Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival (TOPCWF)

Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival

The Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival (TOPCWF) is the biggest crime-writing festival in Europe and takes place annually in Harrogate over one long weekend in July.

The objective:

To increase the value of coverage from previous years
To position the festival, and with it Harrogate, as the centre of the crime fiction community
To ensure mentions for the sponsor at all stages

The approach:

In coordinating such a vast array of events and participants it was essential to identify the strongest aspects of the festival to push. We have a track record of sniffing out a good media hook and so identified the best authors and events for promotion. This involved coordinating a huge number for publishers, publicists, agents, authors and stakeholders. We pride ourselves in our ability to keep all key parties informed and updated at all times.

Next we set about identifying which angles should go where. The festival quite deliberately do not have a media partner as we believe that the TOPCWF benefits from a publicity campaign where coverage is spread across a variety of media channels. As a result, the festival reaches a wider demographic, making it an altogether more impactful campaign.

The results:

The festival received coverage in a huge swathe of the media including a host of crime websites. Features and interviews with key authors appeared in the Observer Magazine; Guardian - Review and G2; Independent; Independent on Sunday; Times; Financial Times; Sunday Telegraph; Daily Express; Wall Street Journal; TES; Daily Mirror; Shortlist magazine; Woman & Home; and The Big Issue. Multiple articles also appeared in local media including the Yorkshire Post; Northern Echo; and the Harrogate Advertiser.

Broadcast coverage included BBC Radio 4 - Saturday Live, Today Programme, Front Row, BBC Radio 2 - Claudia Winkleman's Arts Show, BBC Breakfast and a host of local radio stations.

The total value of print media coverage achieved was over 2 million pounds, a 63% increase from the year before.