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2007 MAIN STREET FORT WORTH ARTS FESTIVAL

Challenge:
Promoting a public event can be fun, but it can become challenging when it’s an annual event. Care must be taken each year to keep the event fresh in the minds of the public, which can become a bit jaded if the creative approach never or only slightly evolves. This is the challenge Witherspoon has faced since 2005 as it worked with the 22-year-old MAIN ST. Fort Worth Arts Festival, a free, four-day exposition of art, music and food in the city’s downtown.

Strategy:
It’s critical each year to create the right festival theme, through all marketing, sales, advertising and promotions efforts. Themes need to memorable, distinctive and colorful to capture the spirit and essence of the festival. In 2005, Witherspoon created the “MAIN ST. 20TH” anniversary theme, and a raucous “Let’s pARTy” for 2006. For 2007, the theme was “Art in Full Bloom,” which used fanciful flower illustrations to highlight the many artistic and musical offerings.

Solution:
Witherspoon transformed the theme into a range of regional marketing tools, including:

• Outdoor advertising on billboards, bus benches and posters
• Magazine, newspaper and television advertising
• Radio advertising, remotes, live reads and produced spots
• Web advertising and online blogs
• Comprehensive public relations and publicity, press releases, fact sheets, community
calendar inclusion, and pre-event coverage and interviews

Results:
2007 proved to be the best year yet for MAIN ST. The event producer estimated a record 430,000 people in attendance, thanks in large part to on-site Witherspoon-coordinated media coverage during the festival. Also, on-site ATMs dispensed 27 percent more cash than the previous year, helping total 2007 festival revenue top the $1 million mark for the first time ever.