How to market a festival with leaflets and posters
Festival marketing with leaflets and posters runs in phases: a blanket city leaflet drop when tickets go on sale, poster saturation through the build weeks, and hand to hand distribution at transport hubs in the final fortnight. iDO, the trading name of Info Display OOH Ltd, runs these campaigns across 150,000 print points.
Sugandan Balaji
What is a festival print campaign?
A festival print campaign is a phased distribution programme that puts leaflets into homes and posters into shop windows across the towns and cities an event sells from. iDO, the trading name of Info Display OOH Ltd, builds festival campaigns across 150,000 print points and 60+ distribution centres, the biggest print distribution network in the UK.
Festivals and events sell on a curve, not a flat line, so festival leaflets and posters each do a different job on that curve. A blanket leaflet drop creates awareness in the week tickets go on sale, posters hold the dates in front of a town for weeks at a time, and hand to hand leaflets catch late deciders. Plan the print against the on sale date and the gates open date.
When should festival leaflets and posters go out?
Festival leaflets and posters go out in four phases: a blanket door to door leaflet drop in the week tickets go on sale, a poster blanket from about six weeks out, hand to hand leaflet distribution in the final two weeks, and racked leaflets during the event itself.
Phase the spend rather than committing it all at announcement. The heaviest weight belongs at the two ends of a festival campaign, because posters carry the quiet middle at no extra cost per week once they are up.
| Phase | Timing | Format | Job |
|---|---|---|---|
| On sale | Week 1 | A5 leaflet, blanket door to door | Announce dates and programme |
| Build | 6 to 3 weeks out | A3 and A2 posters | Hold the dates in the town |
| Urgency | Final 2 weeks | DL leaflet, hand to hand | Convert late deciders |
| Event days | Gates open | Racked leaflets in hotels | Walk up sales and next year |
Where should festival leaflets be distributed?
Festival leaflets work hardest in three places: homes inside the drive time of the site, transport hubs on the routes into the host city, and racked display in hotels, campsites and tourist information centres. iDO covers all three from 60+ distribution centres, each staffed by teams local to their own areas.
A blanket run is the structure that suits a large event campaign. The three city run iDO delivered for the Welsh Rugby Union covered Cardiff, Newport and Swansea with leaflets and posters in three days, so a whole region saw the dates inside the same week.
- Blanket door to door across every postcode sector within a 60 minute drive
- Hand to hand at railway stations, bus stations and park and ride sites at peak times
- Racked A5 and DL leaflets in hotels, campsites, cafes and tourist information centres
- Ultra local coverage of the retail, food and drink and community sites nearest the venue
What poster sizes should a festival use?
Most festival poster campaigns run on A3 and A2 in shop windows and community sites, and add 4 sheet or 6 sheet panels where there is budget for retail and street level display. A 6 sheet poster is a 1200mm by 1800mm panel used in shopping centres, supermarkets and on the street.
Print festival posters on 170gsm silk as a minimum so they hold colour in a sunlit window for the full display period.
| Size | Dimensions | Where it goes |
|---|---|---|
| A3 | 297mm x 420mm | Shop windows, cafes, community boards |
| A2 | 420mm x 594mm | Pub and bar windows, venue foyers, libraries |
| A1 | 594mm x 841mm | Venue frontage and larger internal sites |
| 4 sheet | 1016mm x 1524mm | Supermarket and retail park panels |
| 6 sheet | 1200mm x 1800mm | Street level and shopping centre panels |
How do you prove festival print was delivered?
Proof of a festival print campaign comes from GPS tracked distribution and photographed proof of display. iDO has invested over £250,000 in its reporting system, so a festival organiser sees a live dashboard with geo located maps showing which streets were covered on which day.
Pair the print with screens in the same towns during the build weeks. The iDO digital screen network delivers around 500,000 impressions a week in barbershops, gyms, pubs and bars. Info Display OOH Ltd has distributed print since 1997 and now handles more than 5 million brochures every month.
Frequently asked
- How many leaflets does a festival need?
- Work from postcode sectors, not a round number. A blanket door to door drop covers every home in the sectors chosen, and a typical city sector holds 2,000 to 3,000 homes. iDO plans the sector list against ticket data and drive time, then quotes per thousand.
- Is A5 or DL better for a festival leaflet?
- A5, 148mm x 210mm, suits door to door because it carries a full programme and date list. DL, 99mm x 210mm, suits hand to hand at stations because it fits a pocket. Many festivals run both formats from one piece of artwork.
- Can a festival print campaign start at short notice?
- Yes. iDO works from 60+ distribution centres with local teams and has started campaigns within two days of an announcement, including a solus door to door drop to 6,600 Royal Albert Hall Christmas booker addresses across SW7 1 to SW7 5.