Can a Music Festival’s Brand and Reputation be Accurately Measured.

Aside from ticket sales and sponsorship revenue the financial value of a music festival entity can be difficult to determine. However, the brand and reputation of a festival is where the greatest value lies but this can be subjective and difficult to measure. What metrics are available to determine the financial value of a festival's brand and reputation.

Brand equity and reputation are often considered the intangible elements of a music festival that cannot be ascertained with a financial value, however, there are some key assessments and metrics that can help. Understanding the financial value of a brand can help organisers and owners of festival entities attract new investors or potential buyers. In addition, it can help drive sponsorship deals and makes the artist curation process easier. 

Operational and Financial Data. 
Ticket sales are a great indicator of an event’s success, but some factors can reveal much about the brand when considering this metric. The speed at which tickets sell or even achieve a sold-out status indicate the popularity of a festival and reflects strong brand pull. In addition, quick sales of VIP tickets and high value packages can indicate great brand equity. If ticket sales are strong before a line-up is even announced, it indicates great brand loyalty and trust. If closing sponsorship deals is easy and vendor applications are oversubscribed, it also indicates a strong brand. If the curation process is smooth and artists want to play a festival it also shows a well-run event with a strong reputation. If any of these metrics or factors appear less favorable it may indicate a festival with an average or poor brand and reputation. 

Online Traffic. 
Measurement of website and other online traffic using Google Analytics is a solid metric that can show how festival-goers react to announcements and other news. A deep dive into online metrics can reveal much about the online presence and engagement with landing pages and traffic through a website for example. A high bounce rate to a website can indicate that an initial click-thru has not resulted in further action by a visitor. This can be an indicator of brand strength in the online sphere. Analytics can also be used to determine the source of online traffic by using tracking codes, this helps identify the best performing referral sources which can indicate where a brand performs well. 

Engagement and Word of Mouth. 
A more realistic metric that can indicate brand strength is the engagement in social media channels. If an audience generates great ‘buzz' around a festival it can reduce the need for extensive marketing and adverting expenditure. Engagement and word of mouth are some of the best marketing tools for festival entities and reflect a strong brand. Measurement of engagement metrics can be made by analysing the number of followers, comments and shares. Word of mouth can be more difficult to measure but there are research agencies that specialise in this to help determine a festival's brand health. Methodologies include the use of a Net Promoter Score (NPS) which requires questionnaire research with festival-goers typically asking them to rate on a scale their likelihood to recommend a festival. The results divide respondents into Promoters, Passives and Detractors depending on the sores given. An NPS score is derived by taking the % of Promoters and subtracting the % of Detractors to provide a range from minus 100 to plus 100. This is an industry standard measurement tool that helps determine customer loyalty and word of mouth potential. Software tools can also be used for social media channel listening which track mentions online using keywords and hashtags, they can provide additional metrics to determine overall sentiment towards a brand. 

PR Media Coverage. 
Music festivals always make regular announcements and press releases about event dates, tickets and artist line-ups. A reputable PR agency will employ software tools that measure coverage achieved for each release along with other content or articles created that relate to the festival’s activities. This media coverage can be converted into an equivalent value of earned media, which relates to the monetary value of coverage if the festival had to spend advertising budget to achieve the same coverage. A higher number of instances of media reporting and publishing can be an indicator of a strong brand and reputation amongst the media and journalist reporting environment. 

For festival organisers planning their next event using a software management platform like Festival Pro gives them all the functionality they need manage every aspect of their event logistics. The guys who are responsible for this software have been in the front line of event management for many years and the features are built from that experience and are performance artists themselves. The Festival Pro platform is easy to use and has comprehensive features with specific modules for managing artists, contractors, venues/stages, vendors, volunteers, sponsors, guestlists, ticketing, site planning, cashless payments and contactless ordering.

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