The Virginia Film Festival flaunts digital acclaim & box office appeal
Virginia Film Festival
The Virginia Film Festival (presented by the University of Virginia’s College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences) is a four-day cinema celebration. Each autumn, The Festival headlines world premiers and timeless classics, high-profile industry insiders and up-and-coming stars, as well as filmmakers from all over the world.
Challenge
One the eve of its 23rd birthday, and a full brand overhaul, The Festival sought an online experience that would showcase their new brand along with their film screenings, special events and director Q&A's. Above all, finding and purchasing tickets needed to be quick, easy and tied to The Festival's Tessitura ticketing software. While the films needed to be center stage--the sponsorship opportunities, filmmaker submission information and press details needed to smack frenzied industry pro's in the face.
Solution
First, we launched a microsite with sleek graphics and a simple newsletter signup to accompany their new brand launch. And then it was count down. Working with the Festival communications team, we forged a year-round social media marketing strategy--complete with sweepstakes, director challenges and movie polls. We integrated video and photo galleries within the new website design to spur interaction. Then we merged the online ticketing portion of the website with Tessitura so patrons would have a Festival branded checkout experience while their purchases flowed seamlessly through Tessitura. Finally, we trained the team on the Content Management System so they could easily update the site during the deluge of the Festival.
Result
The new online marketing strategy helped The Festival smash all previous attendance records. In fact, ticket sales grew by over 25 percent. Interaction with the new website also ballooned with a 370 percent increase in visits and a 615 percent increase in pageviews. That's not all. Festival Director Jody Kielbasa called our work innovative, responsive and beautiful. "The energy, cinematic look and feel and social media features were high on our list of needs. atLarge completely delivered," said Kielbasa.
