The Big Idea: Surf Fest
So what, exactly, is Surf Fest?
Vann Morris, Account Executive: It’s a crazy event that we do pro bono to help the Clarkston community. This is an idea hatched by a local guy who does staging and sound for concerts. He happens to be networked in with “surf music” bands from all over the country that all converge on the land-locked little town of Clarkston each year for a big public party called Surf Fest
Not, like, Beach Boys surf music, but more “Pulp Fiction” kind of stuff, all instrumental and truly an all-American art form.
Is pro bono work something that’s important to MLT?
VM: Of course. We’re always looking for new ways to help build up the community.
And what were some of the creative components behind this campaign?
VM: We do all the signage for it. For starters, we do street banners that promote the event, and all the bands. And last year we did these huge, surf-board-shaped directional signs that we placed all over the eastside of Atlanta. They looked like giant surf boards that said “Surf Fest,” and had these arrows pointing to the location of the concert. And then we created a huge banner for the stage. (Designer) Matt (Albert) came up with the creative concept this year, and it was so good. We also made posters, and this year came up with the idea of creating wall decals. We went and did a whole guerilla marketing-type thing where we placed them in area restrooms and restaurants.
What kind of feedback did you guys receive about the signage?
VM: Really, really good feedback. It was all about the signs. “Ya’ll are the ones who did the signs? Those are amazing, and those directional signs are so cool.” I got a TON of positive feedback. And an unexpected consequence was meeting a great marketing strategy specialist that contacted us after seeing our sponsorship logo on the graphics. We’ve now worked with him on three new projects, with more in the pipeline.
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