The Canterbury Festival, Kent’s International Arts Festival, is an annual multi arts event showcasing the best in local, national and international performance.  While the Festival takes place over 2 – 3 weeks in late October, the team is employed year-round in community arts activity, building audiences and developing partnerships to promote the arts in Kent.

We are seeking an experienced and entrepreneurial Marketing Manager to play a key role in the Festival’s transition from a subsidised to a commercial business model. The Festival is exploring the potential of operating its own box office so experience of computerised ticketing systems and management of customer data are essential.  As customer communications become increasingly digital, competence in website management and social media platforms is crucial. Balancing this with traditional print to retain core audiences while building new , is key.  Experience of competitive pricing and the ability to sell tickets is paramount.

The role involves contributing to strategy and delivery of events nightly during the Festival, and on occasional evenings and weekends throughout the year.

Applicants must have previous marketing experience in an arts, events, charitable, or related environment and experience of box office systems. Knowledge of the arts is desirable. They must possess a keen eye for detail, excellent copywriting & oral communication skills, basic design skills and the ability to present in public. Managerial, budgetary and networking skills are also highly desirable. Accuracy and organisational ability are of paramount importance.

The ideal start date is on or before 1 April 2019.

Key responsibilities include:

Marketing

• Development, implementation and evaluation of annual marketing plan and campaigns (including but not limited to; digital, print, social media, email & radio), adjusting to reflect current ticket sales.
• Upkeep and re-design (as required) of website content.
• Management of Festival audience data, mailing lists and e-lists.
• Development of customer experience plans.
• Designing and circulating of eNewsletters.
• Brand Management.
• Management of digital marketing activity for several partner organisations.

Promotional materials

• All copywriting, design, production and distribution of the Festival brochure, concert programme, posters, flyers, street publicity and digital assets.
• Management of publicity resources from all artists.
• Creating digital media content (photography and film).

Ticketing

• Managing the Festival’s relationship with its ticketing provider.
• Designing seating plans & setting up ticketed events for ticket platform.
• Analysing ticket sales reports weekly (daily as the Festival draws closer), to monitor sales patterns and occupancy.
• Setting pricing, group sales and special offers using promo codes to ensure that income reaches target annually.
• Managing VIP ticketing, seat-numbering and venue signage.

Press and PR

• Generating a year-round programme of media coverage (national, international and regional), including press, television and radio. Maintaining updated media lists.
• Designing, implementing and evaluating marketing and PR campaigns appropriate to the Festival’s activities to widen and consolidate audiences.
• Organising launches, meetings and networking opportunities year round.

Strategic and tactical management

• Overseeing or undertaking research and evaluation projects to monitor the effectiveness of the marketing effort to better the Festival’s understanding of its audiences.
• Delivering an annual Marketing Plan and evaluating performance against it.
• Working with stakeholders, tourism agencies and others to promote the Festival within its Kent/Canterbury context to increase the number of visitors during the Festival.
• Contributing to the Festival’s overarching strategy.
• Researching viable alternative suppliers for box office services.

Budget management

• Working within and controlling the marketing budget to achieve maximum cost effectiveness in all areas.
• Managing the Festival’s advertising budget to place and sell advertising space appropriately.

Line management

• Managing the Marketing Assistant, interns and placement students as required.

Events support & delivery

• Contribute to the delivery of Festival events including, but not limited to, Front of House management, artist liaison, steward management, ticketing support and VIP hosting.

General

• Make an active contribution to the team-wide goals and activities that form part of the successful development of Canterbury Festival as an organisation.
• Managing and developing the Festival archive.
• Providing marketing assistance to external organisations, working in partnership with the Festival.
• Attending meetings of the Board, Council, Friends and sub-committees as required.
• Providing university lectures and presentations covering the marketing of the Festival, as required.
• Any other reasonable duties commensurate with this role’s skills and responsibilities, as requested and directed by the Festival Director.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

ESSENTIAL

Attainment – Graduate calibre

Work Related Experience

• At least 2 years experience of working in a busy arts, events or related marketing environment.
• Excellent organisational and administrative skills, including attention to detail, and keeping to deadlines, with a proven ability to prioritise a large workload.
• Working knowledge of box office/ticketing systems.
• Strong understanding of digital marketing.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Good copy writing skills and strong graphic sense.
• Experience of budget management.
• Experience of working with press and media.
• Excellent IT skills – advance knowledge of MS package and Photoshop.
• Experience of providing customer care and event management.

Disposition

• Flexible attitude and willing to work as part of a team.
• Able to use initiative.
• Conscientious and able to work under pressure in a busy environment.
• An ability and enthusiastic willingness to represent the organisation.
• Creative thinker and problem solver.
• Confidence to speak at public events and at university lectures.
• Ability to manage additional team members.
• Willingness to work evenings and weekends if required.

Interests

• A broad knowledge and enthusiasm for the arts.
• Commitment to furthering the aims of Canterbury Festival.

DESIRABLE

• Knowledge of one or more art forms.
• Clean driving licence.

To apply, please read the Job Description, complete the application form at canterburyfestival.co.uk and return it with your current CV and a covering letter explaining your interest in this post and how your experience fits the role.