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| Jan 5 2012, 6:01 AM EST (current) | Grauenhaft | 36 words added, 9 words deleted |
| Jan 5 2012, 5:24 AM EST | Grauenhaft | 94 words added, 8 words deleted |
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Marketing isn't the last activity you need to conduct. At Incubate it is a continuous campaign, an integral part of our organization. Throughout the whole year we're in conversation with our community. Even when you're reading this. We use different platforms (like Twitter, Facebook, Last.fm, YouTube, Vimeo, soundcloud, Wordpress, Wetpaint and GetSatisfaction) to interact with all (possible) participants in the festival. By getting people involved in the festival and giving them tools to help develop it further, a much stronger experience is created. It gets people connected and makes them enthusiastic about our events to the point were they share this experience with others. This way, we also reach friends of our visitors. Marketing at Incubate means creating ambassadors out of visitors for the festival. It's an organic tactic that has unfolded over the years, not something we decided to put down on paper overnight.
The scale of Incubate is also part of our business model. "Why so big, can’t you make it smaller?" That’s
often one of the first questions people ask us. The scaling is based on the long tail effect to describe a niche strategy. We bring a large amount of relatively small artists. Because of this scale, we can reach a big audience for all these artists together. Potentially even more than with just a few bigger artists. It gives festivals like Film Festival Rotterdam and Incubate an advantage towards other festivals because the scale is hard to obtain. It also makes us less dependent on the big names. But the business model of Incubate is more than just a static business model.Incubate has in depth sponsorships with companies like Vedett, Boerderij 't Schop and with web and marketing companies. It is the research and development lab of companies like Freshheads, Cre8ion Lab and Spread Motion design. Normally they develop stuff for brands like EenVandaag, Volkskrant or DutchCowboys. At Incubate they develop and test pilot versions of challenging plans, technologies and tactics. For example the Incubate wiki site.
The marketing tactics for Incubate are:
- Being open
- Getting people connected
- Creating ambassadors
Being open
Since starting Incubate, we use different free and easy to use platforms to stay in touch with our community. These people are really smart and have great passion for culture. That's why we started using GetSatisfaction, an easy accessible online customer support. Here, everybody can share tips for the Incubate line-up. We found out that visitors really like to share these things, and like to be involved in creating the festival. That's why we decided to take it a couple steps further.
We opened up our website and made a wiki of it. By logging in with Twitter, Facebook or Google, people can contribute to artist descriptions, photos and videos. These descriptions are also used in the printed festival guides. Some results: in 2011 500 people logged in and added information to our site. Monthly, we attract 100.000 unique visitors through our blog (inlog.org). More than 2.500 people follow Incubate on Twitter. Up to 2011, 269 people tipped hundreds of different artists for our line-up.
The biggest development though was opening up our whole business model through a wiki. We call it the Social Festival Model. Here, all plans we create (like this policy plan, our business plan, artistic plans and funding applications our open for the public. People can view the documents and contribute to them. It's an organic process between the organization and the people. All documents are licensed through Creative Commons, which means they can be re-used for other non-commercial purposes.
Getting people connected
In 2011 we started, in close collaboration with Freshheads, a way to reward people when they're talking about us online. We called it Loyal Class. Those who signed up on our website could let us tracks when they would say something about the festival. In return we awarded them points which could be used for exclusive items, like a shirt designed by MOMO, an autographed Maria Kapel LP by Six Organs of Admittance or a limited poster by Mara Piccione.
Through these platforms, we try to get people involved in our festival. More and more people are streaming their lives via social media like Twitter, Facebook and so on. It blurs concepts of company and customer, of personal life and work, but most of all it brings back the concept of marketing to what it used to be: promoting stuff to your friends. It is a continuous campaign. A lot of time and effort goes into it, but it's also very fun and rewarding. It creates openness, accessibility, efficiency, goodwill, out-of-the-box thinking, knowledge accumulation and social interaction.
It's a whole other experience than just going to a performance in the evening. Just like the people who are so exited about Apple, we want our visitors to feel they are part of something. It's not an experience created by us for our visitors, it's created with our visitors.
Creating ambassadors
By giving participants a higher value of power, they feel stronger connected to Incubate. The positive response is overwhelming. Incubate triggers a wide set of emotions, thoughts and conversations. And this is exactly what we're trying to stimulate. Our visitors and artists become ambassadors of the festival, which enables us to also reach the friends of our visitors. These are often very hard to address, because we don't know them yet. Visitors and artists are communicating and advertising Incubate to their environment. It's immensely valuable for any festival...
