Students had an opportunity to get a first-hand look at festivals and their most notable marketing actions, in addition to learning about their investment in sustainability.
On Friday, November 23, the roundtable discussion “Festivales de música: miradas desde el marketing y el turismo” (Music festivals: the view from marketing and tourism) was held at the School of Tourism and Hospitality Management Sant Ignasi (URL). The discussion was attended by 3rd-year students of the Bachelor Program in Tourism and Hospitality Management, and was also open to students of the Master Program in Business Tourism and Events and Alumni.
The participants were Gemma Recorder, director of Canet Rock; Stefano Maccarone, director of the Share&Festival; and Miquel Fernández, director of Communication Sponsorship and Institutional Relationships at Festival de Cap Roig. Daniela Freund, professor of Operational Marketing (the subject around which the roundtable was based) moderated.
Students had an opportunity to get a first-hand look at festivals and their most notable marketing actions, in addition to learning about their investment in sustainability.
The representative from Cap Roig started the debate by explaining that, as a result of the festival’s diverse audience, “we organize many different marketing actions both in Barcelona during the winter and on the Costa Brava in the summer. Nevertheless, our Marketing Plan starts with the press conference/presentation of the festival we have in March.”
festivales de musica htsi barcelona estudiar turismoWith regard to festival sponsors, all three professionals agree that getting sponsorships can be quite difficult, especially the first edition of a festival. “Fortunately”, noted Gemma Recorder of Canet Rock, “in Catalonia we have a fantastic sponsor that is very much involved in cultural events: Estrella Damm.”
Along the same lines, Recorder told those present that “our Marketing Plan has a very small budget for off-line media. We do some in radio and the press, more for our sponsors than for our concert audience.” This budget is invested in digital media, such as Instagram or websites. As a novelty, Recorder noted that the festival, which has a younger target audience, has begun allowing tickets to be paid for in instalments: “it’s going quite well.”
The Share&Festival held its first edition last July, with the marketing campaign beginning in April: “we run a traditional media campaign, and we invest plenty of money in buses, radio and the press, when in reality most people find out about us through social media”, explains Stefano Maccarone, who also noted that “social media allows talent and creativity to spell the difference, not just money.” For example, artists’ contracts include being Instagram event promoters.
Sustainability and solidarity: music festivals committed to their surroundings
Cap Roig was the first festival in Spain to obtain Biosphere certification, an internationally recognized sustainable tourism certificate: “the festival takes place in a protected area, and we’ve adopted the event to the space, working to be as respectful as we can. We’ve done so to the point of earning Biosphere certification.”
Each new edition of Canet Rock also includes new sustainability and recycling initiatives. In addition, “we’re committed to artists’ freedom of expression, refugees, gender equality, etc.” The festival has participated in or led many solidarity campaigns, in addition to activities held during the event.
Share&Festival includes an application that promotes solidarity campaigns. It works with NGOs such as ACNUR, the Red Cross or UNICEF, which propose campaigns users can click on, earning points they can exchange when buying festival tickets. “Sponsors also participate by donating money to these campaigns”, Stefano Maccarone explained.
During the festival, NGOs are invited to explain what they do between concerts: “young people really do get involved. We provide the tools and the technology so that people can help them”, Maccarone concluded.