CELEBRATING 20 YEARS AS THE T IN T IN THE PARK: TENNENT’S LAGER’S JOURNEY AS FOUNDING PARTNER OF SCOTLAND’S BIGGEST FESTIVAL Marketing Society Scotland Star Awards 2014 Category 3.7: PR Tennent’s Lager - T in the Park 2013 Material_UK PRECIS In 2013, T in the Park celebrated 20 years as Scotland’s biggest festival, and Scotland’s favourite pint Tennent’s Lager celebrated 20 years as its founding partner. The milestone represented a major PR opportunity to tell the story of Tennent’s’ 20-year journey as the T in T in the Park, and revitalise the sponsorship’s relevance to its target market by positioning the brand at the heart of the festivities. A creative and high profile campaign generated a nationwide buzz for the 20th year of T in the Park, successfully engaging consumers and media in the celebrations and delivering strong AVE and brand cut- through. Marketing Society Scotland Star Awards 2014 Category 3.7: PR Tennent’s Lager - T in the Park 2013 Material_UK BACKGROUND – A 20 YEAR JOURNEY Over the past two decades, Tennent’s Lager has cultivated a strong emotional connection with over 2.5million festival-goers through its iconic and ground-breaking title sponsorship of T in the Park (TITP). The brand has been at the heart of the TITP experience for generations of music fans since the festival’s inception in 1994, which has enabled it to build brand relevance within its target market and develop an increased share of their lager consumption. More than just a sponsor, Tennent’s are cofounders of the festival, and together with the country’s leading live music promoter DF Concerts, they have shaped its evolution into a landmark event on Scotland’s cultural landscape, one which attracts a daily crowd of 85,000 music fans as well as the biggest artists in the world to Balado every July. Marketing Society Scotland Star Awards 2014 Category 3.7: PR Tennent’s Lager - T in the Park 2013 Material_UK AMBITION AND CLARITY OF OBJECTIVES The ambition for the PR campaign was significant. To truly exploit the opportunity presented by the 20th year, it had to create a nationwide buzz befitting of the occasion and truly position Tennent’s at the heart of the celebrations. THE CHALLENGES After two decades, Tennent’s’ sponsorship is sometimes taken for granted by fans, and there was a danger the 20th year anniversary would have limited significance to the target market of 18-24 year-old males. Striking a balance between retrospection and relevance was key. We had to reflect the brand’s 20 year heritage as founding partner in a manner which was fresh, engaging and, most crucially, relevant to the target consumer. A fresh and dynamic campaign was vital to engaging and exciting consumers and media, and in combating fatigue and creating standout within a crowded festival market. Marketing Society Scotland Star Awards 2014 Category 3.7: PR Tennent’s Lager - T in the Park 2013 Material_UK The key quantifiable objectives were: Brand objectives • Increase brand consideration amongst target market and drive volume of sales • Drive spontaneous awareness of Tennent’s as founding partner • Drive perception of Tennent’s as intrinsic to TITP • Engage music fans and demonstrate understanding of what it means to attend TITP Communications objectives • Ensure Tennent’s is top of mind with target consumers. • Ensure high event profile through widespread media coverage. • Increase coverage and brand cut-through by 30% • Secure logo placement in coverage (TITP logo features the red T of the Tennent’s brand) • T Break: attract over 1000 demos, increase media coverage (10%) and Facebook likes (30%) Marketing Society Scotland Star Awards 2014 Category 3.7: PR Tennent’s Lager - T in the Park 2013 Material_UK PLANNING AND STRATEGIC THINKING A rigorous evaluation and debrief process was our first step, with learnings and insights from the 2012 campaign – particularly in relation to communications platforms and consumer behaviour - used to shape the 2013 strategy. An extensive research and content-gathering phase ensured our campaign was informed and truly representative of the festival’s history. Harnessing our research and content as our campaign foundations, we built a PR campaign upon a central theme of celebration, which enabled us to exploit the PR potential of those iconic moments from the past 20 years which have come to define T in the Park. STARTING AT THE VERY BEGINNING We knew we had a compelling story to tell, so we started by going back to the very beginning – 1994 to be precise. We spoke to key players from both DF Concerts and Tennent’s Lager who had been responsible for founding the festival back in 1994 to make sure our campaign truly captured the sentiment and ambition of that moment, and also had a strong sense of individuality which would provide it with valuable standout over competitor events. Marketing Society Scotland Star Awards 2014 Category 3.7: PR Tennent’s Lager - T in the Park 2013 Material_UK We knew content would be key, so