The Herstmonceux Castle Medieval Festival has grown year upon year in to what is now a complex event and the largest of its' kind in the United Kingdom.
Production Parameters
Each year The Malcolm Group chooses a world class designer to produce a souvenir programme, an informative guide to the event's activities, which meets or exceeds that in terms of quality of previous years. There are a number of guidelines for the format and advertising content which are stipulated in advance by The Malcolm Group.
Advertising Content
The maximum amount of advertising content as a percentage of the whole publication will not exceed 50%. This ensures that the purchaser is buying a publication of worth and not something simply crammed with advertisements. We believe that by setting the level of advertising this ensures a high quality publication which The Malcolm Group, as well as our advertisers, are proud to put their names to. Where possible we encourage advertisers to produce an advertisement with a medieval theme.
Editorial Content
The number of editorial pages agreed upon prior to starting the project will not be reduced. Consequently, if advertising interest is high the overall number of pages is to be increased, generating in a corresponding increase in the number of editorial pages. In this way each advertisement will feature prominently and not be lost in a sea of advertising.
Materials and Suppliers
In producing all publications The Malcolm Group use only top quality paper and printers. We believe that quality of design and production is paramount in achieving a product that will further the Festival's reputation as a premium event.
Programme Format
Size:
The programme is produced in A4 size with full colour throughout. The recommendations for this being a publication of this size is visually of greater worth than, say, A5. As such, if the programme has an attractive cover, this alone can be enough to induce purchase. Also, the nature of the Festival is very much a family occasion and the programme sells as a 'souvenir' of their visit, again encouraging purchase.
Specification:
The entire publication to be printed in full colour throughout.
Pages:
There will be 24 pages including the cover. If advertising interest is greater this can be increased, as would available editorial space on a 50/50 basis.
Stock:
135gsm Gloss Art Paper. This will re-enforce the quality image.
Quantity:
Print run to be a minimum of 5,000 copies. This is based on a proven sales record from previous years. If any copies remain unsold they will be distributed free of charge to the participants, numbers of whom exceed one thousand, before they depart from the site.
Cover Price
The printed cover cost will be £3. By charging for the programme we can use these funds to subsidize the revenue gained through advertising sales to produce a more impressive programme. Most importantly for our advertisers, we know that the public retain the programme much longer if they have to pay for it.
Sales
The programmes go on sale from July 15th. In the six weeks leading up to the Festival we have discounted ticket sales. During this time we take orders from over fifteen hundred families who virtually all buy a programme which are discounted to £2.
Advertising Opportunities
Because the programme production is subsidized by sales we are able to offer extremely competitive advertising rates. In addition, for each advertisement that you take out in our programme we will give you a free advertisement on our award winning web site that is visited by thousands daily. Just type our name into any search engine to see that we are the top ranked medieval festival site in the world.
Set out below are our very competitive rates.
