The #epicstage campaign is designed to support your existing promotional activities in order to increase awareness amongst a wider, cultural tourism audience; so that, wherever they go in the Highlands & Islands, visitors know to look out for high-quality professional cultural events and amazing performances
Why a large-scale campaign?
We know that across the rest of Scotland there can be a lack of awareness about the sheer quantity, quality and variety of performances that are happening in small-scale, community venues. By building a collective voice – focusing on the overall activities of promoters that make up The Touring Network – we can shout a bit louder about the great work that is happening across the region, sending more interest, audiences and, of course, ticket sales in your direction.
How is this happening?
In June this year we launched our new website which is fast becoming a central place for audiences to find out what they can see, where and when. The response so far has been great, both in terms of feedback and an increase in traffic and, with your support, we hope to build on this in the coming months.
As well as being sent to promoters across the region, the leaflets you will receive shortly, are at this very moment, being distributed to cultural sites, transport hubs, tourist destinations, accommodation providers and venues across the H&Is, Edinburgh and Glasgow. These are also being accompanied by our EpicStage posters which provide a really exciting visual engagement for folk who want to discover more.
On the 22nd October we are holding a Press Launch at the Tramway in Glasgow – to which you should have already received an invite. Following discussions with many of you, we know that it is very hard to get nationwide press interest for individual events in hard to reach locations. Therefore, we are taking a little bit of the Highlands into the city to show the media just what great things they will encounter if they venture a wee bit further afield. We are working with experienced arts journalist Andrew Eaton-Lewis to get press attention in the major Nationals (Herald/Scotsman) and in key cultural publications (The List/The Skinny), as well as looking to obtain ongoing coverage in regional publications, BBC radio and more…
We have commissioned photographer Peter McNally, along with his partner and assistant Lea, who will be touring the Highlands to document the people, places and performances that make the Highlands such a vibrant culturally active place. They are touring with our wonderfully upholstered, limited edition theatre chairs and using Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to get people everywhere involved in the campaign. If you spot them then give them a shout as they’d love to meet you!
Finally, we are also going to be working closely with other listings agencies, such as The List and Visit Scotland, to get more exposure for your programming and ensure that audiences find your events easily wherever they are.
In 2015 we plan to extend the campaign with posters and marketing materials in even more locations, large-scale city poster sites and on major commuter routes in the central belt.
How can I get involved?
In order to help promote your events, we need to know what they are!
Just add them to Tourbook and we’ll do the rest. To find out how, log in to Tourbook and check out the Noticeboard.
Once we have details of your event it will be added to our website, included in our social media updates and marketed via other online listings agencies. You only need to add the event once to get it featured in a whole host of different locations.
Any Questions?
If you have any thoughts or ideas about the campaign, want to know a bit more detail, or would like to represent the promoters of The Touring Network at our Press Launch, then please do get in touch, or come along to one of our upcoming members’ meetings.