Learning to think BIG!

Flyer mania (credit: Ian J Parkes)

With fingers in various pies, I’ve agreed to help a director friend of mine, Suzanne Emerson, with publicity for her show Parade, a musical that she is taking up to the Edinburgh Fringe. With some 2,800 shows in the Edinburgh programme, it is quite a tall order to make a single production stand out.

Clearly used to being asked a great many innocent questions from Fringe virgins, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society has published an excellent, very detailed document advising entrants on how they should publicise their show: https://www.edfringe.com/uploads/docs/participants/Fringe_Guide_to_Selling_a_Show.pdf

Now I know Buxton Fringe with its 150 plus shows is a very different prospect but I would advise Buxton entrants to have a look at the link above as there are some great tips on how to make the most of your Fringe entry, how to create a strong marketing campaign using one key image and one key message, what sort of photography to provide, how to be newsworthy and much more.

For Buxton Fringe purposes, I would add that we will need strong photos or illustrations that do not feature text. This is simply because while they may work on the website, when reduced to postage stamp size on the programme, the text on such images becomes unreadable. Equally a full orchestra picture may be barely understandable when reduced.

With some of you creating entries as we speak, can we remind you that you have 50 words – so make the most of them by providing as much info as you can. Can we also suggest you have a look through our own marketing advice: http://www.buxtonfringe.org.uk/howtogrow.html

Many of our performers use Buxton as a springboard for Edinburgh, but either way if you can make yourself think big you are bound to make more of an impression with audiences and reviewers. We are not talking about making a ripple here – we want you to make a splash!