Lessons we can all learn from Goodwood

Next weekend will see the 22nd running of the Goodwood Festival of Speed. 300,000 fans will pack into the Earl of March and Kinrara’s front garden in West Sussex, over four days to be part what has become the leading car celebration in the world.

Despite the huge number of onsite fans who will attend this year’s Festival, there’s a new challenge for venues, organisers, event managers and CMOs. Not so long ago, it was a case of create a great event and sell it out.  Now the impact of any time-bound activity, be it an event or campaign, needn't be trapped by either its duration or the physical space in which it happens. The task is to take it global in real-time, building reach and engagement in the build-up, during and post event. The objective is to drive up marketing ROI by supercharging your reach and driving down cost-per-contact.

So how has Goodwood done just that?

‘Live content publishing was difficult and very expensive - now it’s easy and cost effective’  Goodwood Digital Group - October 2014 

Festival of Speed Live 

Festival of Speed Live (#FOSLive) is a really strong example of answering the challenge, bringing together the live content being generated in event, blending the best brand, influencer and user-generated content and publishing to web, tablet and mobile.  They’re making sure that whether you’re at the event, at home in Pasadena or in a bar in Manila you can both engage with and co-create their developing story.

Critically, as well as enabling a global fanbase to connect with a wholly authentic real-time story, FOSLive ensures that the broad range of commercial partners can leverage their significant investment in sponsorship, stand build and staffing, well beyond the limitations of the Goodwood Estate over a June long weekend.

Goodwood first used the StoryStream platform to power FOSLive in 2013, and in two years we seen a massive change in the role of the event in a brand’s developing story.  In 2013 the events still  stood somewhat in isolation, being a self-contained story, with the task being to make it work harder to earn its keep and justify being part of it again.  Now we are seeing a transformation.  The brand is the ongoing connected story, and every marketing activity is live content.  Goodwood’s events no longer sit in isolation, but have now become the significant stepping stones in a connected annual story.

 So what are the 3 key lessons we can learn from Goodwood?

• Capture the best of the content from your engaged audience and publish in real-time back onto your owned channels, focusing on mobile web.
• Use the blend of audience and brand content to preview, build anticipation and pre-market future events.  It’s by far the most compelling, authentic story.  Goodwood connect the #FOS Live story to future activity via a ‘Re-live the event’ tab. 
• Don’t isolate the event or campaign - make it a key contributor to your developing story, building brand, event and hashtag equity.

Follow the all the action from the Festival live this weekend 

Geoff Turral, Commercial Director, StoryStream