Looking back on our Ibiza summer successes working with clients from the hedonistic to the holistic!

The temperature’s dropped, as have the number of tourists on the island and those of us who’ve been working like crazy all summer are finally breathing out a little. It’s a time of reflection, as we cast our minds back over our agency’s second summer on the White Isle over this three part blog.

About Time Ibiza was initially created in early 2017, as a sister operation to our already thriving UK agency. The potential to bring a full-service brand agency to the island, one that was both strategic as well as creative, was really exciting for us. We were already working successfully with a number of Ibiza businesses prior to this and could see there was a demand for our services, so we felt it was time to go for it and establish an all year round office on the island.

Our decision to base our office at The Hub has turned out to be an absolute winner, this has to be one of the coolest spaces on the island to work from (literally!). Located just outside Ibiza town on the main road towards Santa Gertrudis, it’s provided a calm and creative place away from the Summer madness, where we’ve been able to welcome our clients 24 hours a day.

Being a part of the buzzing Ibiza business community at The Hub is so inspiring and has led to some great opportunities for us, it’s a place where we can network, collaborate and share insights with like-minded professionals. In the height of the season, we loved the early morning Meditate and Move sessions hosted by Suzee Wood, they really helped us find that balance at the start of those long, busy days.

The projects we’ve worked on this year have really allowed us to explore and celebrate the many different sides of Ibiza. Our journey has taken us from mountain to marina, through the hedonistic to the holistic, from luxury hotels to hidden retreats, from working with international chains to homegrown Ibiza talents. That’s the beauty of Ibiza though, there is so much diversity here and we feel blessed that our work allows us to experience this.

Of course, one of the biggest things Ibiza is reputed for is it’s club scene, with world renowned DJs playing to crowds of thousands, in state of the art venues, every single night of the week. Once the Summer season is up and running, Ibiza becomes one big, multifaceted, non-stop promo campaign – with venues and promoters all vying for attention.

As a result, the emphasis is all on how to stand out in this crowded marketplace and a carefully created brand and digital strategy is crucial to success. The Ibiza clubbing industry can be a fiercely competitive world but fortunately, it’s one that our team has a lot of experience and expertise in.

‘Shhh’ is an exclusive, high-end party experience already well established in the UK, with sell-out events and a loyal following. It’s a collective of like-minded souls who are passionate about crafting intimate nights at unusual venues. Big name classic house DJs like Jeremy Healy, Brandon Block and Graeme Park provide an uplifting soundtrack for the mature, well dressed crowd to let their hair down to. The events are only held every few months so as to be kept very special. They are always sold out.

As an agency, we’ve already been working with Shhh since it’s inception 2 years ago. Our in-house team created the brand concept, the logo and the identity as well as all the digital content, from social teaser campaigns to after movies. Now Shhh was to face the ultimate test – could it cut the mustard in Ibiza – the global epicentre for dance music culture?

Selecting a key venue with the right feeling was one of our primary tasks. A place that felt luxurious and welcoming was the brief. Upscale alternative restaurant STK Ibiza was chosen as the home for a series of special events located on their terrace, overlooking Marina Botafoch and with views of Dalt Vila across the water. What an absolutely incredible open-air location this proved to be, where our guests said that they loved watching the sun go down over the yachts while getting to hear their favourite house and disco classics.

The concept behind the night was about bringing back the authentic essence of what made Ibiza great for the masses back in the day when it first came into the spotlight as the party capital that it has become known for. It was about taking guests on a musical and sensory trip back to the island’s heyday. “When beautiful people moved to those iconic summer classics, DJs were praised like gods and the island’s clubs were on everyone’s lips.”

We worked closely with the Shhh team on every aspect of bringing this concept to life, sharing our very best contacts and expertise on DJ bookings, decor, dancers, photography, videography, sponsorship and media partners.

The result was 6 packed out, sexy and glamorous parties that became the talk of the island and beyond, with thousands watching the live stream feed from around the globe each week. World famous DJ’s including our good friend Sarah Main, Jeremy Healy, Brandon Block, Alex P, Jason Bye our very own Lisa Chadderton took to the decks.

Creating compelling, high impact video content that could be used to promote the events online and drive engagement on Shhh social media platforms was essential. Working with our favourite audio visual team, we produced a series of high energy videos that really communicated the Shhh experience and positioned the brand perfectly, as did the photography. Over the 6 week period that the events took place, the Shhh Facebook page had over a 50% increase in new followers.

Another crucial factor in the success of the marketing was working with a strong local media partner like our friends at Ibiza Global Radio, the islands leading electronic radio station – if not the world’s. On the day of each party we took our DJs into the Ibiza Global Radio studios where they did a live radio show that went out across not only the FM radio station but also on Ibiza Global TV and online via their website and app. This gave massive pre-promotion for the event, building excitement and anticipation. It also allowed the Shhh brand to align itself with the island through this well respected authentic Ibiza media group and for the Shhh sound to be communicated loud and clear.

About Time Ibiza delivered a high-quality weekly Facebook Live Stream of the party to help drive social media engagement for Shhh and of course partnering with IGR ensured we got a much bigger audience for this. By streaming live through IGR’s FB page as well plus the Shhh page, we were able to get reaches of around 25,000 views per stream on Facebook.

Partnering with Ibiza Global Radio across their various platforms as well as the impact of our own channels meant that we had an average weekly campaign reach of a whopping 1.9 million worldwide.

Speaking of perfect partnerships, having a creative partnership with clever new event management platform Invajo helped us create highly impactful landing pages and ticket options for the events too. It also made it really for us to handle all pre, during and post communications with our guests, from the initial email and social media posts through to SMS messaging to welcome guests and raise the excitement on the night.

The feedback we have had about Shhh has been phenomenal, it seems that the events really struck a chord with both residents and tourists, with many people saying that Ibiza has been missing an event like this. The atmosphere was so good at every party and the attention to detail that was put into every aspect really paid off. The amazing ‘Vibe Team’ of dancers and stylists helped to make special connections with every guest and set the tone for them to really let their hair down. The comments about them were overwhelming. Just like the events in the UK, the Shhh parties had an intimate family vibe to them and felt very much about connecting friends new and old.

We were also delighted at what the Head Honcho of the STK chain himself had to say. “We loved working with Justin and the Shhh team throughout the summer of 2018 on the Terrace at STK Ibiza. We found their team to be very professional and efficient and we were very happy with the events and the demographic that it attracted. The entertainment and music were great and we are looking forward to working with Shhh again in 2019”

We are here to help with this process by offering a FREE digital review for your business led by our Head of Digital Strategy Laura Hemsley and with expertise available from our dynamic team including Justin Douglas, Head of Brand Strategy, Lead Digital Designer Grace Tapley, Creative Designer Jim Young and our Ibiza Account Director Lisa Chadderton.

To find out more about this please simply contact lisa@abouttimecreative.com or call me on +34 651399848.

Stay tuned for part 2 of this blog series where we talk about how we struck PR Gold for our clients Mischief at Atzaro Hotel this summer.