Public Relations Report
2021 Noosa Eat and Drink Festival Relaunch
SCENARIO:
You work for a full service PR agency that has been engaged to relaunch the 2021 Noosa Eat and Drink Festival after the 2020 event was cancelled. Your manager has asked you to write a report for the client that recommends specific promotional activity using social media and traditional media.
1. Executive Summary
Noosa Eat and Drink Festival should create, and regularly post content to an Instagram account. This social media platform will target the younger, and more food-orientated millennial generation previous festivals have failed to engage. A free app featuring event maps and programs may also be developed to cater for this audiences’ needs.
This report will explain the justifications underpinning this approach and outline the recommended next steps.
Ticket sales have been estimated to rise by 37 per cent through Instagram-related promotional activity.
2. Background
Noosa is known for its fine dining experiences, waterfront cafes and restaurants, and world-renowned chefs. This industry is a core pillar of the city’s economy, with close to $15 million spent on food and drinks annually (The Intermedia Group, 2017).
Australian ‘foodies’ are on the hunt for the latest taste sensation — high quality, fresh and authentic food experiences have become central to their lives.
Thirty-one per cent of those with a refined interest in food are aged between 50 and 64, correlating directly with the target publics of the Noosa Eat and Drink Festival. However, 42 per cent, contributing $50 billion to this industry, are millennials aged between 23 and 38 (Foodie, 2015).
Foodies and Noosa Eat and Drink Festival-goers alike are travellers — they savour weekends away exploring and living like locals. These lovers of wine eat out weekly and are the first to try the latest cafes and restaurants. They are socially minded and display a keen interest in new ideas and information.
Expansion of promotional activity targeted toward the younger foodie demographic represents an opportunity for the festival to reach an under-utilised market.
Society’s obsession with smashed avos, foodstagrams, and farm-to-table dining can be attributed to millennials. This younger demographic opts for experiences over possessions, viewing food as a means to engage all the senses and bring people together. Millennials have revolutionised the food industry, with new perspectives, expectations and responsibilities informing where to eat next.
Being a ‘foodie’ is more than just adding a photo of brunch to an Instagram story, or leaving a rating on a newly-opened café’s Facebook page. The term encompasses those who are passionate about food and consider eating to be a genuine hobby.
Similar food-orientated festivals that have operated in the past have solely targeted older audiences. New Zealand’s Food and Wine Classic, and Western Australia’s Gourmet Escape events chose not to use Instagram as a promotional platform. Subsequently, they have failed to engage millennials, severely limiting ticket sales. In contrast, the New Orleans Wine and Food Experience regularly posted engaging content to their Instagram account, attracting millennials and boosting sales by 32 per cent.
3. Opportunity
Baby boomers spend an average of $4,905 eating out annually, with millennials spending just over $6,000 (Wallace, 2018). Sufficient investment in this potential target market by the food festival industry is seriously lacking.
Thus, the opportunity for Noosa Eat and Drink Festival to establish and maintain a presence with the millennial publics exists.
Several opinion leaders have been identified through research into food-focused, Instagram-based influencers. The following accounts present a means to promote the festival’s visibility within millennial publics:
- @taramilktea (https://www.instagram.com/taramilktea/) — 1.3m followers
- @lickyourphone (https://www.instagram.com/lickyourphone/) — 440k followers
- @georgeats (https://www.instagram.com/georgeats/) — 159k followers
- @gastrology.co (https://www.instagram.com/gastrology.co/) — 44.8k followers
- @iatemywaythrough (https://www.instagram.com/iatemywaythrough/) — 23.2k followers
Partnerships with these opinion leaders will assist in the growth of the Noosa Eat and Drink Festival’s Instagram account, establishing a strong connection with the millennial publics and driving ticket sales.
An additional opportunity has emerged in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Assuming all restrictions have lifted by 2021, the target publics will be eager to attend community-based events such as the Noosa Eat and Drink Festival.
4. Concept
Creating an Instagram account to promote the Noosa Eat and Drink Festival will propel ticket sales within the millennial target publics. This platform provides a means of interactive, two-way communication — establishing stronger relationships with festival attendees.
Content posted to the Instagram page will include regular news updates, recipes, competitions, and gallery-style images of the event. For aesthetic purposes, each post should remain consistent with Noosa Eat and Drink Festival’s colour scheme of blue and white. All images should be of a high quality and use light-washed filters. Captions must also maintain a consistent tone, with the #NoosaEatandDrinkFestival hashtag incorporated into each post. This will ensure maximum engagement.
