In spite of all good intentions and good PR people, Goemarati failed to generate the level of media attention anticipated. In addition to Arts and Culture journalists covering the series, we had hoped to achieve a series of stories in various publications covering Goemarati from various angles, including:


It seems that almost all attempts to generate good publicity in the media were unsuccessful. We gave journalists Goemarati compilations. We invited them to the shows. We sent them monthly press releases. We spoke to them on the phone.

For the launch, Jane Mayne wrote a piece in the Cape Times. Miles Keylock of the Mail and Guardian featured the shows in his gig listing every month. Suzy Bell covered the series in her Dark Lunch column. 48 Hours gave us great coverage early in the series and then dropped out. SaFM gave us two interviews, FMR one interview and Bush Radio three interviews. The Weekend Argus gave us a spread, featuring pictures from the Kramer Peterson production of Ghoema.

RADIO INTERVIEWS FMR, with Teba & Blaq Pearl. SaFM x2, Blaq Pearl & Loit Sols . Bush Radio x3, Blaq Pearl, Teba, phone interview with producers for September show

Selling the angles
The PR done by Corporate Image resulted in the Weekend Argus story. The PR done by Mustard Seed gave us the 48 Hours coverage. Radio interviews were arranged by Coffee Beans Routes

A PR difficulty seemed to be the angles on a project like this. Both Mustard Seed and Corporate Image have major commercial clients and achieve phenomenal coverage for them. It appears in both cases, the arts, culture and economics niche is too much of a niche.

Timelines
Part of the challenge was our short timelines. We started on the backfoot. Ideally all content for the series should have been confirmed prior to the launch, enabling us to go to the media with a complete programme. We could then have planned media more effectively.