Those are our tactics. But what about good old-fashioned marketing & PR? How do you do it? Promoting a noise gig with billboards, or an visual arts installation with a radio add? You're kidding! Cutting edge art needs cutting edge promotion. And no, that's not adding and spamming people on Myspace. We believe marketing is a thing like it used to be: communicating on cool and inspiring things with your friends. Those tactics match the behaviour of our visitors. According to our visitors survey 40,4% visited the festival for the 3rd time. 45% of the visitors know Incubate via friends. 36% know it via digital media.
Marketing targets for Incubate 20112012 are:
In marketing terms Incubate uses peer to peer marketing.
Incubate tries to reach:
By facilitating peer to peer marketing you create word of mouth, which creates buzz. Slightly more than two-thirds of the U.S. economy has been influenced by buzz. This buzz can be stimulated by the following needs of the target group: information, quality, basic needs and service.
information
Prior to and during the festival Incubate uses several sources of communication. The information is provided by different channels, all having a different aim. It can be divided into four pillars: analogue media, digital media, social media and press promotion. This information can come from the organisation of Incubate itself, or from outside the festival, trough mediapartners or fans.
1. Analogue media
It's everything that kills trees. Think of posters, brochures, flyers, the Festival guide and the festival newspaper.timetables. The festival guide will be handed out in venues, bars, shops, museums as nice reading material about the Incubate-program. The aim is to inform the (potential) peers on the festival and its program. Analogue media can be used to communicate the whole program, or a specific part of the program (like the Glocal program).
Here, the personal and the visual go hand in hand. Image is everything. It's hard to get recognized in the piles of paper. That's why Incubate uses a good and recognizable brand. No list of unknown names, but an image that represents the core values of Incubate and to the point information. With nice posters, you'll need to have a good street team. Tilburg and the surrounding cities need to be covered by Incubate posters and flyers. It's not only good for the exposure of Incubate, but a lot of members in a streetteam are also gatekeepers to a group of potential visitors.
2. Digital media
The (mobile) website and the blog of Incubate are the main sources of communication. It's a way for the organization to get last minute information to the peers. The focus of the website is, and stays, the festival. The blog can be used for last-minute news during the festival, but also for other news regarding Independent Culture or just fun stuff. It's updated throughout the whole year, while the websitefestivalwebsite will be 'on hold' after the festival.
The website has a wiki-concept. The crowd is the boss. Peers can write and alter artist information and embed photos and videos. By incorporating a customizable time schedules and tag-options, the public can navigate easily through the program to find artists they like, or might like. This gives the visitor the feeling the site 'belongs' to them.
The blog will remain a more one-way communication street from the Incubate-organization and a few writers who have been invited by the organization. The blog, together with the press promotion, will be the most journalistic promotion vehicles of Incubate's Independent Culture.
3. Social media
And here's where the peers really enter. This is the main vehicle for creating the buzz. Sites like Twitter, Facebook and Last.fm help spreading the Incubate-word-of-mouth. Via digital communities Incubate has a direct link to peers and their peers and the Incubate organization evangelizes applications like Twitter and Last.fm.
Last.fm is a media partner. They provide Incubate with a lot of free targeted bannering to the peers. All European listeners of artists performing at Incubate will get personalized adds. For organizations, it's a good method for peer involvement.
Incubate invests in innovative marketing. It is the research and development lab of media companies like Freshheads, Cre8ion Lab and Spread Motion Design. They work according to best practice. The aims are:
4. Press
The good old printed media. Incubate already has (or had) media-partnerships with 3voor12, Kindamuzik, Groene Amsterdammer, The Quietus, Terrorizer, Drowned in Sound, Gonzo, HTV De IJsberg, Avontuurlijke Muziek, Vice, Subbacultcha, KinkFm, Radio6, LiveXS and MusicFrom.nl. Media-partnerships will guarantee exposure.
A lot of printed media (OOR, NRC) look at the UK for their inspiration and UK media are willing to embrace Incubate. The UK is therefore a good starting point to win media partnerships with Dutch newspapers like nrc.next and Dutch magazines like OOR. If Incubate already has some big fish on board, other big fish will follow.
Advertisement will be divided in four pillars: local (De Uitloper), scene (nrc.next, de Volkskrant), music (OOR, Subbacultcha), and arts (Metropolis M, Mister Motley, HTV De IJsberg. Additional advertisement for parts of the program like Nitsch or Dubstep and digital media.
It can be summarized in the following marketing mix:
Quality
Quality is the main trigger for people to come to a festival. Incubate is known for its cutting edge program, new artists and challenging styles. If Incubate wants to grow, the quality of the program, production and information must be guaranteed.
Basic needs
If you're going to a festival, you need comfort. You always need to:
Visitors of Incubate need a personal approach. We use a visitor's centre with counters and helpfull people. During the festival this is the central desk where you can find info, buy tickets, have a drink and much more. We also provide a quality Festival guide and all the other stuff you need for a rewarding festival experience. For press there's a media lounge with fast computers, stable internet and lots of coffee.
