11). Marketing

“The customer is always right”, was my Dad's philosophy when he ran a corner shop. Of course he had to make a regular living from a geographically immediate customer base. If they were not satisfied by his products and presentation they could walk 50 yards down the road to the next little shop. Supermarkets were growing so he had to learn to differentiate his product from theirs. He offered credit to reliable customers; we opened late in the evening and on Sundays, offering “convenience” just at the bottom of the street. He had an affable manner and chatted about the local gossip. These were his “features” that differentiated him from the new Supermarkets. . What will differentiate your event from the alternatives? What “benefits” do you offer to your visitors?

The textbook definitions are: “Marketing matches customer needs with the strengths of the business”, or” Good Marketing places the customer at the centre of the business”; or” Marketing is the link between the customer and the producer”. I still prefer, “The customer is always right”. Good old Dad.

Let's examine how a family makes a choice about the day's entertainment.

Some people are organised and do their research. They read the “What's on” page in the local newspaper or read an article; visit the local tourist office; consult the internet sites:

Historic Events Guide, http://www.historicevents.org/ or

Others are spontaneous and will come to your event because they have seen a roadside poster or have been given a flyer.

Why do they come?

The event is unique – they have never been to anything like this before.

11.1 Market Research?

Some market research has been done into attendees at Historic Events

http://homepages.shu.ac.uk/~conseal/articles/art_033.htm

You might consider an exit or bar questionnaire to ascertain which aspects of the event your visitors enjoyed. Make sure that each member of a group answers individually because they may have different agendas.

11.2 Advertising in the Media

So how effective is advertising?

Philadelphia retailer and US Postmaster General, John Wanamaker, once said,

"Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted;

                                                                        the trouble is I don't know which half."

Here is some advice from a leading marketer:

“Broadly there are two types of advertising. One is Branding and Positioning (BAP) and the other is Direct Response (DR) advertising.

Is Branding and Positioning Important For You?

Why do they do it? The simple answer is that they're in a highly competitive market. They want to retain their large market share by ensuring that the most recent ad a prospect remembers is for their service or product. The problem is that they don't know which advertising campaign brings in the customers.

Direct Response (DR) advertising

So it would appear that if you are to advertise, then Direct Response (DR) advertising is all you have left. In contrast Direct Response (DR) advertising is able to directly relate a specific advert to an increase in sales. Or alternatively highlight a problem ad that needs fixing. This type of advertising seeks to inform the prospect how your product or service improves their life, rights a wrong or smoothes a problem. Additionally, DR advertising almost always asks for a response. Either to call in to buy immediately (unusual), to get a free sample, free report, free voucher, free experience or other intermediary step before buying the target product. Imagine the calls, letters and emails you can get from advertising that encourage your prospects to take action to contact your company immediately. You get to see whether the campaign is working.

Testing to see what works which means you can step in and tweak it if it's not. But it also allows you to test different aspects of your advert to try and increase response further. So for instance you could run two adverts with the headline changed on one, or a different offer on one or a free-phone number against a geographic number.

Do You Want More Sales?

If you do, and I'm sure you do use the following steps:

Step 1: Learn how your products relate to your users. Which emotions, feelings and beliefs does it generate or speak to?

Step 2: Assess the best way to convey that to your ultimate user.

Step 3: Do the newspapers/magazines/radio/TV channels/web sites you've chosen to advertise in get read by your preferred prospects?

Step 4: Check and test each ad with a single entry in your chosen media. (Do not run an ad series until you've tested the pulling power)

Step 5: Buy the smallest display ad possible. Then each time it makes money buy the next size up until it starts to lose money. Then go back to the last one that made money - the optimum size.

Step 6: Continually run split tests to find the best pulling direct response for your product Step 7: Use some of your advertising saved to buy other means of marketing.”

Of course this good advice assumes that you are a going concern and have the opportunity to tweak your advertising. A one-off annual event may need different techniques.

Step 1

Which emotions, feelings and beliefs does it generate or speak to?

