W wins brief to promote V Festival 2016

Festival Republic has called in W to handle all comms activity for V Festival 2016. The music festival celebrates its 21st anniversary this year.

The agency’s entertainment division, which won the account following a competitive pitch, has been briefed to manage V Festival’s two-day event across both of its sites in Chelmsford and Staffordshire on the weekend of 20 and 21 August.

Activity will include the management and execution of a series of creative campaigns for V Festival, highlighting the anniversary.

Additionally, W will operate a news generation press room for V, from the first wave of headliner announcements to be revealed next month, through to the festival weekend in August.

The appointment comes alongside the news that W has been reappointed by Festival Republic to handle the PR for the Wireless Festival for the second year in a row. It takes place later this year in London.

Sophie Raine, head of brand at W, told Gorkana: “V and Wireless are two of the biggest events on the summer music calendar and make brilliant additions to our rapidly expanding live event offering. V is one of the most iconic music festivals in the world and its 21st birthday represents a milestone year which we can’t wait to bring to life in our comms. It’s going to be an incredibly busy but breathtakingly exciting summer for all of us at W.”

Melvin Benn, head of Festival Republic, said: “We were really impressed with W’s understanding of V and the team’s exciting ideas on how to drive the festival forward in its 21st year. Coupled with its understanding of the media and the team’s brilliant execution of Wireless 2015, it was a clear choice for us.

“It delivered an inventive strategy that we are confident will help drive ticket sales and engage both media and consumers with the V story. We’re excited to see the results in what we know will be an incredibly exciting 21st year for V Festival.”