Edinburgh International Film Festival Make:IT:Happen Project

October 2013 – June 2014

What Did We Do?

• Legacy Equipment• News Content• Blog Content• Social Media Activity• Content Partnerships

Legacy Equipment

• 2 x iPads– for social activity– for responsive marketing– for mobile content generation

• Marketing Department camera– for quality image capture– for mobile content generation

News Content• News Features:

– film industry and awards coverage, highlighting EIFF films nominated for awards• News Round-Ups:

– updates on BAFTA and Academy Awards plus regional film awards around the UK• Behind the Scenes:

– frequent #TBT posts – sharing content from the EIFF archive, showcasing never-been-seen-before material

• Tie-In content:– with foreign film festivals to build partnerships (e.g. Sundance, Berlinale, Rotterdam)

• Festival News: – Latest news on the up-coming Festival to inspire audiences and build early commitment to

attending EIFF 2014 (e.g retrospective and country focus announcements, programme announcements, guests appearing etc)

• Industry and Audience Development Initiatives:– launch of EIFF Short Film Challenge and cross-promotion partnerships for local film events

such as Edinburgh Short Film Festival

Blog Content• Behind the Scenes:

– weekly ‘A Day in the Life’ guest blogs from the Festival team – various departments, programmers, consultants etc.

• International Festival Reporting:– Sundance report from Diane Henderson; Cannes report from Holly Daniel; IFDA report from

Jenny Leask• Chris Fujiwara Programme Highlights:

– Insight into EIFF 2014 strands including Focus on Germany, Focus on Iran• EIFF Student Critics Jury Reviews:

– Publishing film reviews from the official EIFF Student Critics team

Social Media Activity• Increased Engagement:

– using off-season film chat, highlighting the latest film news, instigating conversation topics, discussing latest film releases for audiences

• Widening the Scope:– to include weekly references to current films, other Festivals, and big events like the BAFTAs

and Academy Awards• Daily Interaction:

– news sharing, RTs of other festivals, contributing to film debates and discussions• Promoting EIFF Off-Season Events:

– Chris Fujiwara’s jury news and international festival appearances, EIFF special screenings

• Introduction of Instagram– developing new social media channel to EIFF and its audiences, in addition opening up EIFF to

a new visually-focused social media audience

Content PartnershipsCreating and building partnerships with fellow film festivals via social media:• Sundance (+ content)• Cannes • Berlinale (+ content)• Glasgow Film Festival• Glasgow Short Film Festival• Jameson Dublin International Film Festival• South by Southwest• Belfast Film Festival• Bradford International Film Festival• AV Festival• Sydney Film Festival• International Film Festival Rotterdam• Clermon-Ferrand• Nordic Film Market• Edinburgh Short Film Festival

Example: Chris Fujiwara’sProgramme Blogs

Example: Chris Fujiwara’sProgramme Blogs

Example: Festival Team Blogs

Example: A Day in the Life

Example: A Day in the Life

Example: A Day in the Life

Example: Throwback Thursdays – From The

Archive

Example: Throwback Thursdays – From The Archive

Example: Throwback Thursdays – From The

Archive

Example: Throwback Thursdays – From The Archive Partnership

Example: Throwback Thursday

Example: Empire Magazine Partnership

Example: Social Media Competition

Example: Day to Day Social Media Content

Example: Day to Day Social Media Content

Example: Day to Day Social Media Content

Example: Day to Day Social Media Content

Example: Day to Day Social Media Content

Example: Day to Day Social Media Content

Example: Day to Day Social Media Content

How Did We Do It?• EIFF Marketing Manager, Ross Perth, oversaw the project.

• EIFF Web Editor, Nicola Balkind, was responsible for all content planning, internal writing, and editing.

• EIFF Marketing Co-ordinator, Morgaine Jennings, worked with the internal team to co-ordinate content needs, including handling assets, and keep the project running on time.

• EIFF Publications Researcher, Marc David Jacobs, sourced archive material from records kept internally (CMI, Filmhouse, Film Guild, EIFF).

Project Developments• Originally the plan was for Web Editor’s role to be more of a roving

reporter, visiting other film festivals. However we felt that budget and time constraints would compromise the quantity and quality of the generated content.

• As the drive for more engaging and insightful content increased, it became clear that a specific resource was needed to tap into the EIFF archives, which to date are still in hard copy form kept in a file archives. This additional resource allowed us to obtain truly exclusive content to publish and showcase to audiences.

• A small investment was made in hardware (2 x iPads, 1 x camera) which allows the rich media content to be created efficiently and effectively. This means content can be more dynamic and responsive which is essential in creating engaging and content for online audiences. The hardware is also an invaluable legacy for continued content generation.

