The industry panel with Rohan Spong and Erin Rosenberg was an incredibly insightful experience and the value of getting such detailed feedback from such experts is priceless. In this reflection, I’ll dissect their feedback on my particular input in the festival-  positioning and marketing strategy.

Both Rohan and Erin said that they were very impressed with the way we positioned the festival as en event for younger and inexperienced filmmakers as opposed to almost any other festival that only accepts highly professional work of already established directors. It was interesting to hear the same feedback on that matter from both a filmmaker and a film festival organizer and it means a lot that they both gave a positive review to that decision. It was also great to hear that they approved of my baby- «Just The Beginning Campaign». Both panelists mentioned that it hit the pinpoints of our target audience really well and, I believe, Erin even mentioned that that was a big reason why we got such a major response and over 650 submissions. The feedback was mostly positive and it means a lot to get validation from such experienced veterans of the industry like Rohan and Erin.

Some of the comments that suggested room for improvement revolved around visual identity of MIYFF as a brand. It’s true, I didn’t really focus on developing a brand identity and its brand personality, brand voice or brand attributes. I guess I can say in my defense that we only had 3 months to stage the festival and there was simply no time to develop any of that, but I will definitely try to accommodate that in my future work. As Erin noted, a film festival has to have a very distinct image and voice to appeal to its audience and to stand out from the competitors. 

Another learning that I will take with me into my professional life, is that I should have worked closer with the designers, social media managers and other roles. As the marketing strategy developer, I should have worked with them constantly as one team in order to maximize the outcome and strengthen the message of our comms. Unfortunately, back then I took more of a “it’s just a uni project” approach and stepped aside after having finished my part. I now realize that this is not the right attitude, but I’m actually very glad to have made that mistake- that’s how we learn and how we grow.

As I aspire to build my career around marketing and branding, this feedback session was both an incredible confidence boost and an eye opener. It felt amazing to receive such validation on my work, and it was also helpful to see where I went wrong and work on it in the future.

Huge thanks to Rohan and Erin for their detailed feedback and professional insights!

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