We are in the entertainment industry. Even if we are associated with a historic building or museum our reason for organising an event is to entertain in order to persuade people to visit our site/event. Of course there is some educational content. So how do we make education sound entertaining? Living Historians bring history to life. This is a chance to meet your ancestors. The thrill of the Joust. The clash of steel. Was Richard III really a monster? The Terrible Tudors. The Horrors of History. How did they do that? Have your photograph taken with a knight, a beggar, a hawk, shooting an arrow. Be taught to be a soldier. Make a badge, paint a shield. The worst jobs in History. Buy your own sword. You will no doubt recognise some of those phrases. They are designed to generate emotions and feelings. Similar phrases should feature in your publicity material.

Step 2

Assess the best way to convey that to your ultimate user.

Step 3

Local Newspapers

The local newspaper event column is often a useful source of local publicity. You might consider doing a deal with the paper to take a page of less of advertising from local businesses and organisations with your event featured boldly in the middle. They may even agree to be a sponsor of the event in return for a stall to promote their publications. You need to check their circulation distribution overlaps with the immediate catchment area of your event. You may even be able to lever out some pre-event editorial, particularly if you can hang a local interest story onto it.

Of course you can always follow Duke Henry's advice:

“MOP attendance is rather more basic. Centre the site on a map. Draw rings round it at Two mile intervals. As the line of the circle goes over a major A road put a wonk in the circle outwards and a bigger wonk over centres of population, keep copying the shape outwards, making the wonk slightly more exaggerated each circle outwards.

This is your 2D plane. Drop it through a standard distribution curve (the tall, pointy ski slope down to a flat line sort of curve, one of them). You now have a 3D model of the "pull" of the event. You will attract a percentage of the population based on the "appeal" of your event, the "weather" of your event, the "timing" of your event, and depletion based on other attractions in the area which negatively "eat into" your "pull" model. You then have to saturate each ring area according to how much you have to spend on advertising budget which should be between one third and half total budget (less than this, give up, spend money on stamp collecting).

The clever bit. You lock your model into Newspaper distribution areas. Look at overlaps on your model and budget money accordingly. Ring up and say "I can't afford that!" when they quote you the price "Come on, do me the same for (half the price) and I will give you my card number." "I've got to ask about that. ... Oh, all right" "Including the VAT." "What?! Hang on... No we can't." "I haven't any more budget left." "Hang on... y e s o k a y... what's the card number..." Candy, kid, 2by4.

Called the law of decreasing returns. The further out people are the fewer turn out, the more you have to advertise to encourage them. At a certain point it isn't worth it. Conversely, advertising to local area is very effective and doing loads of local advertising returns big time.”

Free Sheets

They are hardly worth spending a lot of money on. Free sheets often end up in the bin along with all the other circulars coming through the door.

Published Event guides

“The Living History Register” (no web site).

“ Skirmish ”

“What's on Where ” http://www.wwevents.com/index.php?section=wow

The Historic Events Guide

How would you like to have the marketing power of such organisations as the National Trust and English Heritage?

The Historic Events Guide is a paper and web site publication designed by the heritage and re-enactment movement for the heritage and reenactment movement. This is a project which allows event organisers and traders to work co-operatively in generating publicity for our mutual benefit. Imagine 100 different organisations helping you to promote your event! Unlike other "events guide" it is not intended as a front to receive commission from advertisers of other services such as hotels. This is the most direct form of advertising because it reaches people already interested in historic activities.

How would you like to do this for no cost?

For every £1 spent on advertising you will get one copy of the event guide which you can sell for £1.50. We even supply a display box (returnable). Of course there is no such thing as a free meal. You have to put some effort into the distribution of your share of the project. Of course you don't need to sell them, just give them away to valued customers if you prefer as part of your marketing effort.

Click on the link for more details and to see the guide

Other Historic Sites that have event diaries

Livinghistory.co.uk

montacute.net/histrenact/

General Event Web Guides

BBC regional events guides, e.g.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bradford/entertainment/index.shtml ) or

http://www.whatsonwhen.com/scripts/query.asp?loc_id=131037&day1=17&month1=9&year1

=2006&day2=17&month2=9&year2=2007&categories=189&page=2

Google calendar http://www.google.com/googlecalendar/event_publisher_guide.html

And there are no doubt many others.

