The Edinburgh International Book Festival is one of the world’s leading celebrations of books and ideas, but with a limited marketing budget and Scotland’s cultural calendar busier than ever, the challenge was to keep the 2025 festival top of mind, build excitement, and drive ticket sales among both loyal attendees and first-time visitors.

To achieve this, we created a multi-channel campaign designed to feel big and unmissable across Scotland while staying cost-effective. We planned the media in carefully timed, non-consecutive bursts across two months so the festival maintained an “always on” presence without overspending.

Outdoor formats such as bus, Glasgow Subway digital screens, Queen Street and Haymarket station departure boards and D6s, train station 6-sheets, and large and small format roadside digital billboards were paired with cost-efficient street posters to dominate key cities. Press advertising in The List and The Skinny reached arts and culture lovers, while a full suite of digital channels including Meta, TikTok, Google Search and Display, VOD and digital audio ensured precision targeting.

To maximise effectiveness of the campaign, we ran A/B testing to identify the highest-performing creative for conversions and produced more than 200 bespoke assets for the client. We also negotiated over £20,000 of added-value outdoor placements, including premium Princes Street Adshels, stretching the client’s budget even further.

The results were exceptional. Ticket sales increased by 11% compared with the previous year, with first-time buyers up 19%. There were almost 18,000 new bookers which represents 23% of all tickets sold. Footfall rose by 60%, drawing 25,000 visitors in a single weekend, while digital activity reached audiences in 63 countries, expanding the festival’s global footprint.

Across platforms, the campaign delivered over 3.2 million impressions and directly drove more than 1.4k purchases through digital channels, increasing 7 x when attributed. Beyond sales, cultural impact was clear, Waterstones sold more than 35,000 books with 5,400 gifted to young readers.

By blending high-impact outdoor with smart digital targeting, testing and optimising creative, and negotiating meaningful added value, we turned a limited budget into a campaign that felt everywhere driving record sales and an unforgettable festival experience.