Rum & Reggae Festival
How we helped Rum & Reggae Festival sell out in Year 1 and build a scalable brand
The client
Rum & Reggae Festival is a vibrant celebration of Caribbean culture, bringing together rum, live reggae, steel bands, street food and feel-good vibes. The concept combines the energy of a music festival with the warmth of a cultural celebration.
In 2024, Live Republic partnered with Driven by Digital to help launch the very first edition of Rum & Reggae Festival in Nottingham, with a vision of one day being able to expand the brand into a national tour. Our goal was clear: deliver a sell-out show, build early momentum, and create a system that could be scaled.
The task
As a brand-new event concept, Rum & Reggae Festival had no historical data or audience lists to lean on. We were tasked with:
Launching the event from scratch with full campaign planning and execution
Driving awareness and trust in a new brand within a competitive events market
Hitting ambitious ticket sales targets without overspending on ad budget
Building a repeatable strategy that could evolve in future years and cities
Our Strategy
✅ Year 1: Launching and Selling Out a Brand New Festival
We worked closely with the Rum & Reggae team to plan, launch and deliver a high-performing digital campaign.
Key tactics included:
Positioning strategy to introduce the brand as a fresh, premium cultural experience
Localised Meta Ads targeting Caribbean music fans, cultural event seekers, and event ticket buyers in Nottingham
Video, Artist & UGC-led creative to build excitement and credibility
Phased ticketing ads, creating urgency and driving strong conversion at every price tier
The result
The result? The event sold out its first edition in Nottingham, generating early momentum, strong brand equity and a proof of concept for future growth.
📈 Year 2: Making the Festival More Profitable and Scalable
Off the back of the success in Year 1, we worked with the team to scale the festival in Year 2 - while making the entire campaign more efficient and profitable.
Our focus in Year 2:
Improving early sales traction to front-load revenue and reduce last-minute pressure
Reducing Cost per Purchase through better budget spending, content testing and refined ad structures
Leveraging Year 1 content (videos, testimonials, UGC) to boost trust and FOMO
Introducing reporting and year-on-year sale comparisons to keep campaigns agile
Preparing the brand for multi-city rollouts by building out campaign templates, geographic audience models and creative toolkits
The result was a more profitable event, with stronger early sales and more predictable conversions across all phases of the campaign. Throughout the partnership, we provided hands-on input beyond just paid media, including:
Sign-up Launch timelines for each city and ticket drops
Ticket pricing structure and messaging
Audience-building strategies between shows
Campaign budget allocation across cities, depending on each location's CPM
Advice on localised creative and branding rollouts
Since working together, Rum & Reggae Festival has:
✅ Sold out its first-ever edition in Nottingham
✅ Returned for Year 2 with increased profitability and lower CPA
✅ Built a scalable blueprint now being used to launch into multiple UK cities
✅ Established itself as a core brand within the Live Republic portfolio
Testimonial
We've worked with Dan for over 3 years now on a number of brands including Rum & Reggae Festival & Live Republic.
Dan has specifically helped us massively to increase our events operation in Nottingham and break into new locations across the country. His knowledge on marketing and digital advertising is second to none and is highly recommended.
- Rushi Pandit
6.84x
Average ROAS
100%
Tickets Sold
1.79%
Average CTR