Step 4 to7

Of course the remaining advice is probably for those on a larger budget that us. The message is sound though. Can you measure in some way the response to your ad?

Typical ways are by:

Postal or telephone enquiries quting a reference from the ad

The return of a voucher, probably for a discount off you price as an incentive.

11.3 The World Wide Web

In addition to be being feature in the Historic Events Guide you will want to have your own web site. Have a look at other event sites and choose what works best for you. Of course you will need all the information and we could learn a lesson from Rudyard Kipling's poem from the " Just So Stories ":

Howard Giles of Event Plan recommends that the following basic information is essential in an event listing:

“Date(s), Start times e.g. "11am to 5pm"
Event title (Link to organiser's web site)

Venue name (Link to venue web site)
Brief venue directions
Performing group(s)
Brief, pithy description of the event e.g. "fighting knights in shining armour battle it out in a spectacular tourney" or "Superb Classical Greek to WWII multi-period displays with over 20 top groups" (so it does the job but doesn't need to take up a lot of space)
Admission prices/admission free (or whatever)
Link (web site)/Reference to Organiser's name*/web site(s) “

If you have the space include lots of photographs to add colour but not so much that it is confusing . Add extra exciting editorial that will help you to differentiate your event from the alternatives. If you have details for traders and re-enactors include them as links so that they do not detract from the public impression of the site. As well as supplying information you want it to be persuasive. If you don't feel you can write in this exciting manner get a specialist to do it.

11.4 Leaflets

Leaflet and advert design

Decide on a house style for all you literature and stationery

It should be in a normal non-serif type-face – road direction signs are a good pointer to the style you should use.

The reader's eye follows from illustration to headline to text so design your leaflet in that order

Your headline should promise a benefit

Five times as many people read the headline than read the text.

Photographs are more believable than drawings

How many people read the Sun and the Mail?

Long headlines are read more than short

Specifics are more memorable than generalities

Putting the price on is more memorable (although you might put people off)

Long copy sells more if it is interesting– if you have a story tell it.

Putting the text in CAPITALS and is discouraging to read

Only 5% of the average readership actually reads your ad.

Leaflet Distribution just before the event

Displaying Leaflets

Leaflets can be placed with local information points such as Hotels, Hostels, Libraries, Town Halls, Tourist Offices and Civic Halls and also in local shops and house windows along with Display Posters. They can also be distributed by traders at other historic events provided that the organiser of that event approves.

Delivering Leaflets

First of all you need an incentive for the visitors to bring the leaflet back to the event with them if you are to measure how effective your distribution has been. Maybe a money-off offer would be attractive so price your entry fee appropriately.

Get together a team to go out delivering leaflets .

Who to recruit? So who have you got available on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday? Your team is likely to be busy with the event. However with a bit of planning you might be able to find some for an hour or two. There may be some traders and re-enactors who wish to arrive on the Thursday evening who could be persuaded to help particularly if you offered to pay them. It is in their interest to have a good attendance. Good times would be Friday at supermarket or town centre car parks, Saturday am ditto. Saturday sports events for the home side supporters, Sunday a.m. in tourist spots. Get costumed re-enactors to hand out leaflets in shopping areas. Deliver door to door in the posher areas of town because you are more likely to get a higher response for your effort from ABC1 groups rather than C2 and D groups.

Problems: Not much budget to pay the leafleters? Leafleters might put the literature in a bin and go to the pub.

Solution: Offer 50p? per coupon/leaflet returned at the public entry point for distributors. A set of felt pens can be used to mark the edges of a pile of cards or leaflets so that they can be allocated to the distributor and paid accordingly.

“Special offer” tickets could be put under windscreen wipers on parked cars.

BOGOF – “Buy one get one free” tickets could be incentives for all local helpers to support the events. If you can code each ticket and keep a distribution record you will work out what has been the most effective form of distribution. You might think you are throwing money away by offering free entry. If this is your first event think of it as an investment for the future. Everyone who has enjoyed your event will sing its praises. Distributing these tickets to local opinion formers such as shopkeepers and voluntary society officers will reap dividends in future and on the day itself. In order to get in free they have to bring another person paying full price. Only if they were going to come anyway will you have lost money.

