Most of us are familiar with venues such as Holy Moley, Timezone and Flip Out, but do you remember where you first heard about them? If it wasn’t directly from a family member or a friend, chances are it was by reading about it in a media outlet like Concrete Playground, TimeOut or Broadsheet.
Media and influencers love covering entertainment venue news because people are always looking for new things to do and try. Often times though, there are so many openings that it’s important to know how to make your news stand out from the rest. A few of our top tips are to include strong imagery to your pitch so the writer can get a sense of the space straight away, include the necessary information like opening times, prices, address (you’d be surprised how often this gets missed!) and add details about what makes this venue different – whether it be quirky cocktails or a great opening special deal.
At Agent99, we’ve done many campaigns within the entertainment PR sector, and while some may wonder if PR is worth the time and investment, a few benefits we see consistently that have created genuine business impact are:
- Connecting with relevant audiences. Knowing who the target audience is, and how to reach them, can be difficult but it’s vital. There could be the most incredible venue, but if no one knows about it, how will the bills get paid to stay open? Knowing where the target audience finds out about new venues, and then finding ways to be seen in these places, is where a PR campaign comes in.
- Driving foot traffic. More times than not, once a relevant media article or influencer post is published and speaks to the venue’s target demographic, foot traffic and online ticket sales increase. However, it’s important to keep momentum going, so there are always new potential customers seeing the venue and wanting to give it a try. A launch party is an extremely successful way to drive initial footfall, but strategizing and implementing ways to keep people coming back is another key strength of a PR campaign.
- Building reviews, and word of mouth referrals. Offering media and influencers the opportunity to attend the entertainment venue free of charge at a time that suits them is an effective way to secure reviews that give a personal and authentic account of their experience. Plus, it can often be easier to coordinate (and more cost effective) than hosting a large-scale launch event. Plus, in the past, because of a journalist one-on-one visit we’ve also had a media publication book their staff Christmas party with over 200 people at the venue, so these opportunities can lead to reviews, referrals AND income.
Whilst the benefit of PR for entertainment venues is extremely effective for new openings, it also extends beyond this. Below are two case studies of entertainment PR campaigns we’ve worked on to highlight the different tactics, creativity, and successes of launching a new brand as well as creating buzz around an existing venue:
Launching Flip Out:
Flip Out is a trampoline arena that is now a well-known and popular family activity, but when Agent99 started working on the campaign, it was a brand-new experience.
In just 6 months we secured over 70 pieces of media coverage in the likes of The Daily Telegraph, Sydney Morning Herald, and NOVA Radio.
The campaign was directly attributed to a significant increase in website traffic and led to a noticeable spike in bookings and people enquiring about buying a franchise.
Creative buzz around ‘Pass the Pigs and The Greens’:
Pass The Pigs is a much loved family game that’s been around for decades. To create buzz around the product Agent99 partnered with venue and restaurant The Greens in North Sydney to create a ‘Pass The Pigs Festival’
The event was free and had a range of pig themed activations like piggy face painting, pig themed cupcakes, a petting zoo, and giant versions of the game played at the venue for a weekend with lots of prizes up for grabs.
In the month leading up to the festival, we secured 58 pieces of media coverage in the likes of The Australian, Daily Telegraph, Urban List and SmoothFM and 62 social media posts.
The festival led to over 400+ people visiting the venue for the festival, an increase in bookings at their restaurant for the lunch and dinner periods, and over 100 units of the game being sold, highlighting the business impact this low-budget event had on both parties.
If you’re interested in hearing more about the benefit of PR for entertainment venues, please get in touch with us here or call 02 9779 0999.
Agent Nic
