Concise.pdf - Brugge Plus

© PATRICK DE SPIEGELAERE
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BRUGGE 2002
• In September 2001 the major BRUGGE 2002 programme book was published in
four languages (NL-F-D-E), with a total print run of 650,000 copies. This book
covered the entire programme, with all kinds of practical details and tourist
information.
• Dovetailing with this, a canvassing leaflet for the public was printed (in NL-F-D-
E-SP-IT).
• From November 2001 to February 2002, ten press conferences were given
abroad, in co-operation with Toerisme Vlaanderen. On these occasions a comprehensive
press file and innovative visual material on Bruges were handed out.
• Throughout the preparatory phase, BRUGGE 2002 was also in attendance, with a
promotional stand or with information and promotional material, at various
trade fairs and events at home and abroad.
The umbrella launch campaign brought the communication to cruising speed. There
was an initial media wave in November 2001, which was repeated in February 2002,
just before the opening of the cultural year. The campaign, with entertaining images
and slogans, above all conveyed the “not-to-be-missed” feeling of BRUGGE 2002, and
hit the mark.
A professional media planning firm outlined an optimal media plan – to good effect.
Partly thanks to the far-reaching deals made with the BRUGGE 2002 media partners,
this campaign had a palpable effect in a short space of time. The bus-shelter posters
at all major NMBS/SNCB railway stations and the radio and TV commercials did not
miss the target, either. BRUGGE 2002 was the talk of the town in Flanders. The challenge
now was to substantiate this during the course of the cultural year.
Action! The main cornerstones
of the communication for
Brugge 2002 during the year
The opening festivities and the three major exhibitions were the most important cornerstones
for the entire communication planning during the cultural year. These initiatives generated
the bulk of the ticket sales, and most of the communication resources therefore targeted them.
Press action: a priority task
Free publicity was an obvious priority for the BRUGGE 2002 communication department.
Hence we paid great attention to well-developed press conferences and correct
and efficient journalist databases. We also took account, to as great an extent as possible,
of the sensitivities of the regional press vis-à-vis the national press, and an
extremely careful approach was adopted as regards scoops.