Prepared by DDM Entertainment & Events, Inc.

Longleat Festival of Light

CASE STUDY

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The grounds of Longleat include the great house, and safari park, located in Wiltshire, England. The house is set on 1,000 acres of parkland, with 4,000 acres of farmland and 4,000 acres of woodland.

Longleat celebrated their first Festival of Light in 2014 and has experienced year over year success since.

To say Longleat is a huge attraction in England and across the United Kingdom is an understatement. Drawing crowds from all over, there is something to do all year round for families and attendees of all ages.

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Pre-Festival of Light

Longleat had a long running Christmas program that was successful, but was missing a little something. Historically, holiday program attendance reached a threshold of about 70,000 guests.

CEO Bob Montgomery decided the Chinese lanterns offered by DDM would round out their holiday program and be a new draw for crowds.

“The festival itself really checks all of the boxes: vibrant colors, craftsmanship, and the sheer scale of these lanterns is incredible.”

-Longleat CEO Bob Montgomery

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Event Details

As teams from Longleat, DDM and the Zigong Lantern Culture Industry Group met to discuss the possibilities, the Festival of Light began to take shape.

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“Working with an overseas company was daunting at first, because we knew they would have to adapt to our rules, safety regulations, building codes and specifications. As soon as we began working with DDM, this concern faded immediately. DDM handled all coordination, communication and plan modifications. Their team has become an extension of our team, and their experience in this industry is unmatched”

-Longleat CEO Bob Montgomery

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Generating Interest

Promotion of the Festival of Light begins in August with television and radio, as well as social media campaigns with promotional codes for tickets.

Public Relations: Pre-launch public relations efforts were geared toward travel and trade publications, regional and national press. Pre-launch efforts generated an immense amount of regional buzz and secured placements with large media outlets showcasing lantern construction and event preparation.

Online Traffic: Many marketing efforts drove people to the online microsite generated for the duration of the festival. The microsite generated nearly 1.2 million pageviews from mid-October through early January.

-Longleat CEO Bob Montgomery

“The setup never drew from our daily park operation, but visitors would witness the setup of these grandiose objects and be compelled to come back and witness the final product. We used setup as a promotional opportunity to generate buzz.”

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Generating Interest

VIP Event: To kick off the holiday season and the highly-anticipated festival, Longleat holds a VIP Preview Event prior to event launch with influential attendees, delegates, regional media, and others. The Viscount and Viscountess of Weymouth were present to ring in the holiday season!

Social Media: Longleat’s social media efforts hit the ground running in November across all platforms. In December alone, there were 60,400 interactions by 22,000 unique users resulting in 4.5 million impressions. Facebook posts reached 460,500 users across the entire campaign and visitor posts raved about the gorgeous lights, fantastic festival and the way it put them in the holiday spirit.

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Results

The Festival of Light at Longleat was a magnificent success and drew a record crowd of more than 225,000 guests. The holiday program tripled in attendance, and revenue quadrupled. Longleat has since welcomed DDM and the Zigong team each holiday season, where they continue to set new attendance and revenue benchmarks.

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“We received the highest guest scores during our holiday program and people were genuinely amazed by the artistry, craftsmanship and the cultural experience.”

-Longleat CEO Bob Montgomery

“The Festival of Light was spectacular! Brilliant quality and much loved by our guests.”

-Ceawlin Thynn, Viscount of Weymouth,

Chairman of the Board Longleat Enterprises

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Thinking Outside the Box

Longleat ventured into the 2016 holiday season with a new idea, traditional lantern artistry applied to a staple of English culture, Beatrix Potter. The 2016 holiday event marked the 50th

anniversary of Longleat, and the 150th anniversary of Beatrix Potter.

DDM worked with Longleat to secure intellectual property permissions to develop Peter Rabbit and his friends using the same craftsmanship that goes into the traditional Chinese lanterns.

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Results

The Festival of Light drew more than 225,000 guests and popular demand allowed Longleat to extend festival dates well into 2017.

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Visitor Reactions

The below quotes are Trip Advisor reviews by Longleat Festival of Light guests.

About Us

DDM Entertainment and Events, Inc. is an award-winning Canadian company specializing in

cultural events and entertainment.

Our team consists of experienced theme park and cultural venue professionals with years of

experience to offer. DDM has successfully provided events in North America and Europe and

is well-versed in the attraction and festival marketplace. We offer innovative financial

models that may require little or no upfront cost to your venue.

We have a long-standing relationship with the Zigong Lantern Culture Industry Group, whom

we work with to plan and produce magnificent Chinese lantern festivals and events. DDM

festivals have been seen by more than one million guests around the world. Attract new

audiences to your venue with the world's #1 Chinese Lantern Festival.

Let’s discuss the possibilities