A long time has passed since the first edition, when whoever had a television could admire the greatest Italian artists performing in black and white, on a small stage laden with flowers. Small, comparing it with the glitz and modernity we've been used to for years. Today the Sanremo Festival is a real omnichannel event, thanks above all to a marketing strategy that has been able to exploit the trends of the moment, skilfully riding the wave of digital progress.
Starting from the traditional TV channel, Sanremo reached its viewers live on Rai1, in Eurovision, via radio and in streaming to then reach its exploits on the web.
Let's see below the touchpoints of the strategy that have made this edition a social phenomenon with national coverage (and not only):
1. Social Media & Content Strategy: 360° storytelling
The strategy is aimed at multi-device, going to exploit all the potential of all of today's social media combined, as we have already seen, with more traditional channels. In particular, the focus is on Instagram, where a real community of super fans has been created that has been thrilling for months now for the start of the celebrations. Facebook is also a manned channel, but it doesn't have the same resonance as the most visual Social there is. Sanremo is omnipresent. The tone of voice of the communication is very young and fresh. So could it not land on TikTok again this year? The social network of the moment could not be missing, designed to be able to reach the main Gen Z community that populates the platform with videos, highlights, unpublished content and backstage. Communication also continues on Twitter with contents and trends of various kinds (including memes), retweets from newspapers and artists, video messages from Amadeus himself.
2. Playful engagement: the Fantasanremo teams
FantaSanremo is a fantasy game based on the Italian Song Festival, consisting of organizing and managing virtual teams made up of five of the competing artists, one of which must necessarily be chosen as captain. Started as a game involving 47 people, FantaSanremo now has 2.5 million subscribers. From the Papalina bar, in the Corva district of Porto Sant'Elpidio, in the province of Fermo, FantaSanremo has come a long way between Baudi, the official currency, and bonuses and malus, so much so that it has attracted the attention of large companies that have decided to invest in the game.
Crodino, Philadelphia, Lavazza, Pandora and TicketOne have a public branded league in which you can participate freely with Premium Bonuses that refer to the related brands, without mentioning or advertising explicitly.
One example above all: a Pandora Premium Bonus would consist of the artist receiving a marriage proposal during the week of the Festival (valid only if the artist replies with a yes. If on stage, it doubles). This year it happened and made the artist's scores skyrocket.
3. Spotify Marketing
Another important actor of this festival is certainly Spotify, which after having delighted its community with the long-awaited annual Wrapped, launches a new hilarious interactive game to try to guess the Sanremo podium. A winning strategy to increase engagement on the platform, to be talked about on other platforms as well and to establish itself again as a great ally for the online promotion of the festival. Also from Spotify comes the official Podcast of the Festival: Tutti le Volte Che by @Camihawke and Alice Venturi (whom we know on Instagram as @alicelikeaudrey). A Spotify Studios product that entertained with lightness and sympathy throughout the week, commenting on the festival with lots of predictions and curiosities.
4. Influencer Marketing: Chiara Ferragni as co-host
With her posts on Instagram Chiara Ferragni reaches an international audience of over 28.5 million followers and it is undoubtedly a strategic choice to choose the second most followed influencer on Instagram in Italy in 2022. Speaking of influencers, there is also room for Autogol, youtuber and radio speaker, who will host "PrimaFestival" with Andrea Delogu, actress and television and radio presenter, and Jody Cecchetto, streamer, radio speaker and television presenter.
Last year, the audience data from the Festival showed the growth that occurred at the level of generation Z.
In 2021 in the 15-19 range it had reached 64%, while in 2022 it rose to 71.6%. They are also the most active segment of the public in search of new music, with 62% expecting new songs every week.
Furthermore, this year we have been able to grasp a real trend linked to the revival of the 90s (already present in the catwalks and in the look) with the comeback of Anna Oxa, Gianluca Grignani, Giorgia and two historic reunions, such as those of Article 31 and Paola and Chiara.
Combining Boomer and Gen Z, passing through the Millennials, was truly an ambitious and complicated goal but Sanremo 2023 seems to have succeeded in this endeavor. After all, it's everyone's Festival!
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