3. FESTIVAL OVERVIEW 1. Background 2. Why Change? 3. What did we do? 4. What did we achieve?

4. BACKGROUND DED project team worked effectively over 2 months to a set of objectives agreed with MMCC which explored: Benefits brought by the MGP Festival Possible negatives of the MGP Festival Benchmarking MGP against other events Understanding market awareness of the MGP Festival Identifying key market factors affecting future success of events such as MGP Festival Understanding TT and MGP Festival interrelations Understanding scope for growing the MGP Festival (return on investment)

5. BACKGROUND Consultation and research undertaken: Good process of consultation, good responses Initial desk research undertaken Main questionnaire responses: 1,961 Supplementary questionnaire responses: 782 Focus group attendance: 5 focus groups

7. WHY CHANGE? Total cost of MGP Festival to Government was c£1.1m, including c£830k from DED Treasury receipts from an estimated c£5m spend by visitors were c£750k, representing a c£370k loss to Government MGPF reviewed as having potential to grow and a viable future but needing to change Needed to keep as a priority the affinity and allegiance to MGP Races Awareness/increased marketing not the issue – limited media interest in existing product Better coordination/promotion for single points of contact required Incredible heritage of TT and TT course could be further exploited Fantastic perceptions on many aspects of TT/MGP compared with other off-island comparator events Genuine unity in feedback for potential to develop festival/classic elements of the MGP

9. WHAT DID WE DO? Rebranded the festival ‘The Isle of Man Festival of Motorcycling’ retaining all of the existing events and adding a new Classic TT event into the Bank Holiday weekend. IOMFOM became the umbrella brand for all the component events allowing clear market positioning. Filled a gap in the market with the Classic TT positioned as the worlds leading classic motorcycle event with the best bikes and best riders. Developed a content based marketing strategy for the Classic TT leveraging the personalities, the historic motorcycles and the TT brand through the specialist press and social media. Used the media values being created to underpin a commercial programme of sponsorships, ticket sales, brand licensing, retail concessions, e-commerce etc.

11. WHAT DID WE ACHIEVE? THE HEADLINES: Pre event buzz! Together with our event partners we delivered a successful event. Generated new income streams. Opportunities for significant future growth. Created a strong brand with the Classic TT. Increased the visitor numbers and spend significantly. Achieved blanket coverage in the specialist press.

12. WHAT DID WE ACHIEVE? THE NUMBERS: c£200k of new commercial income 50% increase in visitor numbers since last Treasury Report Total spend c£8.4m (up from c£4.9m) EAV estimated to be over £500,000 at year end

13. DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT