The ACT Awards acknowledge the work done by those who have played an important supportive role in the development of arts, culture and creativity. In the publicity award category, criteria considered, included the consistency of the quality of the publicity generated, the innovation of the agency in generating publicity and developing audiences, and the respect with which the agency is held by the arts and culture community.
When announcing the award, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, who was MC for the evening, said that Tin Can had demonstrated that a fresh and invigorating approach could be used to repackage an event that was running the risk of becoming over-familiar to its audience, and had successfully re launched the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown. Chaka Chaka added that Tin Can's close examination of global trends and the strategic application thereof, has re-energised local interest in the Festival, attracted foreign media, as well as helped establish it as one of the top ten events in the world.
Tin Can MD Debby Reader, says that it is an honour to receive this prestigious accolade. "This award proves that having an innovative implementation plan, backed up by a committed team that delivers really pays off. This is particularly true given Tin Can's philosophy of deploying strategic publicity deliverables to an extensive audience, using more than conventional media and an out of the box approach."
Reader says that Tin Can adopts this value added formula for all its clients in all its other divisions including financial and professional services, energy, technology and consumer divisions.
The 2002 National Arts Festival publicity generated over R38-million worth of media coverage for 2002. Media attendance increased by an impressive 120% with 250 members of the press attending this year's festival including foreign media representation from the US, Ireland, Germany, Sweden, France and Holland.
Reader says the extensive publicity program also contributed towards the increase in sales and attendance figures, despite the fact that the Festival had a smaller program this year and the duration was cut to eight days from ten. "There were over 102,000 attendees at the various events on offer during the eight day Grahamstown event, representing an increase in attendance figures of 5.2% in comparison with the 1% increase achieved in 2001. Monetary sales this year increased by 12.2%."
