G&G Productions, proprietors of Rage Festival, have purchased a major stake in Student Rage Events, the holding company of Plett Rage, J-Bay Rage, Wonderbay Festival and Alcazar New Year’s Eve.
Rage Festival is already one of the largest and longest-running student lifestyle events in the country and Gen-Z experience in South Africa. Now, following a rebrand, the four different festivals bearing the “Rage” name will fall under the mother brand of Rage Festival, and incorporate Ballito Rage, Joburg Rage, Plett Rage and J-Bay Rage.
This acquisition, says Greg Walsh, CEO of G&G Productions, is well-timed and strategic for several reasons. “We are creating a unified, world-class experience for Matrics and students across South Africa; a single, national opportunity for brands to partner with and a platform for further growth incorporating new territories but also acquisitions of other strategic event properties in the youth segment.”
The combined strength, expertise, experience and economies of scale of the Rage Festival Group will now take the brand across five cities over eight days at 14 venues featuring dozens of international artists and over 100 South African acts. “And of course, 25,000 of the most influential Gen-Z fans the country has to offer,” says Greg.
For partners and sponsors the benefits are clear, says Marina Oreb, Rage Festival Group Marketing Manager. “Rage Festival hosts the largest brands on a grand scale. We partner with innovative marketing directors to cement their brands in the hearts and minds of premium Gen-Z consumers in South Africa,” says Marina. “These partnerships produce meaningful results that meet brand objectives whilst leaving lasting impressions on the Rage Festival fans.”
“Not only does Rage Festival generate campaigns, it also generates valuable data. Constant, in-depth research and data mining helps us to design relevant communication and activation campaigns for our brand partners. This data also helps to shape their marketing and sales development outside of Rage.”
“Rage Festival is a key strategic partner. Through our significant network of highly influential Ragents, countrywide mega-festivals and our cleverly curated campaigns for our brand partners, we’ve delivered thousands of new, premium Gen-Z consumers, year after year,” adds Marina.
“The acquisition into our business has opened significant opportunity,” says Ronen Klugman, Managing Director of Student Rage Events. “We now have access to a greater depth of expertise from the G&G Productions team and the centralising of our accounting and finance function has brought efficiencies. In addition, we form part of the group wide sponsorship offering, which gives us access to more brands and a share of the Rage Festival Group sponsor funding. This is a game changer for us,” adds Ronen.
Diversifying the offering is part and parcel of the acquisition adds Greg. “Travel and accommodation is now also being offered at a group level. Through our shared travel service, Rage Travel, attendees are able to book their accommodation and festival tickets in a single transaction and pay it off using a new to market payment solution called LayUp.”
For parents, says Will McIntyre, Director of Ballito Rage and Joburg Rage, “the most significant value of the combined Rage Festival platform is also one of its biggest selling points: safety.”
“We have some of the most robust and vigorous safety measures in place of any event of this kind worldwide, including integrated RFID chip technology to store key data and manage access control, undercover police, 24/7 medical support, private security, a dedicated transport network and partnerships with the Red Frogs and local law enforcement,” says Will. “These measures will only be amplified as we learn from each other and take the best of each festival to help elevate the experience of each other.”
For Rage-goers, it’s an experience of a lifetime; a rite of passage hard-earned after 12 years at school. For almost two decades, school-leavers have celebrated the end of high school with a week-long, unrivalled, epic experience. “Rage Festival is firmly set to recement its position as the undisputed number one brand for premium high school and university students in South Africa,” says Greg.
Click here to see learn more about the Rage Festival Group.
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