LIFT Festival 2024
LIFT (London International Festival of Theatre) is a biennial festival that brings international performances and global narratives to London's stages, showcasing theatre, dance, and performances from around the world. The 2024 festival features a diverse lineup of artists from Brazil, Canada, Taiwan, Ivory Coast, Turkey, India, and beyond. As Head of Communications, I led the 2024 campaign, overseeing the entire marketing and communications strategy, including branding, audience development, messaging, and content plans across digital, social, press, and print. Festival partners and collaborators included some esteemed institutions such as Southbank Centre, Sadler's Wells, Royal Court Theatre, Financial Times and Science Gallery.
Services
Marketing Communications Strategy, Audience Development, Branding, PR, Digital Marketing, Campaign Mangaement
Year
2023 - 2024
Project Overview
Objective
As Head of Communications at LIFT, I was tasked with launching and driving the 2024 festival’s marketing and communications strategy to promote its programme, featuring artistic work from around the globe. The central objective for the 2024 festival was to diversify LIFT’s audience, ensuring it truly reflected London’s global majority and cultural diversity. The strategy focused on expanding audience engagement, particularly among underrepresented communities.
Insights
LIFT’s 2022 festival data showed that 78% of ticket bookers identified as White, highlighting a gap in reaching underrepresented communities, especially given London’s 43% White demographic. To address this, the 2024 campaign focused on diversifying audiences. Key findings included the need to engage PR from the outset for broader coverage, longer lead times, and centre relevant themes in marketing, as audiences were more motivated by the subject matter than by general festival promotion.
Strategy
We conducted focus groups with BIPOC communities to refine festival branding, marketing materials, and cultural references. Audience connectors with lived experience and strong ties to underrepresented groups, were recruited to enhance our audience strategy. These included engaging Latinx communities across London, and low-income residents in the EC postcode. The LIFT 2024 campaign took a 360° approach, spanning branding, digital, outdoor print and advertising, social media, email, PR and media.
Branding
I led the branding for LIFT 2024, focusing on the festival’s goal to engage and reflect diverse communities. Collaborating with designers, we refined the brand identity through focus groups with underrepresented audiences, incorporating symbols and patterns that resonate with their cultural narratives. This suite of symbols reflected the festival’s varied programming and evoked the patchworks and tapestries through which cultures have documented their stories. It was crucial to visualise the branding across all aspects of the festival, including digital, social media, merchandise, print, and outdoor advertising.
The 2024 branding retained LIFT’s signature boldness while highlighting the voices and experiences of the global majority.
Website & Digital
My website responsibilities included preparing the site for the festival launch and managing day-to-day operations. I created event pages for the festival programme and implemented the branding identity, which involved copywriting ( including the use culturally sensitive language and nuances when relating to minority groups), uploading images and video content, managing memberships, and redesigning pages and layouts. I conducted testing phases with the internal team to ensure the website was responsive on both desktop and mobile devices, ensuring readiness for launch. Additionally, I collaborated with web development companies to integrate complex functionalities and coordinated with the CRM and ticketing officer to manage sales and booking systems. Throughout the process, I worked closely with festival partners, artists, and the LIFT team to ensure information accuracy and brand consistency.
Social Media
A social media campaign launched a few weeks before the festival programme, building anticipation for the events. Our strategy emphasised brand identity across various content and promotional assets, using a mix of media—including videos, GIFs, and images—to communicate stories and themes in an engaging way.
The campaign kicked off by promoting the festival programme, sharing insights on each show, key dates, and booking information. Subsequent phases featured storytelling through interviews and behind-the-scenes content, alongside artist takeovers and interactive polls to enhance audience engagement. The festival phase highlighted performances, press reviews, and audience reactions, while the final phase showcased key achievements and highlights, reinforcing our commitment to diverse artistic voices.
We utilised Instagram for visual content, Twitter for news and press coverage, and LinkedIn for insights and articles about LIFT 2024.
Email Newsletters
The email campaign was a crucial promotional tool, marking each phase of the overall strategy. It included membership priority booking, pre-launch announcements, and the festival programme launch, as well as a deep dive featuring artist takeovers, behind-the-scenes insights, interviews, and stories about the shows.
As the festival approached, we sent pre-festival updates, highlighting rehearsals and providing essential information for audiences. This was followed by notifications for live shows and closing highlights that included audience feedback and evaluations. Our communications ranged from general festival lineup and programme details to targeted messages focused on specific events, initiatives, or themes. Throughout the campaign, we included promotions such as £5 ticket offers and post-show reflections, with emails sent weekly and increasing to multiple times a week as the festival drew closer.
