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Great Days Out
Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) |
Background
In Summer 2004 the NWDA appointed us to support the
pre-launch activity of a 6 part TV series emphasising
the North West region's cultural gems.
"Best of Northwest" was
to be a programme celebrating locations nominated by
stakeholders but also by the public. Our job was to
maximise PR around the public's involvement in the research
and filming of the show throughout the summer.
Planning & Research
In order to gain as much coverage as possible over the
summer, we divided the campaign into three phases
1. Launch
A formal launch of the project was organised to generate
maximum interest and interaction with the general public
from the outset.
2. Call for nominations
The second phase called for local people to get involved
and nominate their local "gem" via their local
media.
3. TV announcement
The third phase announced that a TV series would be
made showcasing the places/areas, which received the
highest number of nominations and urged people to vote
one last time if they wanted to see X in their area
included in the programme.
Implementation
1. Searchlight Tour Of The Region With Loyd Grossman
A giant searchlight, as seen in World War II, was taken
on a tour through the key towns across the region to
light up the skies and various buildings and landscapes.
Loyd Grossman appeared in the photo, "Shining a
light on the region to uncover its gems" and photocalls
and interviews were set up in advance of his tour of
the region, gaining publicity wherever he went. The
launch raised awareness and served to encourage people
to ‘get involved’ and contact the website,
hotline, and via mail.
The searchlight, on a low loader,
was easily transported and allowed us to localise the
launch story for a number of key media in towns e.g.
Preston Citizen, Carlisle News & Star, Lancashire
Evening Post, Liverpool Daily Post and Manchester Evening
News.
2. Call For Nominations
The second phase of the campaign was to raise further
awareness and to get local people involved and nominating
their favourite attractions.
The agency issued a localised press release to all media
within the region calling for local people to participate
in the process of finding gems in their area and encouraging
them to email/write/phone in with their ideas.
We also contacted editors of local papers encouraging
them to champion one attraction in there area which
they think deserves recognition.
3. TV Series Announcement
The final phase of the campaign was to announce that
due to the unprecedented success of the campaign, Granada
has decided to make a TV series showcasing the attractions,
which have received the highest number of votes. A release
was issued to all local media with details of the TV
series and the public were urged to cast their final
votes if they wanted to see X in their area appear in
the series.
Media Coverage Achieved
Broadcast
BBC Radio Lancashire, Granada TV, BBC Radio Merseyside,
BBC GMR, The Bay FM, BBC Radio Cumbria, Lakeland Radio,
and Boarder TV.
Print
Preston Citizen Series, Lancashire Evening Post, Liverpool
Daily Post, Middlewich Chronicle, Northwich Chronicle,
Northwich Mail, Stockport Express and Times, Cheshire
Life, Liverpool Echo, Wirral Globe, Didsbury Magazine,
Bolton Evening News, Wigan Evening Post, Bury Times,
Chester Chronicle, Crosby Herald, Middleton Guardian,
Warrington Guardian Series, Winsford Chronicle, Blackpool
Gazette, Southport Visiter, Runcorn World Series, Oldham
Evening Chronicle, Mersey and Southport Reporter Series
and Carlisle News & Star.
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