Every year, on the last full week of July (and the preceding weekend), the inner city of Tilburg becomes one big amusement park. Rides from all over Europe converge and make up the biggest fun fair of the Benelux region: the Tilburgse Kermis.
One of the many things that makes the Tilburgse Kermis unique is that it has its own event broadcaster, Kermis FM. Despite having FM in its name, Kermis FM is more than a radio station. They also make live and pre-recorded television and a whole slew of online content.
And to be able to do all of that, Kermis FM needs funding. Most of it is covered by government subsidies and sympathetic sponsors bartering their equipment. But to reach the market, Kermis FM needs to have a solid proposal. Which is where I come in
The challenge:
Tell potential sponsors who we are, what we do, and why its worth investing in us
The solution:
A series of promotional material, including printed flyers, proposing the value of sponsoring Kermis FM, in addition to a website designed to seal the deal
My contribution:
Strategy, design, copywriting, videography, editing
As chairman of the Kermis FM foundation, setting out the course and strategy is part of my tasks. To make this campaign work as smoothly as possible, I also took the time to build, write and create the used content myself.
I worked on this project with communications specialist Sanne de Koning, who is the head of the sponsor relations team.
The campaign start
To make this campaign effective, I started at the top with a brand introduction. This is a simple two-sided A5 flyer that the members of the sponsorship team can hand out at events. This flyer serves one purpose: Summarising what Kermis FM is and why it's a good idea to invest. We wanted to show that Kermis FM isn't a hyper-commercial organisation, but a volunteer-based organisation that gives young content creators a chance to build out their skills and network. Our philosophy is that Kermis FM is first and foremost a family of many types.
The follow-up
For those companies who we couldn't reach in the first instance, or who were already familiar with us but still considering a sponsorships, I made a follow-up graphic made for our email campaign. This one is themed around the audience and reach of Kermis FM. Especially for advertisers, reach and audience is the main selling point of a radio or television commercial.
The choice
When the potential sponsor is familiar with us, and has been convinced that we're worth an investment, the last bit of information that's missing is the most important one for us: The costs. But also the most important one for our sponsors: Their ROI. I developed these options based on our earlier acquisition campaigns and market prices of other events in the city. We found out that our lowest tier was far more expensive than our prospects were willing to pay, so we lowered that tier from €1000 to €750 to price it more competitively.
At the same time, we were horridly undervaluing ourselves with our highest tier, and we have far more to offer than that price suggests. So I raised the price of the highest tier from €3500 to €5000 to properly show the value we actually offer our sponsors.
Another bit of content I made for this project: