Case study
The JBM x Skiddle Success Story
How JBM partnered with Skiddle to turn a grassroots idea into one of the UK’s leading festivals.
Reggae Land has quickly risen from a grassroots passion project into one of Europe’s leading reggae festivals, growing at remarkable speed since its 2021 launch. Built on a foundation of smaller regional events and a deep love for reggae culture, the festival has scaled each year while maintaining its authenticity, culminating in its biggest edition yet for 2025, followed by a record-breaking on-sale for 2026.
“My biggest advice for smaller festivals looking to grow is to focus on building a strong, authentic brand that resonates with your audience. Know what makes your festival unique and lean into that.”
Key to this success has been JBM’s focus on strong brand identity, creative marketing, and strategic partnerships. JBM were one of the early adopters of Skiddle brand pages, an opportunity for promoters to create a page which presents all upcoming events under one link. Not only this, but customers have the ability to follow a brand, receiving notifications whenever a new event is added. When building an audience from the ground up, it is important that they be the first to know about your new events.
Through Skiddle, utilising our ticketing tools, analytics, and promotional support, we worked together to streamline operations and helped connect the festival with the right audiences. By blending cultural credibility with smart growth strategies, Reggae Land has become a standout example of how to build a festival that balances rapid expansion with authenticity.
Bill Rogers, JBM’s Head of Marketing, shares his experiences of working with Skiddle and how they made Reggae Land the success it is today.
“From day one, our mission was to create more than just a festival, we wanted to build a cultural celebration that honoured reggae’s rich history while also showcasing its future.”
“One of the biggest early hurdles was scaling up, from running club shows to managing the complexities of a full-scale outdoor festival. Suddenly, we were dealing with things like large-scale infrastructure, licensing, crowd safety, weather contingencies, and far more detailed planning. On top of that, building a loyal audience takes time. In the early days, we had to work incredibly hard to earn people’s trust and prove that our events were worth their time and money. That meant going the extra mile on everything: the line-up, the marketing, and the overall experience.”
Bill Rogers, JBM Head of Marketing – Early challenges
How did working with Skiddle help with these early challenges?
“Working with platforms like Skiddle also played a part, especially in the early stages. Having that extra promotional support, clear ticketing tools, and access to audience data helped us grow faster and reach the right people at the right time.”
WHY MARKETING MATTERS
Having promoted events for many years, JBM understand the importance of using the right marketing tools at the right time. We have worked closely with them to coordinate campaigns around key announcements and ticket sales. Through targeted Eflyers, direct mobile push notifications, and close collaboration with our content team on bespoke articles and social media coverage, JBM and Skiddle have ensured the right audiences are engaged with new announcements and ticket launches.
“Their marketing support has been invaluable, things like e-flyers, featured articles, bespoke social content, and push notifications have helped us reach our audience effectively and keep the buzz building right up to the event. The analytics tools are another huge benefit. They give us clear insights into customer behaviour and demographics, which helps us make smarter decisions about line-ups, marketing, and overall festival planning.”
Bill Rogers, JBM Head of Marketing – Marketing
WHY DO JBM CONTINUE TO USE SKIDDLE?
JBM’s relationship with Skiddle stretches back to their earliest days, even before the company was formally established. They recognised Skiddle as a powerhouse in the UK ticketing scene and chose to partner with a platform that not only offered a reliable and easy-to-use system, but also truly understood the festival and live music world. Over time, what set Skiddle apart was its people-first approach and unwavering commitment to supporting promoters. From dependable ticketing and streamlined operations to promotional support and audience insights, Skiddle has consistently helped JBM reach the right audiences and scale their flagship festival with confidence, making it clear why they continue to rely on the partnership today.
“Their ticketing system is reliable and easy to use, but what really sets them apart is their commitment to supporting promoters. Skiddle has been instrumental in helping us reach the right audiences and grow the festival into the event it is today.”
Bill Rogers, JBM Head of Marketing – Why they use Skiddle
SIGN UP TO THE PROMOTION CENTRE
We offer a number of marketing options when it comes to promoting your events, from paid options such as Eflyers and Facebook ad support, to weekly newsletter and Facebook retargetting, both of which we include at no additional cost.
Contact our Account Support team to discuss what options are available to you and how working more closely with Skiddle can help you to market your events to wider audiences.
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