The Post Office and other Distibution Companies offer a door to door delivery service if you can afford it. Try "Yellow Pages" for firms in your are of interest.

11.5 Posters and signs

There are several different sorts of posters: Directional Signs, Display posters for notice boards and shop window and Road Side Posters. Each plays a different role.

Directional Signs

Temporary directional signs are often supplied by the AA(yellow) or RAC(blue) or by the council themselves through contractors. Their purpose is to direct the traffic by the best route(s) to your even to avoid traffic congestion. They are not advertising as such and can only contain the date(s) and name of the event and nothing else. “Brown signs” are organised by the council. They are permanent in nature and serve to direct traffic to a particular venue. You cannot use them for events.

Display Posters

Display Posters should be eye catching, that's the whole point. Once they have drawn the eye and the beholder to the main headline and picture they should then convey the information and instil enthusiasm for the event. The information should be in smaller type that can be read close up. These posters can be distributed via local information points such as Libraries, Town Halls, Educational establishments, Tourist Offices and Civic Halls and also in local shops and house windows.

Local Shops -

Offer free entry ticket for one person if you can display your poster in local shops. They will probably bring the family so you will get some income. Offer them some “ BOGOF ” tickets to hand out to their valued customers. Costume could also be hired out to local shopkeepers to involve the town in the “history festival”.

Xmas Festival

There might be a spin off for event organisers here. Some small towns often have a Christmas festivity to attract customers away from the larger out of town stores. This can be "A Dickensian Xmas" or some other historic theme. If you had you own supply of costume you could rent it out as part of the festival and supply some historic entertainment.

Road Side Posters

This is fraught with difficulty, I know. Local councils can be very fussy and the policy is interpreted differently in different places. Please check with the local council as to whether you can use their grass verges on roadsides.

If you have a landowner who can display signs on their own property beside a road you should do so. The signs should be B4 or A3 in size on day-glo paper with large black lettering in order to be seen clearly from a moving vehicle. They should be on display for weeks before the event. Three signs should be spaced out at intervals of about 50ft to allow the first to sink in before the next is encountered by observers in moving vehicles. The first should have the name of the event on which should be short and meaningful, e.g. “Medieval Battle/Fair” NOT “Bridgeport Historical and ornithological fair with lots of stalls selling tat”. If you have a picture it should be a simple outline and in keeping with your “house style”, that does not detract from the written message. The second poster should have the date. The third poster should have the location or “HERE” on it.

Allow enough signs to replace those that will be removed/stolen. Someone local needs to keep on top of this. If you have permission from the council to place them make sure that some other official does not remove them. Sometimes Council employ contractors to put up posters and they may be upset if you are not paying them to do it. If the posters are on the verge without permission the local council will get upset but they are very slow to react and the event may well have gone by before they get round to serving notices. You might get fined for littering but it should make the local papers and everyone will be on your side! If they are on private property they cannot be larger that A2, I think – you would need to check. There are rules but you could always have them on the side of a lorry that is parked in a field!!

Traders could decorate their vans with dramatic pictures of historic events “History Alive – coming to a historical event near you”. Presumably your event poster could be produced in the same material as the poster makers use, at a reduced rate for quantity, and applied to the vans to be peeled off afterwards. The vans could then be strategically parked in lay-bys/verges on main roads to advertise the event. The same vans could be used as loudspeaker vehicles with the appropriate equipment.

11.6 A Procession through town

Have a procession through the town with musicians, “Giants” and soldiers. Check with the police about permission you will need someone to re-direct the traffic at the least. The Public Order Act 1986 might apply. Leaflets can be handed out to onlookers and they are likely to follow the procession to the event.

11.7 School Projects

Involve schools in your event by encouraging them to make flags, giants or costume as part of an art/history project.

11.8 Pyramid distibution A Re-enactors email pyramid

The concept was inspired by a suggestion from the Bearded Dwarf that re-enactors might use the power of web chat groups and such organisations as "My Space" to promote events. An email pyramid is a similar idea in which we use the good concepts of "Chain Letters" to circulate details of events to friends and family.

More Ideas for publicity:

“Free” entry for anyone wearing a historic costume and you could provide a costume hire service.