marketing
Directing Marketing Strategy for Utah’s Largest Outdoor Multidisciplinary Arts Event
Summary
The Utah Arts Festival brings art to life at Library Square through awe-inspiring performances, artistic expression, and surprising discoveries at the state’s largest outdoor multi-disciplinary arts event in June.
During this four-day celebration of the arts, Festival patrons have the opportunity to experience 160+ visual artists, 100+ performing arts groups, and seven performing venues of top world, national, and local musicians and performers and program slates in literary arts, visual arts, kid’s activities, dance performances, musical commissions, street theater, art & technology, urban arts, film and culinary arts.
Involvement
Leading the marketing efforts for the Utah Arts Festival, I focused on delivering a united and cohesive integrated marketing campaign to invite the state of Utah to its namesake Arts Festival through creative partnerships and a nonprofit budget. Package art and entertainment offerings and messages in creative ways that are memorable, accessible, and exciting.
visibility
Served as on-site Festival media spokesperson for Utah’s largest annual outdoor event with 80,000+ patrons and local media present.
leadership
Managed a marketing budget of over $80,000 and led a creative team of 10+ marketing and social media volunteers while setting strategic direction and developing a comprehensive publicity program.
engagement
Marketed an entertainment lineup of 150+ visual artists and 400+ performing artists with memorable sound bytes, visual shots, and succinct messaging to reinforce the Festival’s mission.
analytical reports
Illustrated Analytic Evaluation Reports for the Utah Arts Festival by gathering important stats and sharing trends in the event industry.
messaging strategy
Created the Messaging Architecture guide for all verbal communication elements, hierarchy, and usage strategy for the 2017 and 2018 promotional campaigns, including the newly developed Arts Fest Amplified Series in 2018.
news release
Executed multi-disciplinary marketing strategy to promote hundreds of performing artists, by crafting an Opening News Release that captures the programmatic diversity of the event.
integrated marketing
Directed an Integrated Marketing Campaign by executing a multi-faceted campaign to invite the state of Utah through leveraging creative partnerships, community activation, and limited budget.
“Ashley's work with the Utah Arts Festival is a prime example of how she can realize an initial opportunity and maximize her impact on reaching our community. She brings energy to all of her projects-be it in the planning and research phases of her public relations work, meeting directly with advertisers, funders, producers, and artists to develop relationships, interviewing guests, pitching stories, or evaluating best practices of outreach and media strategies. She adds respect for the artist and all her clients and genuine commitment to excellence to build a world-class event. This speaks to her overall intellect and ability to learn quickly.
What strikes me as more impressive than her deliverables for the Festival was the way Ashley immersed herself in our organization's culture. She has gained the admiration of our artists, board, staff, donors, and media. Last year, she partnered with our Special Population Ticket Program to bring 200 South Salt Lake youth to our Festival for the first time. Ashley continues to connect the dots and align the stars in her work with the arts community and afterschool programming.”
—
Lisa Sewell
Executive Director
Utah Arts festival
2018
