LEEK ARTS FESTIVAL
Soak up
the ‘best
of the
fest’
Beer mat
marketing
rganisers of Leek’s annual arts extravaganza
have come up with a new way of publicising
and promoting the event –
by
printing
specially
designed
beer
mats
for
distribution in local pubs.
The beer mats carry details of
some of the main artists booked
to perform at this year’s Leek
Arts Festival which will run
throughout May.
Other information includes
the festival website address
which can also be accessed by
scanning a QR code, printed on
one side of the beer mats, using a
smartphone.
Festival spokesman Phil
Edmeades
explained:
“In
previous years we have used a
simple A5 flier to get an early
message out about the main
festival acts. But when a few of us
went to the Cropredy music
festival in August last year we
saw beer mats advertising
another local festival on the bar
and thought it was a great idea.
“It’s something different from
normal advertising and because
the beer mats are made from stiff card they are
likely to survive quite a bit longer than a flier which
O
32 Leek Life March/April 2014
will often just be screwed up and put straight into
the bin without even being read.”
Five thousand of the attractive
green beer mats have so far been
dished out to pub landlords
across
the
Staffordshire
Moorlands and beyond.
Phil added: “We’ve had some
really good feedback with lots of
people commenting on what a
good idea the beer mats are and
the fact that they are more likely
to be read than a flier. On top of
that they’re actually serving a
useful purpose in the local pubs
instead of just being regarded as
scrap paper.”
Headline acts confirmed for
Leek Arts Festival 2014 – the
38th since it began in 1977 –
include comedy genius Richard
Digance, Glastonbury and Radio
Two Folk Show presenter Mark
Radcliffe with his new band The
Foes, award-winning Celtic folkrock outfit The Roving Crows and
punk/new wave legends Vic
Godard and the Subway Sect.
For full details and to buy
tickets online for many events
visit
the
festival
website
at
www.leekartsfestival.org.