Muckle Media was appointed to deliver the PR and social media campaign for Spectra, Aberdeen's award-winning festival of light, working to drive awareness and attendance for the free, family-friendly event in the heart of the granite city.
Our approach
With a laser-sharp approach, the team set its sights on long lead consumer and lifestyle titles to highlight the event's theme and dates. As artist announcements were made available, the team ensured a robust approach in sharing programme information with key Scottish national and regional titles. In a bid to support Visit Aberdeenshire's campaign to encourage winter weekend visitors from out with Aberdeen and Scotland, the team also shared festival updates with media south of the border to showcase the variety of activities on offer in the granite city.
As a free, family-friendly event, a key focus for outreach included working with key local and national family and lifestyle influencers to speak about the event in advance to encourage attendance.
In managing the festival's social channels, it was crucial that we posted engaging content regularly to drive interest, awareness, conversation and shares to showcase what people could expect at the event. This included artist spotlights, team profiles and awe-inspiring photography. The best performing posts were boosted to support further reach.
Results
The 2025 Spectra was one of the most successful to date and a tenacious approach to media outreach resulted in 347 pieces of coverage, an average of over 100 pieces per month of the campaign. Of those pieces, 240 were online pieces with an estimated 7 million online views. Coverage was secured in The Guardian, the London Evening Standard and The Independent.
The team's consistent and ever-engaging social media content resulted in over 10,000 content interactions and 3.5k new followers. The team secured 14 influencer visits, with one local influencer receiving 35k views for a video on the festival on TikTok.
The success continued for Spectra 2026, with social results significantly increasing across social channels as well as social media influencer attendance. Coverage was secured in The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph and The Independent, with over 30,000 content interactions and 2.9k new followers. The team secured 10 influencer visits, with one local influencer receiving 70k views for a video on the festival on Instagram.
- 347 pieces of coverage for Spectra 2025
- 7 million estimated online views
- 27 media and influencers attended the event
- 3.5k new social media followers in 2025, with a further 2.9k in 2026