trawled through the archives to unearth valuable images, quotes, and anecdotes from the past 20 years which captured the spirit of TITP. By disseminating these across target media, we were able to secure coverage which celebrated the event’s history and highlighted Tennent’s’ role throughout the two decades. Marketing Society Scotland Star Awards 2014 Category 3.7: PR Tennent’s Lager - T in the Park 2013 Material_UK SELLING IN THE CELEBRATION We sold-in celebratory features to target media, setting up interviews with Festival Director Geoff Ellis and Tennent’s Lager’s Head of Sponsorship George Kyle across a wide variety of outlets. Keeping the objective of a fresh and relevant campaign at the front of our minds, we engaged artists from the 20th year line-up for media interviews about their favourite TITP moments, simultaneously promoting the 2013 event and heritage message. Our 2012 debrief process revealed consumer engagement was more and more crucial to the success of the campaign, and we utilised this insight to create a digital engagement strategy which placed the brand at the heart of the journey of T in the Park fans (further detail outlined later). Marketing Society Scotland Star Awards 2014 Category 3.7: PR Tennent’s Lager - T in the Park 2013 Material_UK MEDIA ENGAGEMENT AND MEDIA RELATIONS LET’S PARTY With media support fundamental to the success of TITP, and many media feeling an ownership of the festival (having covered it since its inception) we decided the best way to kick off the campaign was to throw a party. This enabled us to cultivate relationships with influential media, encouraging early campaign buy-in and ensuring brand cut-through and logo placement (including use of shorthand T logo in headlines) throughout the campaign. Marketing Society Scotland Star Awards 2014 Category 3.7: PR Tennent’s Lager - T in the Park 2013 Material_UK • To achieve maximum cut-through, a Tennent’s-pouring venue was transformed into a mini TITP, with mini-Main Stage, branding and performances by T Break artists (to dial- up brand’s support of unsigned talent). • Equal profile for Tennent’s’ Head of Sponsorship George Kyle alongside festival director Geoff Ellis, positioning Tennent’s at the heart of the celebrations right from the start of the campaign. Marketing Society Scotland Star Awards 2014 Category 3.7: PR Tennent’s Lager - T in the Park 2013 Material_UK LAUNCH STRATEGY • Analysis revealed TITP audience most active online between 7pm – 10pm, so our launch strategy was revised to include 7:30pm announcement across BBC Radio 1 and TITP’s digital channels. This led to “T in the Park” and artists trending UK-wide on Twitter • Media junket with one-to-one interviews with Tennent’s’ George Kyle and Festival Director Geoff Ellis ensured a diverse spread of targeted coverage (both given equal profile) • Twinterview - Geoff and George answered fan questions via Twitter (#askTITP hashtag). To maximise reach, we engaged Calvin Harris for a stunt, deliberately withholding him from main artist announcement which generated a lot of noise from fans requesting for him to play. Geoff and George then “invited” him to play via Twitter, which Calvin retweeted (3.6million followers) and confirmed his attendance. Marketing Society Scotland Star Awards 2014 Category 3.7: PR Tennent’s Lager - T in the Park 2013 Material_UK BRAND PROFILE • All comms and promotions emphasised founding partner/heritage message. • Heritage angle covered by Evening Times, The Scotsman, Scottish Daily Express, The Herald, STV online and BBC 2’s T at 20 documentary, which also featured high profile T Break endorsement from former T Break artists Biffy Clyro and Twin Atlantic. • Celebratory T at 20 bookazine produced by Daily Record, featuring a foreword from Tennent’s Lager’s George Kyle alongside festival director Geoff Ellis. Marketing Society Scotland Star Awards 2014 Category 3.7: PR Tennent’s Lager - T in the Park 2013 Material_UK FEATURE PLACEMENT • Relationships with artist management maximised to secure promo access to artists, with interviews strategically placed across media outlets generating branded double- page spreads/cover puffs and broadcast interviews. • Tennent’s’ George Kyle pushed as spokesperson - 190 articles featured either a quote or interview. BBC PARTNERSHIP • Extensive coverage provided strong brand visibility through branded stage scrims featuring prominently in TV and red button coverage (18 BBC TV broadcasts to over 9million viewers, live red button content) • Live online streaming of event for the first time increased brand visibility with unique browsers up 57% on 2012 and over 500k views of content online (excl. YouTube views) post-festival. Marketing Society Scotland Star Awards 2014 Category 3.7: PR Tennent’s Lager - T in the Park 2013 Material_UK EVENT-LED CONTENT • Furnished interview tent (with Tennent’s-pouring bar) provided a branded backdrop for artist interviews, facilitating product endorsement and visibility.