Marcello Arrambide (USA) 5.024.347 €

Tim Griffin (USA) 3.433.912 €

Top three Story Tellers (at this moment)

Ghent : 921

Antwerp : 691

Bruges : 325

Top three Keywords (at this moment)

Total #fiaf12 : 7363 mentions

Every day > 140.000 tweeps received a

tweet with #fiaf12 in their twitter feed. That is

a potential reach of 13.000.000

Lessons learned

Lessons learned : selection of bloggers

Selection of influencers: it’s not only about

numbers but….

Place in the network

Mix and make them meet each other…

Lessons learned : treatment of bloggers

Different approach from a journalist ….

Wifi is their bloodstream…

It’s not about the money (we didn’t pay) but

about the cost (zero#)…

Lessons learned: relation with bloggers

Start inviting them earlier: catch some big fish

Clearly talk about expectations:

What can they expect in the destination

What return do we expect: articles,

backlinks, conversation

Lessons learned:evangelize your stakeholders

Evaluation > action itself

Provide ROI, even if it does not say anything

about the ‘real value’

Involve them in the conversation as early as

possible

Involve our Flemish bloggers / geeks /

ambassadors

Lessons learned: roles for our offices

UK

Denmark en Sweden

France

Spain Italy

The Netherlands

Austria

Germany

China

USA

Japan

India

Russia

• Connect with local bloggers

• Activate local media

Bring everything together on our site: trafic!

Make it visible for everyone (not only people who

follow blogs and use twitter)

Follow up and stimulate conversation

2013: Flanders is a tour

2014: Flanders Fields

BLOGGERS EAT JOURNALISTS FOR BREAKFAST !

CONCLUSION (MARKETING POW)

Thank you!

Frank Cuypers @FCuypers

Visitflanders @visitflanders