Melbourne Writers Festival is a Festival of Creativity, but it’s also a not for profit organization. So we were faced with a big challenge. How could we be innovative and entertaining with zero government funding?

We relied on people’s passion for literature. Luckily Melbourne is a City of Literature, so authors, actors and even app developers were keen to help.

We were faced with local council restrictions. We had to be clever in where we could place geolocation beacons.

Even after mapping out the Twists and Turns route, we were at the whim of council road works, who could shut off a footpath at a moments notice. It took quick thinking to ensure that every day for 2 weeks, Twists and Turns ran smoothly.

The Twists and Turns app was placed on the App Store in the week leading up to the Festival. People were directed to the App Store through a number of means:

A unique Twists and Turns interactive YouTube video.

Cinema advertising.

Communication on the Melbourne Writers Festival desktop and mobile sites.

Outdoor posters.

Footpath stickers.

Writer blogs and industry PR.

Through Twists and Turns, our target audience were taken on a unique, immersive experience that led people to the Festival itself, where the app prompted them to buy tickets.

Feedback was extremely positive, and it showed in ticket sales. With a record total attendance of 56,508, the Melbourne Writers Festival surpassed ticket sales goals.

Twists and Turns led to record-high publicity. 2014 publicity achieved 1,423 media ‘hits’, representing a 438% increase on 2013. Coverage was achieved across a mix of print, radio, TV and online media at local, metro, regional, national and international level.

Importantly, Twists and Turns achieved the Writers Festival goal to be seen as innovative. It allowed the Festival to provide a completely new way for audiences to participate and a new way for emerging writers to share their imagination.