It's a whole other experience than just going to a performance in the evening. Just like the people who are so exited about Apple, we want our visitors to feel they are part of something. It's not an experience created by us for our visitors, it's created with our visitors.
Creating ambassadors
By giving participants a higher value of power, they feel stronger connected to Incubate. The positive response is overwhelming. Incubate triggers a wide set of emotions, thoughts and conversations. And this is exactly what we're trying to stimulate. Our visitors and artists become ambassadors of the festival, which enables us to also reach the friends of our visitors. These are often very hard to address, because we don't know them yet. Visitors and artists are communicating and advertising Incubate to their environment. It's immensely valuable for any festival...
"If the culture that the web is creating were to be reduced to a single, simple design principle it would be the principle of With. The web invites us to think and act with people, rather than for them, on their behalf or even doing things to them. The web is an invitation to connect with other people with whom we can share, exchange and create new knowledge and ideas through a process of structured lateral, free association of people and ideas. The principle underlying the web is the idea of endless, lateral connection."
- Charles Leadbeater (The Art of With)
Those are our tactics. But what about good old-fashioned marketing & PR? How do you do it? Promoting a noise gig with billboards, or an visual arts installation with a radio add? You're kidding! Cutting edge art needs cutting edge promotion. And no, that's not adding and spamming people on Myspace. We believe marketing is a thing like it used to be: communicating on cool and inspiring things with your friends. Those tactics match the behaviour of our visitors. According to our visitors survey 40,4% visited the festival for the 3rd time. 45% of the visitors know Incubate via friends. 36% know it via digital media.
Marketing targets for Incubate 20112012 are:
• More balance between all different disciplines of art.
• Professionalising the marketing division.division further.
• Differencing of the information to differentvarious target groups.
• Enter into new media partnerships with authoritative media.
• Integrating mobile media within marketing.marketing through apps.
• Applying a more narrative form of marketing; storytelling by text and images.images why we do what we do.
• Attracting more visitors.visitors to the festival, our websites and our social media.
In marketing terms Incubate uses peer to peer marketing.
Incubate tries to reach:
- Visitors of former editions.
- Friends of those visitors.
- Fans of performing artists.
- (Possible) interested visitors in the main theme of the festival
- Visitors of participating venues.
- Visitors of related venues and festivals.
- Readers of media-partners.
- TheThose involved in the knowledge economy
- Visitors of relevant portals, threads and communities.
By facilitating peer to peer marketing you create word of mouth, which creates buzz. Slightly more than two-thirds of the U.S. economy has been influenced by buzz. This buzz can be stimulated by the following needs of the target group: information, quality, basic needs and service. information
Prior to and during the festival Incubate uses several sources of communication. The information is provided by different channels, all having a different aim. It can be divided into four pillars: analogue media, digital media, social media and press promotion. This information can come from the organisation of Incubate itself, or from outside the festival, trough mediapartners or fans.
1. Analogue media
It's everything that kills trees. Think of posters, brochures, flyers, the Festival guide and the festival newspaper.timetables. The festival guide will be handed out in venues, bars, shops, museums as nice reading material about the Incubate-program. The aim is to inform the (potential) peers on the festival and its program. Analogue media can be used to communicate the whole program, or a specific part of the program (like the Glocal program).
Here, the personal and the visual go hand in hand. Image is everything. It's hard to get recognized in the piles of paper. That's why Incubate uses a good and recognizable brand. No list of unknown names, but an image that represents the core values of Incubate and to the point information. With nice posters, you'll need to have a good street team. Tilburg and the surrounding cities need to be covered by Incubate posters and flyers. It's not only good for the exposure of Incubate, but a lot of members in a streetteam are also gatekeepers to a group of potential visitors.
2. Digital media
The (mobile) website and the blog of Incubate are the main sources of communication. It's a way for the organization to get last minute information to the peers. The focus of the website is, and stays, the festival. The blog can be used for last-minute news during the festival, but also for other news regarding Independent Culture or just fun stuff. It's updated throughout the whole year, while the websitefestivalwebsite will be 'on hold' after the festival.
The website has a wiki-concept. The crowd is the boss. Peers can write and alter artist information and embed photos and videos. By incorporating a customizable time schedules and tag-options, the public can navigate easily through the program to find artists they like, or might like. This gives the visitor the feeling the site 'belongs' to them.
The blog will remain a more one-way communication street from the Incubate-organization and a few writers who have been invited by the organization. The blog, together with the press promotion, will be the most journalistic promotion vehicles of Incubate's Independent Culture.
3. Social media
And here's where the peers really enter. This is the main vehicle for creating the buzz. Sites like Twitter, Facebook and Last.fm help spreading the Incubate-word-of-mouth. Via digital communities Incubate has a direct link to peers and their peers and the Incubate organization evangelizes applications like Twitter and Last.fm.
