In 2016 the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (or simply the Fringe) spanned 25 days and featured 50,266 performances of 3,269 shows in 294 venues! As the world’s largest art festival gets underway this year, we have been reviewing the ‘Fringe Guide to Promoting your Show’. Its full of useful tips for performers on how to promote themselves and get people to come and see their show and unusually there is a huge section within the guide dedicated to print distribution and marketing.

For the marketers and communications professionals amongst us, there is a general consensus that print marketing is dying with flyer distribution cast aside in favour of digital marketing which can be targeted and tailored for the audience.

However, if there was ever a case study of print marketing at its best, it has to be at the Fringe. How many of you have been tempted into a show because a flyer has been thrust into your hand by a promoter? I think the answer would be quite a few, I know I’m certainly guilty of this. Often it’s got little to do with how well designed or eye catching the flyer is, and has much more to do with the wit, good humour or sheer brazenness of the person distributing the flyer!

So as Fringe gets underway, we are asking everyone to comment on the best line they have heard from a promoter to get you to a show. To start you off here are my two favourites:

“Sex and violence? No? Then come see this family friendly show featuring singing clowns”.

“Would anyone like a free marvellously designer coaster? Hands flyer to me- here you go, to get the matching set of four you are going to have to see that show now”.

Please share your comments and let us know your favourites below…