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Movies inspire millions of people around the world every day. From trash to Hollywood, from short films to hours of documentaries, there are only a few other art forms as diverse as this. For a good reason, this art is celebrated at festivals. We all know the Oscars, but there are also a lot of great film festivals around the region.
Such a great film festival is the focus of our success story today. Laura Bienert uses LineUpr for the Sehsüchte. This is Europe’s largest student film festival. Laura tells us how she filled the app with content after a small hurdle and what new information she received from the participant’s thanks to the app. Really worth reading. 😊
LineUpr: Hello Laura. Thank you for taking the time to do this interview. Please introduce yourself.
Laura: I’m studying a MA in Media Studies at the Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF and have taken over the position of Marketing Co-ordinator at Sehsüchte Festival 2019.
LineUpr: You used LineUpr for the Sehsüchte festival. Please tell us more about this event.
Laura: Sehsüchte is Europe’s largest student film festival, which takes place annually at the end of April at the Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF and is organized by the students themselves. We give young filmmakers the opportunity to network within the industry and make the best works of worldwide young film talent available to a broad audience. In addition to short, documentary, feature-length, animated, 360 °, children’s, youth films and scripts, the program also includes a varied supporting program.
LineUpr: What strategies and tools do you use to address your target group? Do you attach particular importance to something special?
Laura: Sehsüchte’s team changes every year as more and more students join and others pass on the baton. As a result, marketing is also repositioning itself every year. However, we have many years of media cooperation with local partners. So we are in the press, on the radio and television, and have an online presence. But we also traditionally use Facebook, Instagram, and billboard advertising for our marketing.
LineUpr: Do you also use printed products for marketing the event or for distributing information on-site? If so, which and why?
Laura: Yes, we have several printed products. To promote the Sehsüchte, we have small flyers, which we distribute in Potsdam. There are also flyers for various sections on the festival grounds. In 2019 we had a 360 ° film price for the first time, so we wanted to promote this section extra. We also print a program booklet, of course. Some of our visitors prefer a program in which they can leaf through and many also want to take it home as a souvenir. However, for environmental reasons, we try to go down a bit each year with the requirement. That was one of the reasons why we first used the event app from LineUpr in 2019.
Our sponsors were very grateful for the additional possibility to present their companies.
Quote: Our sponsors were very grateful for the additional possibility to present their companies.
LineUpr: Did you also use the info pages?
Laura: Yes, we created many info pages, especially to explain the background of the festival. Sehsüchte has a long history and is now looked after by a club. We also explained the ticketing, among others, in the info pages.
LineUpr: Habt Ihr in der App auch Eure Sponsoren und Partner in eigenen Profilen dargestellt?
LineUpr: Did you also present your sponsors and partners with individual profiles?
Laura: Our sponsors were very grateful for the additional possibility to present their companies. Sehsüchte has many different festival partners. We informed all partners and asked for a short text before publication. We got very good feedback on the offer.
New to us was that users gave us comments on movie blocks. So we actually received direct feedback on our program.
LineUpr: When and how did you inform your participants about the event app?
Laura: We made posts on social media a few days before the beginning of Sehsüchte. Also, there were small displays at the festival site, which included the QR code and the link. Our app was also mentioned to our visitors at the ticket counter.
LineUpr: How did your visitors react to the app?
Laura: We got a lot of positive feedback, especially regarding the environmental thinking behind the event app. New to us was that a few of the users gave us comments on movie blocks. So we actually received direct feedback on our program.
LineUpr: What hurdles and difficulties did you experience in launching an event app at your event?
Laura: The only hurdle was actually just the extra workload to fill the app, which was the first time this year. Thus, there was no experience. But two days in the office and many pretzel sticks later, the app was filled to our satisfaction.
LineUpr: The event is now over. Would you use the app the same way at the next event to communicate with your participants, or is there something that you would change?
Laura: An event app was definitely the right step for us and I already know that the new Sehsüchte team would be interested in this again. If I could do something different in hindsight, then I would have worked even more with the “posts” function. Besides, I would have tried to give incentives to get even more comments on our events from the visitors.
LineUpr: Thank you for the great interview, Laura. We haven’t had the chance to accompany so many film festivals with an app yet, so your thoughts and experiences are exciting for us. Here, other film festivals can also see the added value of an event app.
So for me, this conversation makes me want to look at a good movie. Maybe you want to visit Sehsüchte next year? More information can be found at Sehsüchte.de. Also, their profiles on Facebook and Instagram are filled with many great stories. We are already looking forward to next year.
