Enlighten —See Canberra in a whole new light

Public relations strategy, ticketing and stakeholder management

Client Australian Capital Tourism

The brief

Earlybird was contracted by Australian Capital Tourism to work on a number of elements of their newest event called Enlighten—See Canberra in a whole new light. Enlighten saw the foreshore of Lake Burley Griffin transformed into a festive hub, abuzz with an exciting program of major concerts by international artists including, George Benson, INXS, Chris Issak and Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. The event hub was surrounded by spectacular lighting effects, displayed across the facades of surrounding national attractions. The National Gallery of Australia, Parliament House and Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House opened their doors for special after-dark experiences and exclusive platinum offerings.

Our work

Enlighten saw our team work with each of the national attractions to develop ideas and concepts for each after dark and platinum experiences. This process involved overseeing the process of initial brainstorming and round table discussions, to putting in place project plans to ensure the successful delivery of each event. This resulted in the staging of some really unique and well-received events including Cartoons in the Courtyard and Art Tours of Parliament House and set a high standard for years to come.

The Earlybird team also worked with event ticket agents, Ticketek to develop and implement a ticketing strategy for Enlighten. This process involved looking at all the satellite events being held at the national attractions and setting a price point that would be affordable for punters. Our team was also responsible for developing a number of ticketing promotions with Ticketek that were sent out across a number of different databases and channels.

A large component of our involvement saw our team develop a PR and promotional strategy for Enlighten with the aim of attracting ticket sales both locally and interstate and working to build brand awareness around the event on a national scale. While this was a challenge to achieve cut through in a very busy event calendar containing similar concepts and offerings, our strategy was successful in profiling and promoting each of the international artists (two of which were performing exclusively in Canberra) to national media outlets and showcasing the unique offerings of the national attractions and the spectacular lighting displays that graced their facades.

Results

The PR campaign rolled out in the lead up to and during the event was successful in working to establish the Enlighten ‘brand’ in the hearts and minds of Canberrans, and to position the event as one that will eventually be able to compete with such events as Vivid in Sydney and Lumina in Tasmania. The team’s success was evident through the high level of interest from the media both locally and nationally and the take up of tickets for both the concerts and the events held at the national attractions, most of which were a sell out.

Some of the media clippings from Enlighten can be seen here...