Festivals:
the
fun-filled future of retail
With the increase of online shopping, bricks and mortar retailers know that attracting and retaining loyal customers is increasingly important.
but how?
Orlando Taylor ,of award-winning Brand Events, looks at why Festivals are a brilliant way to engage.
Selling an item with a large price tag is a difficult for any retailer and having approval of the whole family to make a purchasing decision is vital.
A family festival is the only place which offers retailers the opportunity to put their product in front of the whole family so decisions can be made there and then.
A festival is an extremely relaxed and informal place to sell products, it puts potential customers at ease. Trying to retail your products is made to feel like a friendly conversation rather than an serious sales pitch.
Any brand seen in a festival setting immediately feels fresh and fun.
Festivals offer retailers dwell time.
Brands which attend festivals see potential customers for far longer periods of time. For example Timothy Taylor's sponsored the BarFest Arms pub at CarFest and enjoyed three days of interacting with existing and new customers.
You can allow people to get a real sense for your brand, what it stands for and how it can impact their lives.
Unlike a store or a shop-front which must consign to a certain appearance, a festival offers retailers a blank canvas to convey their message.
Next clothing at CarFest wanted to be all about staying positive, being colourful and embodying summer – they were able to do this by taking space in a field and building a stand with extremely bright and bold colours rather than trying to stay in-keeping with their stores.
In the battle against online commerce, festivals offer a chance for the customer to engage with a brand’s products face to face, to touch, feel, smell and taste the brand rather than browse endlessly through webpages
Brand Events has been responsible for the creation of many of Britain’s most innovative live events. It is the company behind the globally successful Top Gear Live show, as well as award-winning family festivals including Chris Evans' CarFest, Kirstie Allsopp's Handmade Fair and Tom Kerridge's Pub in the Park.