Ed Hegg the egg head is viral face of the Fringe

Published on Thursday 4 June 2009 22:03

HE IS the figure chosen to lead the fight by the world's biggest arts festival against last year's box-office woes and growing competition.

Meet Professor Ed Hegg, the bizarre new face of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Marketing experts hired by the festival have created him to spearhead a PR battle to be waged solely on the internet to help to drum up interest in the Fringe.

The online "viral" campaign – launched without fanfare in the past few days – has seen the professor unveil his own blog, a Facebook friends page and a Twitter site.

His appearance has emerged after a bogus story about the discovery of a mysterious egg in Princes Street by Edinburgh tram workers appeared on obscure websites. One image released by the Fringe shows three figures clad in chemical suits running along Princes Street in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle.

Further images and footage is expected to show up on video-sharing website YouTube and photo site Flickr over the next few weeks.

However, visitors to the various sites that have been set up will find little about the world's biggest arts festival.

Instead, Professor Hegg – said to work at the department of "ovology" at the Fringe – can be found reporting news of bizarre experiments and early analysis of the giant egg.

It is thought he will gradually release more news on his spoof micro-site about the Fringe in the run-up to its official programme launch next Wednesday.

In an apparent attempt to retain an air of mystery, the Fringe is refusing to comment on its own campaign, for which the festival has brought in a PR agency for the first time.

But insiders say they hope the professor will do for the festival what a talking meerkat did for the "Compare the Market" consumer comparison website.

The Fringe's online campaign – devised by the Suffolk-based White Space Design agency – is thought to have been several months in the planning and is expected to run until the end of the festival in August.

One source said: "Professor Hegg is basically the hook for an online marketing campaign aimed at raising the profile of the Fringe among people who would not normally hear about it.

"There are a lot of plans afoot, but they are being kept under wraps for now. The idea is to build up a bit of buzz and hope the campaign takes off from there."

The online campaign is being promoted by the Edinburgh-based PR agency Hot Tin Roof. The firm said it was embarking on "a sustained social media campaign using Twitter, Facebook, blogging and activity on YouTube and Flickr".

Ian McAteer, managing director of The Union advertising agency in Edinburgh, said:

"Campaigns need to capture the attention in some way. My first impressions with this are I'm having to work a bit hard, I'm not sure I'm being drawn into it."

But branding expert Ian Ord, of the Aberdeen based agency Fifth Ring, said: "We have seen how quirky characters like the meerkat can become mainstream overnight."

Jackie Westbrook, marketing and communications director of the EIF, said: "The Fringe's campaign is very intriguing and we are impressed with their department of ovology."