Developing a Marketing Strategy

Over a number of years we conducted research with festival attenders, the film industry, the local Edinburgh population and Festival tourist visitors to inform development of EIFF's marketing strategy and plan. We were retained to oversee detailed marketing planning, implementation and evaluation and conduct a monitor for the Festival to measure the effectiveness of the marketing planning over subsequent years. Our 'Brand Barometer' model became a framework for the Festival's on-going monitoring and target setting.

The impact of the marketing strategy and plan was significant: more new attenders, better retention, increased frequency and crossover.

"the method of psychographic profiling of the EIFF audience has become embedded as the norm - i.e. it suits us so well that we are not casting around looking for a new methodology and that's been 7 or 8 years now. The resultant implementation, whereby we did a number of specific things to support the segmentation, continues to work for us and for our audiences. The greater challenge is having the resource to target and develop new audiences but the segmentation would be an appropriate tool in this as well." Ginnie Atkinson, EIFF