Spotlighting Brisbane's world-class wonders

Championing Brisbane’s reputation as an arts and culture innovator

After staging a successful campaign in 2020 during a global pandemic, we rallied as restrictions continued in 2021 to bring the Brisbane community even more magic and marvel.

Buoyed by back-to-back strategic wins, we launched our 2022 campaign with a renewed focus on spotlighting Brisbane’s incredible talent. We capitalised on Brisbane Festival’s reputation as a bold and creative innovator to give the Festival a strong share-of-voice alongside respected Major Festivals Initiatives (MFI), international arts festivals and other cultural tourism-driving events.

Aruga turned it up to 11 in ’22 by coordinating a meticulous campaign that spotlighted Brisbane Festival’s immensely talented artists and creatives as well as the staff, stakeholders and partners. Our campaign sought and delivered extensive media coverage for Brisbane Festival across TV, print, digital and radio networks with a noteworthy year-on-year increase in PR performance.

With a sprinkle of pink glitter – and a shrewd and sharp PR strategy – we helped Brisbane Festival bring the glitz and glamour in 2022.

Results

7,655

total clips (25% increase on 2021)

146.5M

potential audience reach (9.7% increase on 2021)

$6.2M

estimated advertising value from PR coverage

2,684

unique clips (10% increase on 2021)

933

national clips

2,867

interstate clips

Deliverables

2

hosted media visits

1

comprehensive PR strategy and pitch plan

10

Brisbane Festival podcast episodes

9

interstate press visits

16

media releases, media alerts and fact sheets

Winning Tactics

We dedicated a significant portion of campaign hours to pitch editorial opportunities for free, local and immersive experiences. Securing extensive coverage for grassroots programming ensured visitors flocked to Brisbane Festival’s free programmed events.

Beginner’s Call, a 10-episode podcast, was conceived and produced by Aruga, curated by Brisbane Festival Artistic Director Louise Bezzina and hosted by Aruga Co-founder Adam Brunes. The podcast invited audiences backstage and behind-the-scenes with each episode sharing stories and insights into the creative process while exploring the breadth and diversity of the 2022 program.

With 22 new works, 12 Queensland premieres and six international presentations, Aruga spent significant time upfront meeting artists to understand their ‘why’. This investment of time and resources was critical to communicating new concepts and securing quality earned media coverage.