Spreading the word about Pride

Winter Pride director Marty King is always happy to pick up the phone and speak to a journalist.
And his openness is paying dividends for what is the largest LGBTTQI+ festival in the Southern Hemisphere.
Media and social media activity for the 2022 festival, which also included an online campaign by Destination Queenstown, is estimated to have reached almost two million people.
That’s a whopping PR value of $737,738.
More than 50 stories were written about the festival, which drew hundreds of people across the Tasman for 10 days of winter fun, between 26 August and 4 September.
Many referenced the financial benefits the festival delivered to Queenstown’s tourism industry and local businesses, as well as the value of hosting an event that celebrates and creates a safe environment for the LGBTTQI+ community.
“This media exposure is key to promoting Queenstown as a Rainbow Tourism destination and creates long term benefits for the economy outside of Winter Pride,” King told festival partners and sponsors.
Six stories referenced the 2022 monkeypox outbreak. NZ Doctor first published a story on keeping safe at Winter Pride during the outbreak. King was also featured on Today FM in response to the warnings and subsequent stories followed.
Additional media highlights included the event promoted in ‘Hot Travel Deals’ on NZ Herald and Stuff’s ‘can NZ become a hotspot for queer travellers’; and a mayoral pitch story featured across numerous websites and Newstalk ZB nationwide mentioning Winter Pride 2022.
The social media activity from sponsors, Queenstown’s local businesses, and Winter Pride attendees and ambassadors generated over 170 posts.
That doesn’t include posts from private social media accounts and any mentions across Instagram and Facebook stories.
DQ’s social media campaign featured blog mentions, paid digital ads, event listings and social posts.
King says he was delighted the festival, which is a celebration of diversity, visibility, safety, and inclusion of the LGBTTQI+ community, could go ahead after the 2021 event was cancelled due to Covid-19.
“By all accounts, we smashed all records.”