THE SUCCESS STORY OF BOLE FESTIVAL ’19
On the 3rd of August 2019, the city of Port Harcourt was smoking hot with fumes from roasted plantain and fish engulfing the atmosphere, dust raised by thousands of people, and beats of different types of music blaring from speakers. The fuss and the standstill traffic were evidence that Bole Festival 2019 had taken over the town.
It baffled a lot of persons that a single event organized by just one brand had the ability to pull such crowd and literally turned the very quiet Obi Wali center to a beehive. The crowd was a mix of regular fun-loving individuals, on-air personalities (OAPs), and press agents from different media houses were present to capture every moment of the event.
But then the main VIPs of the festival were the wide range of vendors who made their products and services available to spectators and buyers. The highlight, however, were the entertainers invited to light up the event. It is safe to say that the event would have been nothing without the blend of people present that day.
Away from the jamboree, now let’s look deeper to see why Bole Festival was a huge success. Everyone who has ever tried to plan a project or host an event would certainly agree that it is not an easy feat! No matter how small that project or event, it requires a hundred percent brainstorming, planning, and organization to have an excellent execution. It was evident that the Bole Festival was well planned which is why we think the team deserved some applause. So here are a few things we observed;
Good Social Media Strategy: For a brand seeking to attract hundreds of people from around Nigeria and outside the country, it must leverage the power of social media. Being its fourth edition in the business of hosting the event, the Bole Festival crew made good use of their social media platforms to spread the word about the event. In the social media campaign, they focused on the fun facts about the festival while they watered the appetite of potential attendees with promises they couldn’t resist. We dare say the crew kept their promises. They also made good use of hashtags which flowed with their theme for this year, Our Taste, Our Culture, which resonated with the people.
Easy Payment: One thing customers dread is going through too much hassle to pay for a product or service. And their fear of online payment is endless! So including the option of online payment is sometimes a risk that only brave brands opt for. Yet the Festival’s crew was able to make the payment process, especially the online option, seamless. With just a few clicks on an internet-connected mobile phone, most attendees were able to purchase their tickets which was immediately sent to their emails. Several outlets in strategic places for the buying of tickets were utilized as well.
Partnership: Getting partners that believe and support a brand to the fullest is usually one of the toughest parts for most brands. However, Bole Festival has been able to break that limiting factor as it had quite a lot of sponsors and partners. Well, one thing is for sure, the brand must have proven itself worthy enough for partnership. Remember the first thought on every partner’s mind is “what’s in it for me?”
Variety: Though the main event is centered on bole, it was refreshing to have other options displayed by different vendors. This also presents the Bole Festival as an umbrella that houses and supports different types of brands especially SMEs. It speaks a lot about Bole Festival’s core values.
You can see more photos and videos at BOLE FESTIVAL
So, there you go! Those are our observations, but we would love to hear yours. Tell us what you think about Bole Festival in the comment section.
Written by Jennifer Chioma Amadi
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