Art Asia Marketing and Branding

Brief

Over the course of three years, Støriie partnered with Arts Asia to support their annual Southampton Mela Festival, a vibrant celebration of South Asian arts and culture. Our work involved crafting a comprehensive marketing strategy to raise the festival’s profile, increase community engagement, and drive traffic to Arts Asia’s online presence.

Key Objectives

Elevate Arts Asia and Southampton Mela Festival’s profile through engaging content.
Strengthen connections with community groups, associates, and stakeholders.
Promote Arts Asia’s year-round activities to the festival’s target audience.
Expand reach beyond Southampton, targeting Bournemouth, Portsmouth, and beyond.

Project Highlights

Mughal Miniatures Walkabout Main Image credit Irina Mackie

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Testimonial

“Working with Laura at Støriie was an absolute game-changer for Arts Asia and the Southampton Mela Festival. The expertise in marketing, branding, and digital strategy helped us elevate the festival’s profile to new heights, even during challenging times. Her ability to understand our vision, connect with our community, and craft engaging content ensured that we reached a wider audience than ever before. Laura’s dedication, creativity, and strategic approach were invaluable, and they truly became an extension of our team. We couldn’t have achieved the level of success we did without their support.”

Dahlia Jamil Chief Executive, Art Asia

Results

Strategic Approaches:

Content Development: Creating vibrant, culturally rich content that embodies the festival’s celebratory spirit while incorporating contemporary design elements to ensure a cohesive brand experience.
Messaging: Showcased the diversity and high-quality performances, celebrating the festival’s return to live events after a two-year hiatus, and sharing the stories of Art Asia’s community, students, partners, and traders.

Marketing Tactics:

Print Campaigns: Distributed 25,000 A5 flyers, posters, and folded programmes across various locations in Hampshire, Southampton, Portsmouth, Winchester, Bournemouth, and beyond.
Press & Media: Achieved features in the Daily Echo and the BBC, with press releases distributed to a wide range of media outlets and online listings.
Social Media Strategy: A targeted, multi-platform campaign rolled out across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube, driving engagement and expanding the festival’s reach through paid advertising and organic content.
Website Integration: Directed all marketing efforts back to the redesigned Arts Asia website, ensuring consistency in branding and offering visitors engaging blogs, news updates, and SEO-optimized content.

2022: The festival achieved a reach of over 75,000 across Facebook and Instagram, with 1,700 visitors recorded on the day of the festival. The website attracted 8,686 visitors during the campaign period, demonstrating the success of digital engagement strategies.
2023: Despite unexpected challenges (e.g., cancellation due to weather), the digital campaign successfully reached over 61,000 users on Instagram alone, while Facebook engagement soared by 353.5%. The website saw 7,549 unique visitors, indicating sustained interest and growth in online traffic.

TV & Radio Coverage: The festival was featured on BBC South Today and ITV Meridian, alongside a successful paid advertising campaign with Unity 101 FM, extending the festival’s reach across multiple media channels.

Impact: This multi-channel approach ensured the Southampton Mela Festival remained in the public eye, maintaining its reputation as a vibrant, family-friendly, world-class celebration of South Asian culture.