In's and out's about Flanders is a festival. Find out how we set up the biggest blogtrip in the world and run a cool competition

1. Flanders is a festival
11/07/2012 #somet12
Tomas Vanderplaetse @suntapes @visitflanders

2. Flanders?

3. Flanders: Art cities
Bruges, Brussels, Gent, Antwerp, Leuven, Mechelen

4. Flanders: Belgian Beer

5. Flanders: Belgian Chocolate

6. Flanders: Cyclism & Flandriens

7. Flanders: Fashion

8. Flanders Fields & Ypres

9. Endorsed branding

10. #fiaf12

14. Goal #fiaf12:
Increase awareness of Flanders as a festival destination
Bring online influencers to Flanders to experience the
festival scene & stimulate conversation about Flanders

15. Target markets
Denmark and Sweden
UK The Netherlands
USA
Germany
Austria
France
Russia
China
Spain
Japan Italy
India

17. 1:
Biggest blogtrip in the world

18. Biggest blogtrip in the world
 100 Bloggers from 13 countries
 Key influencers in music, travel, lifestyle, social
media
 Personal program for every blogger: a unique
festival experience + touristic tips

19. Biggest blogtrip in the world
Selection ‘key influencers’ based on:
 Online reach and audience
 Used networks (Twitter, Instagram, Blog,
Facebook, mix, …)
 Match #fiaf12
 Personality & passion
 Location and language

20. Biggest blogtrip in the world: effort

21. Biggest blogtrip in the world: return
 Connection with bloggers as festival buddies
 Authentic stories about festivals & destination
 Happy bloggers & inspiration for their followers
 ‘Ambassadors’ for Flanders

25. http://www.brain-magazine.com/article/reportages/10817-Blog-Trip-en-Flandre

31. Some numbers
 Number of written blogposts: 257 (so far)
 Number of unique visitors: > 7.500.000
 Total reach of blogposts: > 11.500.000
 Number of Facebook fans of all bloggers: > 300.000
 Number of Twitter fans of all bloggers: > 550.000

32. 257 blogposts
 173 travel blogposts: reach of > 7.500.000
 75 music blogposts: reach of > 3.500.000
 9 lifestyle blogposts: reach of > 450.000

33. Total #fiaf12 : 7900 mentions

34. Every day 150.000 tweeps received a tweet
with #fiaf12 in their twitter feed. That is a
potential reach of 18.500.000 in total.

38. 2:
Flanders Festival Express Competition

39. Flanders festival express

40. Flanders festival express

41. Flanders festival express competition
 279 people entered the
competition
 9.666 new FB fans
 13.394 stories posted by
11.904 different people
 Potential reach of 4.8 million

42. Flanders festival express
Flanders is a Festival
@fiafexpress

43. Flanders festival express
 Engagement on the page is
2.96%: 3 times the average
interaction on facebook.
 Ambassadors for Flanders
 Earned media in Spain,
Netherlands, Austria, Germany,
Italy

45. Lessons learned

46. 1. Start earlier!

47. 2. Relation with bloggers
• Start inviting them in time to catch some big fish
• Clearly talk about expectations:
• What can they expect in the destination
• What return is expected: articles, mentions, backlinks,
conversation, analytics
• Keep in touch with them & inform them on future projects

48. 3: Roles for foreign offices
• Reach, connect and engage
local bloggers
• Activate local media!!

49. 4. Communicate the content
calendar to all partners & stick to it

50. 5. Follow up and stimulate conversation

51. 6. Involve (local) partners more
-> stimulate them to get involved in conversation
@visitgent @visitantwerp @visitbrussels @visitleuven @visitbruges @visitmechelen
@rockwerchter @pukkelpop @trackgent ….

52. 7. Involve Flemish bloggers / geeks / ambassadors
/expats who are passionate about the destination
or specific product

53. 8. Make stories visible for everyone (not only
people who follow blogs and use twitter)
Bring everything together on website

54. 9. Use more live blogging

55. 10. Change the organisation!

56. Thank you!
Tomas Vanderplaetse @suntapes
Visitflanders @visitflanders