Overview:
The Bizerkeley Food Fest is a curated event that introduces to visitors top tier, hand-selected vegan businesses from around the globe and local nonprofit organizations with aligned mission statements. Founded in 2021, The Largest Vegan Food Festival in the Bay Area celebrated its third annual festival on Sunday, September 3, 2023.
The Task:
Jenerate PR was tasked with generating public awareness for the third annual event, driving vendor registration, and ticket sales.
Jenerate PR developed a strategic public awareness and media relations campaign using their nationwide media connections and sales-driven approach to drive ticket sales from new patrons and capture their returning loyal fanbase, which continues to grow year over year – to enjoy the event. In addition, Jenerate PR crafted a comprehensive media communication plan to generate interest pre-during and post-event across all mediums.
Objective:
Jenerate PR’s ultimate goal is to continue to grow visibility in the media and visitation to the event than the year before. This includes visitation from local, regional and national guests, as well as media personnel to cover the event for post media opportunities.
In the second annual event in 2022, 2000 guests attended the event, with 40 media placements, which resulted in 514 million impressions. Challenges this event included the continuing effects of COVID-19, in which Jenerate PR was tasked to successfully communicate to health and safety protocols that were being implemented and enforced. Also in 2023, Jenerate PR only had a month to prepare for media opportunities, opposed to 2022, when they had five months.
For 2023’s third annual event, Jenerate PR focused on organically promoting the event, without said restrictions, as the federal COVID-19 PHE declaration was lifted on May 11, 2023. The agency curated a public relations strategy which included providing the client with PR services, media relations and event promotion. Strategic efforts were summarized by pre-event, during the event, and post event.
Strategy:
Jenerate PR developed a public relations strategy which included the creation and distribution of communication and press materials for media consumption, consulting the client on how to increase their organic reach through grass-roots efforts and managing all media opportunities on and off-site.
The strategy included a Master Event PR Timeline, as well as a comprehensive media list, which included local San Francisco, regional Northern California, business and trade vegan outlets, and national F&B, entertainment and travel outlets.
To communicate the various elements of the event, Jenerate PR drafted and distributed a variety of press materials including three press releases: announcing the event, sharing vendor details, and a post-event recap. To prepare the client for interview opportunities, Jenerate PR drafted talking points and conducted mock interviews with the key spokesperson and founder.
Results:
In conclusion of the 3rd annual Bizerkeley Food Fest, Jenerate PR’s efforts resulted in:
75+ Vendors
3,200 Attendees
40 Media Placements
67 Million Impressions
Notable media outlets include:
(Pre-Event)
Bay Area Telegraph, VegOut Magazine, Patch, San Francisco Chronicle, KGO-ABC, 7×7, Marin Independent Journal, East Bay Times, The Mercury News, Breaking U.S. News, San Francisco Daily Journal, KNTV-NBC, Berkeleyside, Thrillist
(Post-Event)
Do The Bay, SF FunCheap, East Bay Times, San Francisco Bay Times, FSHN Magazine, Berkeleyside, KGO-TV