Resulting Benefits• Significant off-season engagement with existing, and potential, festival

audiences• Development of EIFF’s presence in film discussion and the film industry • A more cohesive and directed approach to online marketing across all

channels• Vastly increased brand awareness, trust, and advocacy from audiences

and stakeholders• Improved working processes between in-house team and out-of-office

team which was carried through to the on-season festival period

Project StrengthsStrengths:• Continued and progressive EIFF content between festivals• Bespoke and valuable film content and insight published to audiences at

key timings (seasonal, zeitgeist, reactive to occasions and incidents)• Greater dissemination of EIFF news, insight and activity – what its teams

do, what it’s discovered, what it’s bringing to Edinburgh, special features and highlights from the past

• Development of EIFF’s content, not just festival ‘news’ anymore• Opportunity to build EIFF’s profile across film audiences and industries

through a continued presence year-round• Mindset change across the festival organisation with greater appreciation

of, and enthusiasm for, bespoke content and insight • Opening up new digital channels e.g. Instagram• Hardware is now in hand to create content and publish efficiently

Project Challenges

Challenges:• Generating content due to third party’s commitments and capacity• Maintaining the right mix of content to maximise audience engagement –

commentary on contemporary film issues vs rich EIFF retrospective content vs insight into festival departments vs news regarding the upcoming festival

• Trying to source rich content in response to film news and events from a vast archive

How it fits with EIFF’s Core Mission• Accessibility• Building and retaining EIFF audiences – online and in-person• Education & engagement• Demonstrating expertise• Spotlighting the film industry, filmmaking talent, and film culture• Driving festival attendance• Participating in the wide film community, both national and internationally• Showcasing films and filmmakers to as wide an audience as possible

Unexpected Problems• The biggest unexpected problem we encountered was realising that our

concept was too large. As outlined above, we scaled back to the fundamentals and found a balance that allowed us to fulfill the majority of our project aims while getting the best results possible.

• The scope of the project had to be reviewed to insure the content, and therefore the programme of engagement, would not be compromised by any over ambition.

• In addition, the level of involvement from EIFF’s core Marketing Team had not been anticipated. Senior and middleweight resource was required to both ensure the context, accuracy, integrity and tone met EIFFs standards and values, and also help coordinate some content generation from internal parties.

Project ImpactOriginal metrics included:

Website analytics – significant increases achieved in all of the following:• Visits• Visits to news and blog content & conversions• % returning audience

Coverage Partnerships – great results• Result: 14; 2 of which were content sharing

Social media engagement – significant success in all of the following:• Follower numbers• Engagement (replies, RTs, etc.)• Newsletter sign-ups

Benefits: Key Results

Website• On-season web traffic increase of 19.15% • Visits: 578,359 in June 2013; 689,149 in June 2014• On-season news pages traffic increased by 45%• Visits: 18,073 in June 2013; 26,238 in June 2014• On-season blog pages traffic increased by 28.5%• Visits: 4,471 in June 2013; 5,746 in June 2014

Benefits: Key Results

WebsiteJanuary – June 2014:

Benefits: Key Results

WebsiteJune 2014:

Benefits: Key Results

Facebook• Increased audience (‘Likes’) by 31% (compared with 16% in 2012-13 off-

season)• Kept engagement consistent, even with growth• Increased reach over and above registered audience by 6.7%• On season: engagement peaked at 217% engagement per post; 10% total

engagement.

Benefits: Key Results

Facebook: Off-season Growth 2012-2013

Benefits: Key Results

Facebook: Off-season Growth 2013-2014

Benefits: Key Results

Facebook: Off-season Reach Growth 2013-2014

Benefits: Key Results

Facebook: Off-season Share Growth 2012-2013

Benefits: Key Results

Facebook: Off-season Share Growth 2013-2014

Benefits: Key Results

Twitter• Increased audience by 14%• Increased Twitter engagement by 7.96% – from 1.22% to 9.18% – double

industry standard (industry average: 4%)• On season: Twitter engagement reached 23.7%

NB: Twitter statistics are only available when tracking, so we do not have comparative data. However data from this year saw enormous growth and continued potential for audience development, brand awareness & trust.

Benefits: Key Results

Twitter: Off-season Growth 2013-14

Benefits: Key Results

Twitter: Off-season Growth 2013-14

What Did We Learn?• EIFF has a large audience desperate for interaction outside of the June

period• Film fans on digital channels are keen to be part of discussions and

debates, they enjoy talking about film!• The film community is truly vast, from filmmakers and production

companies through to bloggers and occasion film-goers• People have a lot of goodwill for EIFF, the longest continually running film

festival in the world• EIFF has a very rich archive or diverse content that needs to be collated

and shared, this should be a project in the next few years

What Can Others Learn?• Consistent engagement with audiences on digital channels builds brand

loyalty• Content marketing is key to consolidating and developing audiences• Brand positioning can be enhanced through digital channels by using the

right cues in your generated content• An archive of rich content can be a wonderful thing, but sufficient

resourcing is needed to make the most of it• Use the right balance of content to keep audiences stimulated, in addition

to news and updates also publish features, insight, competitions, teasers, debates, questions, diaries etc.

What Do You Want to Do Next?• Continue to publish content and activity through the range of digital

channels, despite minimal resourcing with the extra funding. • Take final results to CEO and the Board to campaign for added resource in

the Marketing Department• Further analyse the off-season data to try and find patterns and trends in

timing or content that can help maximise the effectiveness of digital content in the future

• With an understanding of the 2013/14 off-season content project, develop core staff across EIFF departments to be able to generate content under their own initiative to support the Marketing Department