After success in 2010, the Spirit team were once again invited to promote the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, Europe’s largest annual hot air balloon festival.
As well as promoting the 4-day event across the UK through national media relations and social media, we also supported the Fiesta’s drive for commercial sponsors.
Having recognised that over 45 per cent of the Fiesta’s visitors are attracted to the event by the media, it was essential that we increased the coverage to ensure visitor numbers were maintained.
The campaign delivered big results; the national and local TV coverage reached 9 million people across the UK with the Fiesta featuring on BBC Breakfast, The One Show and ITV This Morning. The national and regional print coverage had a combined circulation figure of 25 million, featuring in 14 national newspapers.
Following Friday’s press day, Saturday and Sunday saw record-breaking numbers of visitors, with over half a million people attending the event and advanced car parks selling out.
We also raised the Fiesta’s presence on social media, building on the profiles we launched in 2010 on Facebook and Twitter. We now have almost 6,000 fans and 2500 followers, making social media a key component in the Fiesta’s communications strategy.
“The success of this year’s Fiesta is in no small measure due to the work of Spirit PR, whose excellent ideas, enthusiasm, commitment and media contacts ensured much better coverage than in the past,”
Muir Moffat, Chairman of the Organising Committee, Bristol International Balloon Fiesta.
We have already started to plan for the 2012 event, building on the success of the past two years. Watch this space to see how we do!