Examples of mock-up Instagram posts:
Images: courtesy of @noosaeatanddrink Instagram
The Noosa Eat and Drink Festival Instagram page should also make use of the ‘Stories’ feature. Multiple images and short videos are showcased in a slideshow format, acting as a highlight reel. Stories are the best place to share user-generated content — posts that have tagged the @noosaeatdrink account can be easily be uploaded here. In this sense, partnerships with opinion leaders will be displayed through the Stories feature.
Instagram TV (IGTV) is yet another feature of this social media platform that can be harnessed for promotional purposes. Serving a similar function as YouTube, IGTV allows creators to upload high-quality videos between 15 seconds and ten minutes long. Noosa Eat and Drink Festival can produce and share video content ranging from interviews and recipes, to virtual winery tours, and activities to do whilst in Noosa. Partnerships with local businesses, such as resorts and spas, would further boost advertising and ticket sales.
Although the Instagram account acts as the central platform for promotional activity, content developed for the Noosa Eat and Drink Festival can be shared across a range of print and digital media. In addition to local newsletters, flyers and posters, a website and Facebook event page should be utilised to promote the event.
To cater for the millennial target publics, a free app featuring maps and event programs should be developed. The launch screen should be intuitive and easy to navigate, including links to merchandise, food and drink stalls, maps, ticket pricing, emergency plans, lost property, and FAQs.
Example of Noosa Eat and Drink Festival app launch page:
Images: courtesy of @noosaeatanddrink Instagram
5. Challenges and Threats
Several challenges may threaten the effectiveness of the campaign’s promotional activity. These could include:
- A second wave of COVID-19 forcing the cancellation of the event due to restrictions
- Successfully persuading opinion leaders to promote the event
- Impacts to target publics’ incomes due to COVID-19 preventing them from purchasing tickets
- Attracting sizeable audiences to social platforms and the app, and maintaining prolonged engagement to drive ticket sales
These challenges have the potential to be overcome.
Although a second wave of COVID-19 may impose new restrictions and prevent the Noosa Eat and Drink Festival from going ahead, the event can be transferred to an online format. Cooking demonstrations, panel discussions, and interviews can be livestreamed through Instagram and Facebook. Ticket holders can tune in from their own homes, ensuring the festival adheres to public safety measures.
The opinion leaders’ backgrounds must be researched extensively to ensure their personal branding aligns to that of Noosa Eat and Drink Festival. Establishing a mutually beneficial relationship between influencers and the festival will be integral to garnering their support. Contracts should be transparent and fair, with Noosa Eat and Drink Festival’s expectations made clear.
The roll-out of JobKeeper and JobSeeker payment schemes have assisted most Australians with disrupted incomes. In some cases, individuals are earning significantly more than pre-COVID-19. Therefore, the target publics of millennials should have the means to purchase tickets. Their prioritisation of social opportunities over financial concerns will also ensure sales.
The reach of Instagram is extensive and undeniable — ensuring content is engaging, aesthetic and intriguing will be essential to the effectiveness of promotional activity. The growth and maintenance of ‘followers’ is a key indicator of success and will also encourage the sale of tickets.
A skilled social media team will need to balance the fine line between bombarding audiences with content and building intrigue. Endorsements from Instagram-based opinion leaders, and consistent use of the #NoosaEatandDrinkFestival hashtag will promote the presence of the event on the platform. Reposting user-generated content via the Stories feature as a means of two-way communication will build strong relationships with the target publics.
6. Next Steps
Utilising Instagram as a central platform for promotional activity provides Noosa Eat and Drink Festival with a promising advocacy campaign. Harnessing the target publics of millennial foodies will drive ticket sales by 37 per cent, and open the festival to a $110 billion market previously neglected by similar events (The Intermedia Group, 2017). The suggested next steps include:
1. Establishing a project team specialising in social media
2. Developing a strategic social media plan including clear content guidelines and upload schedule
3. Acquiring Noosa Eat and Drink Festival URLs and social media handles
4. Conducting background research on suggested opinion leaders and developing contracts
5. Contacting Instagram-based influencers and finalising contract terms and conditions
6. Reporting back to project team with plan detailing all components of promotional activity.
References
Foodie. (2015). Millennial Foodies. Combine youth and technology and we are offered insight into the future of the food landscape. Retrieved from https://www.afoodieworld.com/foodie/3487-the-millennial-foodie-frenzy-nbsp
NoosaEatDrink. (2020). Instagram. Retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/noosaeatdrink/
The Intermedia Group. (2017). Respondent Summary. Eating Out in Australia 2017. Retrieved from http://www.the-drop.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/EatingOutinAustralia_2017_Respondent-Summary.compressed.pdf
Wallace, Lisa. (2018). The foodie generation: What we’re learning from Millennials. Food News. Retrieved from https://www.food24.com/the-foodie-generation-what-were-learning-from-millennials/