One standout component was our International Women’s Day email campaign, which highlighted women-themed shows and provided an in-depth look at their significance, ultimately surpassing our targeted sales in the second week after launch.
Content
The content strategy encompassed a diverse range of mixed media formats, integrating both long-form and short-form content such as videos, images, designed assets, and written articles. A central element of our promotional strategy was the LIFT 2024 trailer, which acted as a dynamic anchor across all channels, including our website, social media, email campaigns, and advertisements.
In addition to the main trailer, we developed individual trailers for key shows, capturing the essence of each performance and generating excitement among audiences. Complementing these visual assets, we produced written articles that delved deeper into the festival's themes, featured artist profiles, and explored the cultural significance of the works presented. This multifaceted approach ensured that our messaging resonated with a broad audience, engaging them across various platforms and enhancing their overall experience of LIFT 2024.
Production Photography
Production photography was commissioned to document each show, providing striking visual content that would be used throughout the remainder of the LIFT campaign. These images not only served as powerful promotional tools to encourage ticket sales but also played a crucial role in attracting press coverage and garnering reviews. By showcasing the vibrant performances and the emotional depth of the artists' work, the photographs helped to create a compelling narrative around the festival, highlighting its artistic diversity and cultural relevance.
Additionally, these images contributed to LIFT's archival content, preserving a visual record of the festival's history for future reference. This archival material not only enhances our marketing efforts but also serves as a valuable resource for reflection and storytelling, allowing us to celebrate the festival’s legacy and evolution over the years. Overall, the strategic use of production photography not only amplified our promotional activities but also enriched our engagement with audiences and the media alike.
Press and Media
Our PR and media efforts involved collaboration with the well-known arts PR agency, Bread and Butter, to secure extensive media coverage and attention throughout the LIFT 2024 campaign. This partnership was instrumental in amplifying our outreach, ensuring that the festival reached both traditional arts media and broader audiences. By engaging with established publications and outlets, we aimed to highlight the diverse range of performances and events featured in the festival.
Alongside our PR team, we worked closely with partners to coordinate press nights and opening events for key shows, allowing media representatives to experience the festival firsthand. This approach not only generated excitement but also facilitated targeted coverage that highlighted both the overall festival programme and specific shows. Through tailored press releases and community engagement initiatives, we not only increased visibility for LIFT 2024 but also fostered a sense of inclusivity and representation within the arts, ensuring that our messaging resonated with a wider demographic.
Campaign Partners
Our partners for LIFT 2024 included some of the most esteemed arts and performance venues and brands across London, each bringing their unique strengths and perspectives to the campaign. Collaborating closely with these respected institutions, we executed a comprehensive marketing strategy that encompassed press releases, social media content, and launch initiatives. This teamwork was essential in crafting a cohesive narrative that not only reflected the festival's identity but also highlighted the collaborative spirit of our partnerships.
By aligning our messaging and marketing efforts, we ensured that both our brand and those of our partners were prominently featured, amplifying our collective voice in the arts community. This synergy allowed us to tap into the existing audiences of our partners, extending our reach and enhancing engagement across various platforms. The collaboration also fostered a shared commitment to promoting diverse artistic expressions, ultimately enriching the festival experience for our audiences and reinforcing the importance of unity within the arts sector.
Outcome
The campaign launch for LIFT 2024 was a resounding success, surpassing previous years in both ticket sales and audience engagement. A pivotal factor in this achievement was our focused audience development strategy, which was implemented through the invaluable contributions of our audience connectors. These individuals conducted research, connected with diverse groups and communities, and facilitated focused groups that allowed us to better understand our target audiences’ needs and preferences.
For the first time in LIFT's history, we crafted a visual branding identity that resonated deeply with global majority themes, reflecting the rich cultural diversity of London. This innovative approach not only enhanced our promotional materials but also fostered a greater sense of belonging among audiences who may have previously felt excluded from the arts.
Additionally, our strategic partnerships with esteemed arts venues and brands across London played a crucial role in amplifying our reach. The collaboration enabled us to create a cohesive marketing campaign that integrated press releases, social media content, and launch strategies, ensuring that our collective voice was heard throughout the city.
The effectiveness of our email campaigns, social media initiatives, and production photography further contributed to generating buzz and excitement around the festival, ultimately leading to increased ticket sales and media coverage. Our comprehensive PR efforts, including targeted outreach to localised media and coordination of press nights, also helped to secure critical attention for both the overall festival programme and individual shows.
Overall, the LIFT 2024 campaign not only achieved its immediate goals but also laid a solid foundation for future initiatives, demonstrating the power of inclusive practices and community engagement in shaping the arts landscape.
Credits:
Brand Identity and graphic design by Doug Kerr and Leon Davis
Trailer by Andy Tomlin