WILLOUGHBY CITY COUNCIL
Major Cultural Festivals
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Momentum2 was engaged by Willoughby City Council to conduct media outreach for its Chatswood Year of the Rat Festival, which took place from 20 January to 8 February; and Vivid Sydney at Chatswood, which was due to take place from 22 May to 6 June (now cancelled).
Momentum2 was tasked with securing media coverage for the festivals and profiling Willoughby City Council.
Our strategy was to increase awareness and drive visitation to the events through a targeted media relations program that focused on achieving high impact stories by leveraging case studies, the activities and the events held throughout the festivals.
CLIENT OBJECTIVES
Chatswood Year of the Rat Festival:
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Increase awareness of the Chatswood Year of the Rat Festival to new and existing visitors and showcase Chatswood as a premier destination for lunar new year celebrations in Sydney
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Drive attendance to key cultural events throughout the festival through communications and marketing efforts
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Leverage community groups, businesses and key partnerships to tell unique and exciting stories throughout the festival
VIVID Sydney at Chatswood:
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Increase awareness of the Vivid Sydney at Chatswood to new and existing visitors and highlight the key differences between Vivid Sydney and Vivid Chatswood through seeding stories in the lead up to Vivid Chatswood.
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Highlight Limelight Academy’s International Projection as a key point of difference and work with the artists and students for stories
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Leverage community groups, businesses and key partnerships to tell unique and exciting stories throughout the festival
OUTCOMES
The result for Chatswood Year of the Rat Festival was widespread coverage across a broad range of media including securing coverage in a range of new publications, which reached new audiences for the festival.Coverage was across television, radio, print and online publications.
Key campaign highlights included:
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Extensive research into festival spokespeople including artists, chefs and performers
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Secured over 65 pieces of coverage for Chatswood Year of the Rat Festival including media coverage across television, radio, print and online, which reached millions of eyeballs
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Media coverage was broad reaching and diverse with stories secured locally and nationally, including coverage secured in publications which have not been secured before, providing access to new audiences for Willoughby City Council
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Journalists from Jetstar, Eat Drink Play, Sitchu Sydney, North Shore Living and Weekend Notes attended the VIP Prosperity Dinner in addition to influencers See Taste Do and Love at First Bite
Unfortunately Vivid Sydney at Chatswood was cancelled in 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions. However, extensive research and preparation was conducted for the festival including liaison with major stakeholder DNSW, which will be used at a later date.