Last.fm is a media partner. They provide Incubate with a lot of free targeted bannering to the peers. All European listeners of artists performing at Incubate will get personalized adds. For organizations, it's a good method for peer involvement.
Incubate invests in innovative marketing. It is the research and development lab of media companies like Freshheads, Cre8ion Lab and Spread Motion Design. They work according to best practice. The aims are:
- Connecting the Incubate employees with peers via social media like Twitter.
- Streaming and attaching the festival to social media. It generates peer interaction.
- Creating a Bluetooth network for the whole festival, with which we can track our visitors and give them customized festivalinfo.
- Developing an Incubate backchannel. Combining backchannels with live videostreaming by means of using a service like Ustream, people at home can join the discussion virtually at the event in real time. The backchannels get their input from Twitter and SMS. A typical backchannel can display the chat transcript, online pictures and voting.
4. Press
The good old printed media. Incubate already has (or had) media-partnerships with 3voor12, Kindamuzik, Groene Amsterdammer, The Quietus, Terrorizer, Drowned in Sound, Gonzo, HTV De IJsberg, Avontuurlijke Muziek, Vice, Subbacultcha, KinkFm, Radio6, LiveXS and MusicFrom.nl. Media-partnerships will guarantee exposure.
A lot of printed media (OOR, NRC) look at the UK for their inspiration and UK media are willing to embrace Incubate. The UK is therefore a good starting point to win media partnerships with Dutch newspapers like nrc.next and Dutch magazines like OOR. If Incubate already has some big fish on board, other big fish will follow.
Advertisement will be divided in four pillars: local (De Uitloper), scene (nrc.next, de Volkskrant), music (OOR, Subbacultcha), and arts (Metropolis M, Mister Motley, HTV De IJsberg. Additional advertisement for parts of the program like Nitsch or Dubstep and digital media.
It can be summarized in the following marketing mix:
| Independent culture | Incubate | Program | Discipline | Artist | |
| Analogue media | |||||
| Flyer | -- | + | ++ | ++ | Only when concerning specific artist flyer |
| Poster | -- | ++ | + | + | If supplied by artist |
| Stickers | -- | ++ | -- | -- | -- |
| Program guide | + | + | ++ | + | ++ |
| Brochures (for example: Tilburg Ink) | + | + | ++ | ++ | ++ |
| Digital media | |||||
| Website | ++ | ++ | ++ | ++ | ++ |
| Blog | + | + | + | -- | ++ |
| Social Festival Model | ++ | + | -- | + | -- |
| Social media | |||||
| Get Satisfaction | ++ | + | ++ | + | ++ |
| + | ++ | ++ | -- | ++ | |
| -- | ++ | + | -- | ++ | |
| Last.fm | -- | ++ | ++ | -- | ++ |
| Spotify | -- | + | ++ | -- | ++ |
| Vimeo/Youtube | ++ | ++ | -- | -- | ++ |
| Flickr | ++ | ++ | -- | -- | ++ |
| Myspace | -- | ++ | -- | -- | ++ |
| Hyves | -- | ++ | -- | -- | -- |
| Mediapartners | ++ | ++ | + | + | ++ |
| Press promotion | ++ | ++ | + | + | ++ |
| Ads | -- | ++ | ++ | ++ | ++ |
| Partners | + | + | + | + | + |
Quality
Quality is the main trigger for people to come to a festival. Incubate is known for its cutting edge program, new artists and challenging styles. If Incubate wants to grow, the quality of the program, production and information must be guaranteed.
Basic needs
If you're going to a festival, you need comfort. You always need to:
- Eat: That's why Incubate offers discounts at restaurants in town.
- Drink: One of the main aspects of social life in the southern part of the Netherlands. We know the visitors of Incubate also appreciate their independent values in a festival. That's why we have a sponsor deal with Vedett/Duvel. It's an independent Belgian brewery. They deliver quality beer. Besides that they deliver customized labels, special discounts, and have a creative and independent approach to sponsorship.
- Sleep: That's why Incubate offers hotel arrangements and stimulates couch surfing.
- Travel: Incubate is close to Eindhoven Airport. In the past it had a special arrangement (40% discount) with NS, the Dutch railways company. Because Incubate is held in the inner city of a small town with good traffic facilities it's easy accessible by car. Incubate also has special arrangements with cab companies.
Visitors of Incubate need a personal approach. We use a visitor's centre with counters and helpfull people. During the festival this is the central desk where you can find info, buy tickets, have a drink and much more. We also provide a quality Festival guide and all the other stuff you need for a rewarding festival experience. For press there's a media lounge with fast computers, stable internet and lots of coffee.
