Framing Farm Fest 2019

With online channels fast becoming the marketing method of choice, we might assume that the power of its offline alternatives is being lost. Tradeshows are one such alternative, that for all businesses, can be a perfect way to present your company, connect with new leads and reinforce existing relationships. The Harvard Business Review authored a new study, showing that event marketing drives more business value than other marketing channels. When Agri Creative took a trip up the Toowoomba Range for CRT’s annual Farm Fest, we set about to put this to the test.

Planning for the three day event was essential in organising a strategy that would deliver a return on investment (ROI). During this time, our agency was hosting a media and communications intern from QUT, who was a whiz in providing support in the tasking and brainstorming entailed with the event. It was a valuable opportunity for them to experience the Agri Creative brand and receive authentic industry experience, as well as for Agri Creative to reflect on the new generation of creative industry manpower – we see a promising future.

Arriving at Farm Fest, it was particularly great to see our current clients, like Landmark, Chesterfield and Enmach, showcasing as vendors using the crisp new brand materials developed by our agency. Among the crowded alleys, awash with logo-stamped flags and noisy promotional signage, their spaces stood out thanks to their cohesive visual character.

For the occasion, the approach we took to showcasing our own brand aimed to be distinctively engaging and perhaps even a little experimental. Trade shows are a good time to switch things up and like any marketing campaign, trialing and performance tracking is essential to discovering effective new strategies. The plan was to symbolically replicate our brand mission of capturing the unique stories behind businesses, by roaming the field with a camera and oversized picture frame “capturing” the vendors in their working environment. From this process, we gained invaluable insights into our demographic, and by softening the offputting sales atmosphere, our follow up meetings were much more informed and therefore successful.

In measuring the success of the event, we were able to calculate ROIs based on lead generation marked against costs and where quantitative values were not available, key performance indicators (KPIs) were used as a retrospective measure of our execution strategy. While we were able to identify future improvements and current successes by tracking our performance, a real and unanticipated feeling of fulfilment came from those client insights. They were a reminder of the sincere, untiring and dedicated agricultural industry that we work in. Thank you Farm Fest.