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University of Reading

University teams up with Kerrang! at the Reading Festival

Wednesday, 26 August 2015

Kerrang

This weekend 12 current University of Reading students and interns will be packing their wellies and heading down to the banks of the Thames for Reading Festival, to engage with the audience through podcast films, blogs and other social content. For the first time, the University has teamed up with Festival Republic and Bauer Media Group, the publishers behind Kerrang!, Grazia and KISS FM to run a weeklong sponsorship and media partnership.

Why are we doing this?

Reading Festival is the biggest social event in Reading’s calendar; it has global awareness, headlines some of the most successful music artists and has a footfall of 80,000 young people age 16 to 35 years old. Some of these will be prospective undergraduates - at Open Days and UCAS HE Fairs, we are often asked if there is an affiliation or partnership with the Festival.

We are aiming to build our brand awareness and engage with the Festival audience. Interesting new research from AEG Live last month showed 18 to 34 year olds trust brands who sponsor live music events more than any other:

  • 93% of the 1048 surveyed said they like brands that sponsor live events
  • 83% were more likely to trust brand partners
  • 89% said they would perceive a brand as 'authentic'

A physical presence at the festival will dovetail with the Are You Ready? campaign, which moves into its next phase in early September.

What will we be doing?

The team of students, graduates and interns will be working with Kerrang! to create podcast films with major bands, live-tweeting sets and getting involved in other online content and coverage. We’ll be posting using #backstageatreading on:

  • Backstage Pass – a Tumblr blog launched on Monday 
  • Twitter - @UniofReading
  • Facebook - University of Reading
  • Instagram - uniofreading

We will also have a news team on site who will be generating coverage including showcasing some of our top academics’ work; broadcasting daily weather flashes from our meteorologists; and running breaking news, interviews, insights, gossip, blogs and vlogs.

How can you get involved?

  • Follow us on Backstage Pass, Twitter and Facebook. 
  • Retweet, repost, republish and share any content from Backstage Pass using #backstageatreading
  • Send us your memories, photographs and musings from Reading Festivals you’ve been to over the years and, if you’re lucky enough to be going, this week’s main event. We’re looking to republish and post as much as possible from the University’s community.
  • If you’re at the Festival – come and say hello! Our teams will be wearing very bright Reading Red t-shirts and waterproofs.
  • Don’t forget to read our blog daily for all the news and highlights.