Craft NI
Spinning a Yarn – Telling the Story of August Craft Month
Jago works with Craft NI, the regional champion for local artists, makers and creators across Northern Ireland, to share the story of craft and its rich path across our historical landscape. With a focus on August Craft Month, our work in 2018 stemmed from key arts trends, history and the stories all crafts have to tell.
What was our approach?
We immersed ourselves in August Craft Month’s mission statement ‘Make, See, Learn About and Buy Craft’. Dissecting each of the core elements, we created tailored content, ensuring this messaging ran throughout all communications.
From this, we homed in on the many the quirky and inspiring craft stories and craft events taking place to maximise across the media landscape. We developed a creative PR calendar packed with creative tactics; these included PR photography, focused media releases, engaging features, regional content, expert artist columns, engaging listicle content and personable broadcast interviews. Through these, we shared the message that everyone can explore the craft on their doorstep.
What was the impact?
Our work successfully had a reach of over 11.3 million, sharing the message of August Craft Month and the wealth of craft and art opportunities.
Print coverage was achieved in each of NI’s national daily newspapers, Belfast Telegraph, Irish News and News Letter, along with associated online platforms. Engaging front page, double-page and full-page features explored the wealth of craft on local doorsteps, as well as history and artistic insights. Tailored, localised listicles secured print coverage in targeted local newspapers. Placing NI on the artistic map, coverage was secured in UK craft publications, including Craft Focus and Craft Business, along with multiple online platforms. All pieces were amplified socially.
Broadcast coverage was secured on national radio channels BBC Radio Ulster and U105, along with a regular weekly segment on Belfast 89FM and local TV coverage on NVTV, reaching a total of over one million people across NI.
All coverage secured included August Craft Month’s key messages, including its mission statement and URL. Through this URL, web traffic to the August Craft Month website doubled throughout the campaign, with the number of new users increasing by 80%.
